Teams with the most points after 20 games in a Premier League season

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are currently loving life at the top of the Premier League. The imperious Gunners have amassed a whopping 50 points midway through the 2022-23 season as they go in search of their first title since 2004.

There is of course still a long way to go before we reach the run-in, but history suggests that Arteta’s side are well placed to push on and claim an unlikely title win.

Arsenal’s collection of points in 19 games is fifth in Premier League history and the Gunners have already secured their place among the teams with the most points in 20 games.

These are the teams that have scored the most points in 20 games in Premier League history.

The current Gunners have already improved their score from 2007/08 despite having played a game less. Arsene Wenger’s side were caught up in an initially tight title race and were unable to sustain their impressive start.

Four successive draws with the likes of Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic saw them drop to second place with just eight games remaining, as Manchester United leapfrogged them into first place.

The two sides faced each other in the final few weeks of the season, and a 2–1 win for the Red Devils saw Arsenal drop to third. The Gunners eventually finished four points behind the eventual champions.

We’ll get into Man City’s 2018/19 season a little later.

In the 2011/12 Premier League season, it was Manchester City who topped the table after 20 games, with a total of 48 points, giving them a three-point lead over United and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Citizens spent most of the season at the top of the league, but a shock 1-0 defeat to Swansea City in March opened the door for United, and the Red Devils managed to draw level with their rivals when they lost a 1 earned. -0 win over City with only two games remaining.

This season, however, had one of the most memorable conclusions in recent years, with the two sides tied on points on the final day of the season. With City drawing 2-2 against Queens Park Rangers, United’s 1-0 win over Sunderland looked to have given them the title, only for a late Sergio Agüero goal to ruin the party and give City their first Premier League title worried.

49 points is a regular milestone since the league’s inception, with United and Chelsea on that tally after 20 games a total of five times.

United stormed to both the 1993/94 and 2012/13 league titles, but their three-point lead over Arsenal in the 2003/04 season was not enough to take them to victory. Instead, they came away from the Arsenal ‘Invincibles’, who finished the season an incredible 15 points ahead of third-placed United.

As for Chelsea, they managed to keep their position and lift the trophy in both seasons. They finished 12 points ahead of Arsenal in 2005 and seven points ahead of Tottenham in 2017.

The two Manchester clubs amassed 50 points each during their title-winning seasons in 2006/07 and 2021/22.

Led by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, as well as a significant contribution from former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United have looked to be in charge of the division all season.

Apart from a two-week spell earlier in the season, United were at the top of the league throughout the campaign and did not waver their position as they finished six points clear of the Blues to take another Premier League title.

Meanwhile, City overcame defeat on the opening weekend of the season at Spurs as they quickly asserted their superiority with a 12-match win streak that began in November. They were pushed all the way by Liverpool and had to come from behind on the final day to win another league title.

Liverpool looked destined to claim their first Premier League title of the 2018-19 season as they started the season with just six points in 20 games.

They conceded just eight goals in that period and an upset victory over Arsenal at Anfield just after Christmas cemented their status as the best in the Premier League.

However, defeat at the Etihad gave Man City – who amassed 47 points in 20 games – a route back to the title race and as the Reds’ imperious form continued, City didn’t bat an eye either and eventually knocked Klopp’s side to the title.

A 2–0 win over Birmingham saw Chelsea finish their 20th game of the 2005/06 season with 55 points, despite already suffering defeat at the hands of United in November.

Nevertheless, the Blues were 11 points clear at the top of the table and stood head and shoulders above the rest of the division in their rampant run to the league title.

Chelsea finished with 91 points and the eight-point deficit to second-placed United could have been much greater. However, having already clinched the title, a lackluster Chelsea side suffered pointless defeats at the hands of Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United in the closing weeks of the campaign.

The City side of the 2017/18 season may have been one of the most dominant England have ever seen, but they were matched by their fierce domestic rivals in 2019/20.

Pep Guardiola’s men managed 58 points after 20 games, dropping just two points against Everton in the second week of the season. An emphatic 5-0 win over Liverpool in September set the tone for this season and City walked to success.

They waltzed to the title, becoming the first and only side to reach 100 points in a single Premier League season. 2019/20 Liverpool looked destined to emulate City’s centurions campaign, but their form took a dive after securing their first Premier League title win of the summer amid a COVID-affected season.