FOOTBALL4 min readMarch 22, 2026
Premier League Table Explained: How Points Work, Tiebreakers and Relegation
By The Score Central Editorial Team
The Premier League table ranks 20 clubs by points earned across a 38-match season. Three points for a win, one for a draw, zero for a loss. The team with the most points at the end of the season is champion. The three clubs at the bottom are relegated to the Championship.
Points and the Season Structure
The Premier League runs from August to May. Each of the 20 teams plays every other team twice, once at home and once away, for 38 matches total. A win earns 3 points, a draw earns 1 point for each team, and a loss earns 0. The theoretical maximum is 114 points, though no club has exceeded 100 in the Premier League era.
Manchester City hold the record with 100 points in the 2017-18 season. Liverpool came closest to matching it with 99 points in 2019-20, losing the title to City by 1 point.
- Win: 3 points | Draw: 1 point each | Loss: 0
- 38 matches per team per season
- Season maximum: 114 points
- Record: 100 points by Manchester City, 2017-18
Tiebreakers: When Teams Are Level on Points
If two or more clubs finish on equal points, goal difference separates them first. Goal difference is goals scored minus goals conceded across all 38 matches. If goal difference is also equal, goals scored is next. If still equal, head-to-head record between the tied teams applies.
In practice, goal difference almost always separates teams before further tiebreakers are needed. However, the possibility of a goal difference tiebreaker is why managers sometimes chase goals in matches where the result is already decided.
Has goal difference ever decided the title?
In the 1988-89 season, Arsenal and Liverpool finished level on points and level on goal difference. Arsenal won the title on goals scored, having netted more total goals than Liverpool that season. It remains one of the most dramatic title-deciders in English football history.
- First tiebreaker: goal difference (goals scored minus goals conceded)
- Second: goals scored
- Third: head-to-head record
- Arsenal won the 1989 title over Liverpool on goals scored after both were equal on points and goal difference
European Qualification Spots
The top 4 clubs qualify for the UEFA Champions League. 5th place enters the Europa League group stage. 6th and 7th qualify for the UEFA Conference League. These spots can shift if a Premier League club wins a domestic cup that allocates an extra European place.
Cup wins can push the European qualification boundary down a place. If the FA Cup winner already finishes in the top 4, the next highest-placed uninvited club gets the Europa League spot instead.
- Top 4: Champions League
- 5th: Europa League
- 6th and 7th: Conference League
- Cup winners can affect which league positions earn European football
Relegation: The Bottom Three
The 3 clubs finishing 18th, 19th, and 20th are automatically relegated to the Championship. There are no playoff matches for Premier League clubs. Relegation typically costs a club at least 100 million pounds in lost broadcast revenue, which is why the fight around 18th place is some of the most intense football of the season.
Promoted Championship clubs return to the top flight the following season. Three Championship clubs are promoted each year: the top 2 automatically, and the winner of a playoff between 3rd and 6th places in the Championship.
- Bottom 3 relegated automatically, no playoff
- Relegation costs roughly 100 million or more in lost broadcast fees
- Three clubs promoted from the Championship each year replace them
- The fight around 18th place in April and May is the most tense period of the season for lower clubs
Follow live scores on The Score Central