How the Premier League 2024-25 state of play compares to this time last season | OneFootball

The 2024-25 Premier League is about to return from the November international break and there will be no major interruptions until March.

This is the dream period for Premier League fans, especially as November eventually turns to December and the festive football fixture list edges closer.

Everyone wants to be top at Christmas, and no one wants to be bottom. But we’re not there yet.

There have been 11 games in the Premier League so far this season, and we’ll soon be a third of the way through the campaign.

Things are started to take shape at both ends of the table. But how different was it last season?

Premier League title race

After 11 games of the 2024-25 Premier League season, Liverpool are threatening to run away at the top of the table. The Reds have dropped just five points so far, with one draw and one defeat alongside nine wins. They’ve drawn with Arsenal and lost against Nottingham Forest. But they’ve also managed wins over the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Aston Villa.

Manchester City are the closest challengers, winning seven of their 11 games this season. But they have fallen away slightly after a two-game losing streak. Arsenal were among the pre-season favourites and they currently sit fourth, but they are five points behind Man City and nine off Liverpool. It’s already looking to be a two-horse race.

And Liverpool host Man City soon. Even at this early stage, it will be a crucial game for the title race.

Throwing back to last season, Man City led the table after 11 games. They had won nine and lost two, beaten by Wolves and Arsenal in back-to-back matches. But things were a lot closer behind them.

Just five points separated Man City and fifth-placed Aston Villa — the same distance between the Citizens and league leaders Liverpool at this moment. Tottenham Hotspur were the closest challengers, one point behind Man City after 11 games. Ange Postecoglou’s men had just tasted defeat in the league for the first time, beaten 4-1 by Chelsea. That would be the start of their fall away.

Liverpool and Arsenal were next up on 24 points, with identical records including goal difference. And they would go on to be Man City’s closest challengers for the title. There was a lot of excitement at the time, though, as no one knew who would take charge.

Premier League top four battle

While there is a clear leader in the title race this season, things are too hard to call in the battle for fourth. As always, top four guarantees Champions League football for next season no matter what happens elsewhere. Fifth may also be enough, but clubs will want to avoid that doubt and reliance on European competitions.

As the Premier League returns from the November international break, four teams are level on 19 points. Chelsea and Arsenal have the benefit of being in the top four, but they are closely followed by Nottingham Forest and Brighton. All four teams have won five, drawn four and lost two so far, with Chelsea drawing against Forest and Arsenal, while beating Brighton.

Nottingham Forest are the real surprise team, but they have been well worth their points return. Nuno Espirito Santo has led his men to a famous victory over Liverpool at Anfield, the only game the Reds have lost this season.

The top four race isn’t done there though. Three more teams are just one point back, with Fulham, Newcastle United and Aston Villa all chasing.

At this point last season, a group was already starting to form. As mentioned, the title race saw the top five covered by just five points. Three of those will have been battling for the final two Champions League shots, which were held by Liverpool and Arsenal. Aston Villa were on the outside looking in, two points behind. As we all know, they would be the ones to benefit from Tottenham’s fall. But at the time it wasn’t certain.

Looking further down the table, Newcastle, Brighton and Man United will have harboured top four hopes. Newcastle were just two points behind Aston Villa, and two points ahead of Brighton and Man United. The Red Devils were an interesting case, as they are this season. They had won six of their opening 11 Premier League games, losing the other five.

Chelsea, who currently sit third, were down in 10th with just four wins from their opening 11. And Forest were 13th, still led by Steve Cooper.

Premier League relegation battle

At the other end of the table, the relegation battle is an interesting one. Before the season started, the three newly-promoted sides were favourites to go back down to the Championship. And after 11 games, just one is in the relegation zone.

That team, of course, is Southampton who have taken four points from their opening 11 games. Saints have managed just one win on their return to the top flight, a smash-and-grab of sorts against Everton. It was a slow start to season for a handful of teams who had to wait a long time for their first wins. Wolves and Ipswich Town both got their first wins of the season in the final weekend before the international break. Ipswich’s came against Tottenham in a huge victory.

Wolves are still in the relegation zone, two points clear of Southampton, with Crystal Palace completing the bottom three. But the Eagles are just one point behind 17th-placed Ipswich.

Last season, two of the three promoted sides occupied the relegation zone after 11 matches. And the third were only outside it on goal difference. Things were a bit closer though. just two points separated bottom-of-the-league Sheffield United and Luton Town in 17th.

Like this season, the bottom four all managed just one win from their opening 11 games. But draws were less frequent. Both Sheffield United and Burnley had won one and drawn one alongside nine defeats. Bournemouth and Luton had won one and drawn three.

There was also a bigger gap to the rest of the team. Everton sat 16th last season but were five points clear of 17th-placed Luton. This was before their points deduction, which was what made things tighter come the end of the campaign.

Golden Boot standings

In a surprise to no one, Erling Haaland is top of the scoring charts right now. The Norwegian striker has scored 12 goals so far this season, from 989 minutes and an Expected Goals total of 11.09. He sits four points clear of his closest challengers, Chris Wood, Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbeumo and Cole Palmer.

Wood is a surprise name in the top five, but he’s been in phenomenal form for a rising Nottingham Forest. The New Zealand striker had scored just three goals at this stage last season, but he wasn’t a regular starter then, playing just 233 minutes.

Haaland was also top of the table after 11 games last season, with 11 goals in 934 minutes from an xG of 10.62. His lead last year just slightly less on three goals, with Salah again among the chasing pack. The Liverpool man was joined on eight goals by Son Heung-min, whose eight goals had come from just 4.49 xG.

Mbeumo had a similar start to the season, with six goals after 11 gameweeks last time out, playing every possible minute for Brentford. Palmer, though, hadn’t started his goalscoring run for Chelsea with three goals from 515 minutes.

Playmaker Award

In terms of creativity, Bukayo Saka is leading the way in the Premier League this season. The Englishman has provided seven assists so far this season, one more than second-placed Salah. After 11 gameweeks last season, Saka had provided just three assists, while Salah was on four.

There are some similarities in numbers from the top three, with seven assists followed by six, followed by five. Palmer completes this season’s top three so far. Last season, Pedro Neto led the way on seven assists, with Kieran Trippier on six and Jeremy Doku on five.

But Doku was one of three players on five assists, which is where the key difference comes in. This season, after Palmer’s five, there are two players on four assists before moving into three assists. Last season, after three players on five, there were two on four. So seven players with at least four assists last season, compared to five this season.

Palmer has also climbed up the rankings, having provided two assists at this stage last season. But he had to wait for his moment after joining Chelsea. Of course, they haven’t looked back.