Football Features

How the Premier League table would look if football wasn’t a game of two halves

By James Amey

Published: 10:29, 30 November 2023

As the old saying goes, football is a game of two halves. But what if it wasn’t? Well, this article will give you an idea of how the 2023-24 Premier League table would look.

Arsenal currently lead the way, of course, returning from the international break with a 1-0 win over Brentford to leapfrog Manchester City. As things stand, they sit one point clear in the Premier League title race.

After this weekend’s draw, City are one point ahead of Liverpool and Aston Villa, who complete the top four in what has been an excellent season so far for Unai Emery’s men.

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At the bottom of the table, Everton’s points deduction dropped them in the relegation zone alongside Burnley and Sheffield United, with the latter duo fighting against an immediate return to the Championship. It’s easy to analyse the table on results alone, but when you take a deeper look into match periods there are some interesting trends.

Some teams are stronger in the first half, and some finish games better, whether that be due to tactics, fitness, momentum or an accumulation of all three plus more.

But the question is, who fits in where? Which teams are building off fast starts? And who may be being let down by dropping off in the second half?

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Man City’s drop-off

The unsurprising name at the top of the first-half table, Man City, would have won more points than any other Premier League side had games ended after 45 minutes this season, with 27 from a possible 39. However, they aren’t as formidable in the second half.

Just this weekend we saw Man City let a 1-0 half-time lead slip to Liverpool, eventually drawing 1-1 but effectively ‘losing’ the second half. It’s the third time Man City have been outscored after the break in the Premier League this season, also losing the second half (and the match) against Arsenal and Brighton (still winning the latter 2-1). Overall, in the ‘second-half’ table above, Man City slip down to eighth, with just the six wins and four draws, amassing 22 points – despite actually scoring more goals in the second half than they have the opening 45 minutes this season.

It is worth noting that Man City have dropped just four points from winning positions this season, which made us wonder whether City have merely been content to see out games after establishing strong leads. However, the only case where this is really true was the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, where there were no second-half goals after Rodri’s dismissal.

A sign the reigning champions are running out of steam in the latter stages of games?

Arsenal finishing strong

Elsewhere, Arsenal are very much a second-half side, as shown by their late 1-0 wins over Brentford and Man City this season as well as the comeback against Chelsea. The Brentford victory came just this past weekend, courtesy of Kai Havertz’s 89th-minute strike, the 10th goal scored by an Arsenal substitute this season.

Taking second-half results into account, the Gunners are top of the league — as they are in the real table — with 31 points. They’ve won the second half 10 times, with just one draw and two defeats. The only teams to avoid a second-half defeat to Arsenal in the Premier League this season are Tottenham (1-1 draw), Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, with the latter pair both winning 1-0. Of course, that Newcastle defeat is also the only game they have actually lost in the Premier League this season, while Nottingham Forest’s was just a late consolation on the opening weekend.

Of course, the flipside of this is Arsenal have been starting games poorly. So poorly their ‘first-half’ form is only the 10th-best in the Premier League. Could this derail their promising title challenge? Jamie Carragher thinks it might.

“If Arsenal continue how they are, I don’t think that team can win the league,” the former Liverpool defender said during Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.

“I really don’t because so many games are going down to the wire and sometimes that game can go against you. You think of the Ramsdale mistake, the big chance Brentford also had in the second half. Those games that are 1-0 can easily go against you.”

To a slightly lesser extent, Liverpool would be eighth if matches lasted just 45 minutes. Reds fans would not be surprised to hear this. They have won more points from losing positions (12) than any Premier League team in 2023-24.

Two surprising unbeaten starts

Across both first and second halves, only two teams have avoided defeat in one particular period. Both came in the first half. The first may be less surprising, Tottenham. In the first 45 minutes of the thirteen Premier League games played so far, Tottenham have won 21 points through four wins and, much less impressively, nine draws.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have been ahead at the break against Burnley, Fulham, Wolves and Bournemouth. There has also been a 2-2 draw against Brentford, four 1-1s including against Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, and four goalless draws.

Chelsea, holding onto their spot in the top half of the actual Premier League table, are the other team unbeaten in the first half. A big surprise, but also understandable given how underwhelming they have been. The Blues have won just three of their first halves, with 10 draws and no defeats.

