Arsenal drop to third in the Premier League’s all-time table

As every sports fan knows the past is the past and what matters is current results. However, I stumbled across an interesting statistic that said a lot about the 30-year history of the Premier League since it was established in 1992-1993. It’s a chart that lays out what the table looks like based on the all-time Premier League records. As an Arsenal fan, I was not surprised to see the club near the top of the table.

Yet, the gap between the Gunners and current rivals is evidence that Arsenal is losing ground.

There have been 50 different clubs that have played in the top-flight since the top division was launched under its current mould in 1992. Of those 50, only six have been a part of the league every season. This elite group includes Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and Tottenham.

It’s no surprise to find Manchester United atop the all-time standings. Under Sir Alex Ferguson, United was the preeminent Premier League side and won a record 13 titles. While United has slipped a bit in recent years, all that winning gives them an all-time record of 2,332 points in 1,129 EPL matches. The club’s goal differential is a staggering +1120.

Arsenal drop to third in the Premier League’s all-time table with Chelsea overtaking Mikel Arteta’s side for total number of points accrued

When I first started following Arsenal in the early 2000’s, it was a time when the Gunners and the Red Devils were the dominant clubs in the league. Back then only three teams had ever won the division: Manchester United, Arsenal, and Blackburn.

Things have certainly changed since then and much of that is down to money and new ownership.

Chelsea has always been one of the top teams in the league, but the club truly became a powerhouse side when Roman Abramovich purchased the Blues in the summer of 2003. At that point, Arsenal had a cumulative total of 770 Premier League points (and two league titles) to Chelsea’s 662 points and zero championships.

Abramovich and the Blues immediately began spending big money and since then Chelsea has passed Arsenal in the all-time standings with 1,435 points (and five league titles) while Arsenal won just one more title while accumulating 1,325 points.

At the time of this writing, Chelsea has gone past Arsenal in the all-time overall standings with 2,100 total points to the Gunners’ 2,098 points. The gap is getting bigger. This season, Chelsea currently leads Arsenal by ten points.

Another club moving up the cumulative standings is Liverpool. Under Jurgen Klopp’s leadership, Liverpool finally won its first Premier League title in 2019/2020 and has become one of the most consistent teams in the league since. Liverpool now sits fourth all-time with 2,054 points; a total of just 44 behind Arsenal.

Manchester City has moved up the table quickly. The club sits sixth all-time above Everton by the solitary point. What makes this feat so impressive is the fact that Everton has spent 30 years in the top-flight. At the same time, Man City was an inconsistent yo-yo team that spent a total of five seasons outside of the Premier League. In fact, the club was relegated to Division Two for the 1998/1999 season. It wasn’t until Sheikh Mansour took over ownership in 2008 that a new powerhouse side was born.

Over the past twelve campaigns, City has qualified for the Champions League every season, while winning five EPL titles. And, despite the club’s past, Manchester City has accumulated 1,572 points from just 940 top-flight matches.

Of course, the table is constantly evolving. From an Arsenal point of view, however, the club needs to concentrate on improving its current form and not resting on laurels from its past successes.

Back-to-back wins with three points against West Ham on Wednesday would be one small step in the right direction in the context of these figures, but a huge one with respect to this season.