What the PL table might look like without postponements
Have you wondered what the Premier League table might look like had Covid and postponements not wreaked havoc in recent weeks? So did we. Which led us down this darkest of rabbit holes…
To get everyone beyond the halfway point in the season, we’ve used a variety of formulae, none of them in the least bit scientific (or perhaps even relevant), to see what the table could look like had there not been 16 Covid postponements and a snowstorm in Burnley.
Where we can, for the games postponed, we’ve used the results from last season’s meetings. For matches against promoted teams, we’ve used each club’s results against the side which finished in the position those promoted clubs occupied when the games were scheduled to be played. For the promoted sides themselves, we’ve rounded up or down their average points per game.
All of that has left us with this table. And an empty feeling of regret over time that could have been better spent.
1. Manchester City – 47 + 0 = 47 points (-)
2. Liverpool – 41 + 3 = 44 points (-)
3. Chelsea – 41 + 0 = 41 points (-)
4. Tottenham – 30 + 6 = 36 points (up 2 places)
5. Arsenal – 35 + 0 = 35 points (down 1 place)
6. West Ham – 31 + 3 = 34 points (down 1 place)
7. Manchester United – 28 + 6 = 34 points (-)
8. Wolves – 25 + 3 = 28 points (-)
9. Leicester – 25 + 1 = 26 points (-)
10. Brighton – 23 + 3 = 26 points (up 1 place)
11. Aston Villa – 22 + 4 = 26 points (up 1 place)
12. Southampton – 21 + 3 = 24 points (up 1 place)
13. Crystal Palace – 23 + 0 = 23 points (down 3 places)
14. Brentford – 20 + 2 = 22 points (-)
15. Everton – 19 + 2 = 21 points (-)
16. Leeds – 16 + 0 = 16 points (-)
17. Watford – 13 + 2 = 15 points (-)
———————————————–
18. Burnley – 11 + 3 = 14 points (-)
19. Newcastle – 11 + 3 = 14 points (-)
20. Norwich – 10 + 1 = 11 points (-)
Arsenal – 0 points
Fixtures postponed
Wolves (h)
Last season’s result
Nov 29, 2020: Arsenal 1-2 Wolves
Aston Villa – 4 points
Fixtures postponed
Burnley (h)
Leeds (a)
Last season’s results
Dec 17, 2020: Villa 0-0 Burnley
Feb 27, 2021: Leeds 0-1 Villa
Brighton – 3 points
Fixtures postponed
Tottenham (h)
Man Utd (a)
Last season’s results
Jan 21, 2021: Brighton 1-0 Tottenham
Apr 4, 2021: Man Utd 2-1 Brighton
Burnley – 3 points
Fixtures postponed
Tottenham (h – due to snow)
Watford (h)
Villa (a)
Everton (h)
Last season’s results
Oct 26, 2020: Burnley 0-1 Tottenham
Feb 6, 2021: Burnley 1-1 16th place Brighton
Dec 17, 2020: Villa 0-0 Burnley
Dec 5, 2020: Burnley 1-1 Everton
Brentford – 2 points
Fixtures postponed
Man Utd (h)
Southampton (a)
Averaging 1.17 points per game this season
Chelsea
No fixtures postponed
Crystal Palace – 0 points
Fixtures postponed
Watford (a)
Last season’s result
Nov 23, 2020: 17th-placed Burnley 1-0 Palace
Everton – 2 points
Fixtures postponed
Leicester (h)
Burnley (a)
Newcastle (h)
Last season’s results
Jan 27, 2021: Everton 1-1 Leicester
Dec 5, 2020: Burnley 1-1 Everton
Jan 30, 2020: Everton 0-2 Newcastle
Leeds – 0 points
Fixtures postponed
Liverpool (a)
Aston Villa (h)
Last season’s results
Sep 12, 2020: Liverpool 4-3 Leeds
Feb 27, 2021: Leeds 0-1 Villa
Leicester – 1 point
Fixtures postponed
Tottenham (h)
Everton (a)
Last season’s results
May 23, 2021: Leicester 2-4 Tottenham
Jan 27, 2021: Everton 1-1 Leicester
Liverpool – 3 points
Fixtures postponed
Leeds (h)
Last season’s results
Sep 12, 2020: Liverpool 4-3 Leeds
Manchester City
No fixtures postponed
Manchester United – 6 points
Fixtures postponed
Brentford (a)
Brighton (h)
Last season’s results
May 9, 2021: 11th-placed Villa 1-3 Man Utd
Apr 4, 2021: Man Utd 2-1 Brighton
Newcastle – 3 points
Fixtures postponed
Everton (a)
Last season’s result
Jan 30, 2020: Everton 0-2 Newcastle
Norwich – 1 point
Fixtures postponed
West Ham (a)
Averaging 0.52 points per game
Southampton – 3 points
Fixtures postponed
Brentford (h)
Last season’s result
Nov 6, 2020: Southampton 2-0 12th-placed Newcastle
Tottenham – 6 points
Fixtures postponed
Burnley (a – due to snow)
Brighton (a)
Leicester (a)
Last season’s results
Oct 26, 2020: Burnley 0-1 Tottenham
Jan 21, 2021: Brighton 1-0 Tottenham
May 23, 2021: Leicester 2-4 Tottenham
Watford – 2 points
Fixtures postponed
Burnley (a)
Crystal Palace (h)
Wolves (a)
Averaging 0.76 points per game
West Ham – 3 points
Fixtures postponed
Norwich (h)
Last season’s result
West Ham 3-0 20th-placed Sheffield United
Wolves – 3 points
Fixtures postponed
Watford (h)
Arsenal (a)
Last season’s results
Apr 25, 2021: Wolves 0-4 17th-placed Burnley
Nov 29, 2020: Arsenal 1-2 Wolves