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Can anyone catch Manchester United's all-time points lead?
By Mason Maier · 25 September 2026 · 4 min read
Thirteen years after Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United still top the all-time Premier League table, as they have since April 1993. The lead is shrinking, though, and for the first time a club is on course to catch them.
The all-time top six
| Club | Played | Points | Per game |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester United | 1,309 | 2,619 | 2.00 |
| Arsenal | 1,309 | 2,485 | 1.90 |
| Liverpool | 1,309 | 2,411 | 1.84 |
| Chelsea | 1,309 | 2,373 | 1.81 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 1,309 | 1,994 | 1.52 |
| Manchester City | 1,119 | 1,973 | 1.76 |
The top five have played in every Premier League season. City missed five (1996/97 to 1999/2000, and 2001/02), which is why they're sixth despite the fifth-best points per game of the league's 51 clubs. The full table, for any span of seasons, is on the all-time Premier League table.
A lead built under Ferguson
United have led the all-time table without a break since 10 April 1993, having been overtaken by Norwich and Aston Villa that spring. In Sir Alex Ferguson's 21 Premier League seasons they took 1,752 points from 810 games, 2.16 a game, and when he retired in May 2013 they were 230 points clear of Arsenal.
They were the first club to 1,000 points, in October 2004, and the first to 2,000, in February 2017, in their 949th game. Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool followed them past 2,000 between July 2020 and April 2021.
The lead kept growing after he left
Since 2013/14, United have taken 1.74 points a game. Over the 13 completed seasons from 2013/14 to 2025/26 that puts them fifth of these six: City 1,096 points, Liverpool 1,007, Arsenal 951, Chelsea 889, United 862 and Tottenham 834.
Yet the lead over Arsenal kept growing for eight more years. Arsenal had a lean spell of their own, and the gap peaked at 244 points on 11 April 2021.
Arsenal are closing in
Since then Arsenal have outscored United every season: by 11 points in 2021/22, 9 in 2022/23, 29 in 2023/24, 32 in 2024/25 and 14 in 2025/26, and by 7 in the first five games of 2026/27. The gap is down to 134.
At the rate of the last three seasons, 25 points a season, Arsenal would draw level in about five and a half seasons, around 2031/32. At the five-season rate of 19 it would take seven, into 2033/34. Liverpool, 208 behind and gaining 16 to 18 points a season, are on course for the late 2030s. Chelsea, 246 behind, have barely gained at all.
The race behind: City and Spurs
Further down, City are about to pass Tottenham for fifth. They're 21 points behind with 190 fewer games played, and they outscored Spurs by 33 points in 2024/25 and 37 in 2025/26. After five games of 2026/27, City have 15 points and Spurs 2.
Both are also closing on 2,000 points. Spurs need 6 and City 27, so on this season's form City could get there first and become the fifth club to reach it. As for City catching United: 646 points behind and gaining 22 or 23 a season, they would need until the mid-2050s.
The table updates after every match. To see how it got here, replay the whole race match day by match day on the race chart, or open any club's page, starting with Manchester United and Arsenal.