All-Time Best Premier League Teams

The Premier League is one of the best leagues in the world, welcoming the top players from every country on the planet. It is very rare for someone to be considered the best player in their position and yet not to have played in the English top-flight at some point. As a result, the best teams during the Premier League era could be considered amongst the best sides ever to have played the game.

These things can be looked at objectively rather than subjectively, on account of the fact that we can look at simple things such as how many games they’ve won during their time in the modern top-flight and how many games they’ve played.

Table current as of the end of 2023/2024 campaign and will be updated after each season

Manchester United

When it comes to the Premier League, one team sits dominant above all of the others. When Alex Ferguson took over as the manager of Manchester United, the club had won the same number of league titles and European Cups as Aston Villa. Thanks to the genius of the Scot, however, they left the villains in their wake, picking up two Champions Leagues and 13 Premier League titles.

One of Ferguson’s best attributes was knowing when he needed to shake things up in order to keep them fresh, regularly changing his Assistant Manager during the 1990s and 2000s to ensure that the players heard new voices when necessary.

The Scot also knew how to pick an enemy, arriving at Old Trafford with the aim of ‘knocking Liverpool off their perch’, then stoking the flames of arguments with Arsene Wenger at Arsenal before locking horns with José Mourinho at Chelsea. Such was the all-encompassing nature of Ferguson at Manchester United that the club barely went a season without winning some silverware, until he made the decision that it was time to retire.

Prior to then the lowest the Red Devils finished in the league was third, but the moment he retired they dropped to seventh and added just two second-place finishes to their list of accomplishments.

Arsenal

One of the best things that Arsenal managed to do for many years was finish in the top four. This not only allowed them to be in the following season’s Champions League, although they never won it, but also to attract the sorts of players that would want to play in Europe’s elite competition.

It is likely that Arsene Wenger knew that, which is why he treated a top four finish like a trophy in and of itself. Having finished 10th, 12th and 5th in the years prior to his arrival, the Frenchman got the Gunners into the top three in his first season and then won the title in his second, finishing in the top four every year thereafter.

Arsene Wenger got Arsenal into the top four for 20 seasons in a row which is quite good when you think about it

— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) February 6, 2021

Not only did Wenger make the Gunners into a top four qualifying machine, he also took them to an unbeaten Premier League season, which was something that no other manager has been able to accomplish since the rebrand.

In the wake of Wenger’s departure from the club at the end of the 2017-2018 season, Arsenal struggled to replace him and the all-encompassing control that he had over the club. The result was six successive finishes outside of the top four, which only stopped happening when Mikel Arteta left Manchester City to take on the manager’s job and helped them to finish second twice in a row.

Liverpool

Liverpool were the best team in the country during much of the 1970s and 1980s, but the club failed to respond to the changing of the guard when the Premier League launched. That allowed fierce rivals Manchester United to not only catch up with the Reds but also to overtake them.

Numerous managers had a good go at getting the Merseyside club back to the promised land, with all of Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier and Rafael Benítez managing a second-place finish during their times in the hot-seat. Ultimately, though, it took an almighty push to even get close and the club invariably fell away the season that followed.

@projectfootball

Congratulations @liverpoolfc – 2019/20 Premier League Champions! 🏆

♬ original sound – Project Football

The Reds still enjoyed plenty of success away from the Premier League, however. A treble in 2000-2001 will live long in the memory, whilst success in the Champions League in 2005 was unexpected but considered one of the finest comebacks ever to grace the competition.

It is also worth noting that the lowest that the club every finished in the Premier League was eighth. It was Jürgen Klopp who finally took the Merseysiders back to the summit of the English game, finishing with 97 points in 2018-2019 and 92 points in 2021-2022; both points totals that would’ve won the league in pretty much any other year. They finally managed it in 2019-2020 with 99 points.

