Manchester United *still* on for two Premier League record lows this season
Chelsea – and Spurs – helped confirm Liverpool’s Champions League qualification. And Manchester United remain on for two Premier League record lows.
1) Manchester City
Highest possible finish: 1st
Lowest possible finish: 2nd
Current points total: 88
Highest possible points total: 91
Even if Manchester City win their remaining game, it would only be the fourth-best points tally in their Premier League history.
2) Arsenal
Highest possible finish: 1st
Lowest possible finish: 2nd
Current points total: 86
Highest possible points total: 89
Arsenal had not finished in the Premier League top three since the Leicester season; they have done it in consecutive Mikel Arteta campaigns and will be hoping for considerably more.
3) Liverpool
Confirmed finish: 3rd
Current points total: 79
Highest possible points total: 82
Jurgen Klopp’s final season looks likely to match Erik ten Hag’s first at Manchester United, with third and some Carabao.
4) Aston Villa
Confirmed finish: 4th
Current points total: 68
Highest possible points total: 71
The 74 points Aston Villa racked up in the inaugural Premier League season remains a club record and is now out of reach. What a disastrous campaign.
5) Tottenham
Highest possible finish: 5th
Lowest possible finish: 6th
Current points total: 63
Highest possible points total: 66
Ange Postecoglou’s brave boys are no longer in this title race. But they did help probably settle it.
6) Chelsea
Highest possible finish: 5th
Lowest possible finish: 8th
Current points total: 60
Highest possible points total: 63
A strong finish has taken Chelsea well clear of the Jose Mourinho season.
7) Newcastle
Highest possible finish: 6th
Lowest possible finish: 8th
Current points total: 57
Highest possible points total: 60
How would Steve Bruce have managed with that injury crisis? Worth a thought. And a laugh.
8) Manchester United
Highest possible finish: 6th
Lowest possible finish: 8th
Current points total: 57
Highest possible points total: 60
Not bad at all for a team deliberately conceding the most shots in Europe. Their lowest Premier League finish (7th in 2013/14) and points total (58 in 2021/22) are in jeopardy.
9) West Ham
Confirmed finish: 9th
Current points total: 52
Highest possible points total: 55
David Moyes has officially turned West Ham into a top-half team and fair play to him for that.
10) Brighton
Highest possible finish: 10th
Lowest possible finish: 13th
Current points total: 48
Highest possible points total: 51
Roberto De Zerbi has barely won a Premier League game since September but would still be coveted by many clubs across Europe even after taking Brighton towards the bottom half.
11) Bournemouth
Highest possible finish: 10th
Lowest possible finish: 13th
Current points total: 48
Highest possible points total: 51
Ninth place remains a Premier League record for Bournemouth, who have already secured their best points total ever.
12) Crystal Palace
Highest possible finish: 10th
Lowest possible finish: 14th
Current points total: 46
Highest possible points total: 49
Those championship hopes are over for another season and Roy Hodgson has an awful lot to answer for. Liverpool, West Ham and Newcastle were all beaten before Manchester United were quite hilariously humbled and Wolves were vanquished. Palace would have wrapped the title up now if Oliver Glasner started in the summer.
13) Wolves
Highest possible finish: 10th
Lowest possible finish: 14th
Current points total: 46
Highest possible points total: 49
The managerial version of Gary O’Neil cannot actually be relegated.
14) Fulham
Highest possible finish: 12th
Lowest possible finish: 14th
Current points total: 44
Highest possible points total: 47
Fulham are about as close to fifth as they are 18th in terms of points. Lovely.
15) Everton
Highest possible finish: 15th
Lowest possible finish: 16th
Current points total: 40
Highest possible points total: 43
As Everton fans might point out, those points totals are very much subject to change. But they should be safe.
16) Brentford
Highest possible finish: 15th
Lowest possible finish: 16th
Current points total: 39
Highest possible points total: 42
Thomas Frank’s side have suffered the biggest drop-off in terms of points from last season to this, the poor things.
17) Nottingham Forest
Highest possible finish: 17th
Lowest possible finish: 18th
Current points total: 29
Highest possible points total: 32
With regards to Everton, the same stands for Forest, whose illusion of survival might only ever be temporary if the Premier League get their ducks in order quickly enough.
18) Luton
Highest possible finish: 17th
Lowest possible finish: 19th
Current points total: 26
Highest possible points total: 29
Here’s to that 12-goal swing on the final day.
19) Burnley
Highest possible finish: 18th
Lowest possible finish: 19th
Current points total: 24
Highest possible points total: 27
If only Vincent Kompany hadn’t spent the entire season complaining about referees.
20) Sheffield United
Confirmed finish: 20th
Current points total: 16
Highest possible points total: 19
The Derby barrier has been absolutely smashed but it doesn’t particularly feel as though Chris Wilder and his squad are going to push too far beyond that.