The Blues have only led at the break against Fulham, Luton and Arsenal, of course going on to draw the latter. Like Tottenham, there was been a 2-2 draw for Chelsea, in that thriller against Man City, and four stalemates alongside five games at 1-1. The latest 1-1 did come against Newcastle at the weekend, which they went on to lose 4-1, in keeping with their terrible second halves.

Newcastle showing consistency

Looking across both tables, there’s one side really shining for consistency. Newcastle are fourth in both the first-half and second-half tables, with 22 and 25 points respectively. In the first half there have been six ‘wins’ for the Magpies, including two 3-0 leads against Crystal Palace and Sheffield United. However, not every advantage has led to a win, with Liverpool, for example, coming from 1-0 down at half-time to beat Newcastle 2-1.

Newcastle have also trailed at the break three times, against West Ham, Brighton and Man City, only coming back to manage a draw against the Hammers. Of course, the Liverpool defeat came from a second-half drop, and that is one of four defeats in the final 45 minutes.

The Magpies have also ‘lost’ the second half against Brighton, Bournemouth and Wolves, with the latter the only game Newcastle managed to get a point from. However, Newcastle have also won eight games in the second half. They include three by margins of three or more goals, recently added to by the 3-0 second-half win over Chelsea at the weekend.

West Ham’s finishing problems

When you look at the first half table, your eyes might be drawn to West Ham and their 24 points in the opening 45 minutes, second only to Man City. The Hammers have been leading at the break in six of their 13 games so far, and only trailed against Aston Villa, with six draws.

But one of the reasons why West Ham are only ninth in the actual Premier League table, is due to the way they finish matches. In the second half table, the Hammers drop down to 14th, with just four wins and six defeats — and a points difference of nine between the first and second halves. And the problem hasn’t solely been the games level at half time, West Ham have won three of those with two defeats and a draw. West Ham have also lost two games having led at half-time as well as one draw, including lost leads against Newcastle and Man City.

Premier League ‘first-half’ table of 2023-24

# TEAM W D L FOR AGAINST GD Points
1. Man City 8 3 2 16 5 11 27
2. West Ham 6 6 1 11 5 6 24
3. Aston Villa 6 4 3 13 6 7 22
4. Newcastle 6 4 3 13 6 7 22
5. Brentford 5 7 2 9 7 2 22
6. Brighton 7 1 5 10 11 -1 22
7. Tottenham 4 9 0 12 7 4 21
8. Liverpool 5 5 3 12 8 4 20
9. Chelsea 3 10 0 11 7 4 19
10. Arsenal 4 7 2 8 4 4 19
11. Crystal Palace 2 9 2 3 5 -2 15
12. Nottingham Forest 3 5 5 6 11 -5 14
13. Everton 2 7 4 7 9 -2 13
14. Wolves 2 7 4 4 6 -2 13
15. Man Utd 2 6 5 5 8 -3 12
16. Bournemouth 2 6 5 7 13 -6 12
17. Luton 1 7 5 2 6 -4 10
18. Fulham 1 6 6 3 10 -7 9
19. Burnley 2 3 8 5 13 -8 9
20. Sheffield United 1 6 6 3 12 -9 9

Premier League ‘second-half’ table of 2023-24

# TEAM W D L FOR AGAINST GD Points
1. Arsenal 10 1 2 19 6 13 31
2. Liverpool 9 2 2 16 3 13 29
3. Tottenham 8 2 3 14 10 4 26
4. Newcastle 8 1 4 18 8 10 25
5. Brighton 8 1 4 18 12 6 25
6. Aston Villa 7 3 3 18 12 6 24
7. Man Utd 7 2 4 11 8 3 23
8. Man City 6 4 3 17 8 9 22
9. Nottingham Forest 4 6 3 10 10 0 18
10. Fulham 5 3 5 10 12 -2 18
11. Everton 5 1 7 7 11 -4 16
12. Brentford 4 3 6 10 11 -1 15
13. Crystal Palace 4 3 6 10 13 -3 15
14. West Ham 4 3 6 12 18 -6 15
15. Chelsea 3 4 6 11 13 -2 13
16. Wolves 4 3 6 14 17 -3 12
17. Bournemouth 2 4 7 7 15 -8 10
18. Luton 1 6 6 10 17 -7 9
19. Sheffield United 2 3 8 8 22 -14 9
20. Burnley 0 3 10 5 19 -14 3