Chelsea

It would be a gross re-writing of history to say that Chelsea were not successful prior to the arrival of Roman Abramovich at Stamford Bridge, with the London club having won the title and some FA Cups and League Cups in the past. At the same time, it would be untrue to say that the Russian didn’t completely change the fortunes of the Londoners, who won five Premier League titles and two Champions League trophies under his ownership.

From the moment that he arrived in 2003, the club changed the way that most people thought about transfers and the state of a squad, spending billions putting together the best he could.

It took Roman Abramovich 17 months to take 4th place Chelsea to win a his first trophy…..20 months to win his first Premier league title ….
It’s took Boehly/Clearlake to take over The European and World club Champions just 6 months to ruin all that and 12 months to destroy it pic.twitter.com/xAqKiOTaS9

— Glen Robertson (@gsrobertson89) August 6, 2024

Never shy of pulling the trigger on a manager’s tenure if he thought it was necessary, the likes of José Mourinho, Guys Hiddink and Carlo Ancelotti all spend time in London helping the club to enjoy many years of success. In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, however, Abramovich was forced to sell the club, with Todd Boehly leading a group of backers and deciding to alter the way they did business.

Boehly opted for a scattergun approach that resulted in 12th and sixth-place finishes, along with the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino just when it felt as though he was getting to grips with the squad that Boehly had bloated.

Tottenham Hotspur

In a footballing sense, the phrase ‘always the bridesmaid’ could’ve been invented for Tottenham Hotspur. The North London club have had to spend many a year looking over at their fierce rivals Arsenal with green eyes of envy, despairing as the Gunners won Premier League titles and FA Cups galore. Spurs, meanwhile, bounced around the top-flight in a way that never really threatened to result in title-winning success but was also never really bad enough to see them relegated down to the Championship.

The club’s worst finish was 15th in 1993-1994, but that was when there were 22 teams so they weren’t really in any danger.

@bbcsport

Ange Postecoglou isn’t ruling Spurs out 👀 #BBCFootball #AngePostecoglou #Ange #Tottenham #Spurs #THFC #EPL

♬ original sound – BBC Sport

The 2009-2010 campaign was something of a turning point for Spurs. The club finished fourth for the first time since the Premier League era began, using that as a springboard for regular success. In the decade and a half that followed, the worst that Tottenham did in the top-flight was finish 8th, being much more of a challenger for the Champions League places than ever before.

There were also a couple of title challenges in there, thanks to the stability and intelligence brought to the club by Mauricio Pochettino. Although they missed out every time, much to the delight of Arsenal fans, it at least allowed them to dream.

Manchester City

If Roman Abramovich at Chelsea changed the way that clubs thought about transfers, Manchester City under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi Group, with Sheikh Mansour at the helm, completely reinvented it. The club’s success has been astronomical since the takeover, turning a club that spent the first few years of the Premier League dealing with relegations and attempts to get back into the top-flight into one that won it on a regular basis.

From the moment that Pep Guardiola arrived at the Etihad, the Cityzens were virtually unstoppable and only Liverpool managed to go toe-to-toe with them in a way that made any real difference.

Of course, it would be silly not to mention that the Manchester club had to fight 115 charges of financial misconduct from the Premier League, as well as go to the Court of Arbitration For Sport in order to overturn a ban from Europe that UEFA imposed on them.

It means that many opposition supporters believe that their success was similar to that of Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France and will always have an asterisk against it. For the supporters that witnessed the good times come back to the club, however, all of that is entirely moot; they got to celebrate winning the titles and no one will ever take that away from them.

Everton

Should you be after an example of a club that makes the list more by virtue of longevity than accomplishments then you need look no further than Everton. The Blue club on Merseyside has spent most of its existence staring at Liverpool with envy and anger, witnessing them dominate for two decades and then win countless other trophies even if not winning the Premier League very often.

For Everton, the biggest success that the club has been able to talk about since 1992 is the fact that they haven’t been relegated, although they have come close on more than a few occasions over the years.

“We shall not be moved” rings out at Goodison Park as players and supporters celebrate Everton confirming their Premier League survival.

A fitting end to an extraordinary fight this season. pic.twitter.com/mRl6IlcESw

— Joe Thomas (@joe_thomas18) April 27, 2024

The Blues finished 17th in 1997-1998, doing so again at the end of the 2003-2004 campaign and in 2022-2023. There is certainly an argument that the Toffees are more at home in the bottom half of the table than the top half, but there was a period between 2005 and 2014 when they only finished outside of the top ten once.

Chronic mismanagement over the years put the Blues in real trouble, however, and they only managed to stay in the top-flight thanks to the poor performances of other teams rather than the brilliance of their own work. Perhaps the opening of a new stadium is the thing they need to spark a period of success.

Newcastle United

The Magpies have enjoyed one of the maddest periods of football since the rebranding of the top-flight to the Premier League. Not even in it when it launched, they finished third in their first season back in the big time and were one of the most exciting teams to watch under the management of Kevin Keegan, finishing twice in successive seasons.

In the wake of that followed mid-table mediocrity, then another stint back in the fight for the top four before enduring some struggles again. The worst thing imaginable happened at the end of the 2008-2009 campaign when they finished 18th and were relegated down to the Championship.

Under the ownership of Mike Ashley, Newcastle were a club more about making him money than aiming for regular success. Another relegation followed at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 season and then the Geordies got their wish when new owners came in.

Fans of other sides, and some Newcastle supporters, were somewhat disgusted to learn that the murderous regime of Saudi Arabia had been allowed to buy the club via it’s Public Investment Fund, happily spending millions to try to turn the club into regular title contenders. Although that didn’t happen immediately, it was certainly the trajectory the club was on.

Aston Villa

In the Premier League’s inaugural season, Aston Villa finished second behind Manchester United. It was seen by supporters as a sign of what was to come in the new era of football, only for a tenth-place finish to follow and an 18th to come the season after that. In fact, they only avoided relegation because there were 22 teams in the league that season.

The Villains finished in the top ten in the seven seasons that followed, but never really did much to threatened the teams at the top of the table. In some ways, that has been Villa’s entire history in the Premier League: bobbling around without really offending anyone.

@premierleague

Sir Alex Ferguson called Aston Villa’s rise after they lost their opening match 5-1! 🔮 #PremierLeague #AstonVilla

♬ original sound – Premier League

The club has had troublesome times, however. At the end of the 2015-2016 season they were relegated down to the Championship, staying there for the following three seasons before gaining promotion via the Play-Offs.

When they got back into the top-flight it was initially a struggle, with a 17th-place finish seeing them only just avoid going back down. From there it was a case of steady improvement, with the appointment of Unai Emery into the manager’s role allowing them to genuinely turn a corner. In fact, the Spaniard led them to their joint-second best finish when they ended up fourth in 2023-2024.

West Ham United

When it comes to London-based clubs, West Ham United are not one of the ones that anyone is likely to think of as being Premier League challengers. The Hammers weren’t even in the top-flight when the rebrand happened, gaining promotion thanks to a second-place finish in what was then the First Division.

That, in some ways, is the story of their Premier League experience, being relegated out of it twice in the years that followed and being nailed on for a mid-table finish pretty much every year since they gained promotion back into it via the Play-Offs at the end of the 2011-2012 Championship campaign.

West Ham back to default midtable club settings

— foundational Black Fantsenyi🇬🇭 (@SamKwasiBoateng) December 15, 2021

Although David Moyes will never be seen as one of the most exciting manager in club football, he did manage to put some sense of reliability into the Hammers when he took over there. Not only did the club avoid any sense of a relegation battle under him but they also regularly took points off the big clubs at the top of the table. His finest achievement came when he led them to European success for the first time ever, winning the Europa Conference League.

Having bobbed up and down between the Premier League and the Championship in the past, it now seems that the club is settled, even if unlikely to ever challenge at the top.