Premier League 2025-26: How many points does it take to win the title?

Six gameweeks into the 2025-26 Premier League season, and it would take the most courageous - or fool-hardy - soul to confidently predict which way the the title race will swing when all is said and done.

Reigning champions Liverpool went into their clash with Crystal Palace boasting a 100% record for the season, but Arne Slot's crop failed to truly convince in any of those successes, requiring goals in the 80th minute or later in four of them.

The Reds' luck finally ran out in a deserved 2-1 defeat to the FA Cup holders, who only nabbed all three points through Eddie Nketiah right at the death but could have easily gone into half time with a three or four-goal advantage had it not been for an inspired Alisson Becker.

Liverpool fans were about to breathe a little easier on Sunday evening, as Arsenal were seconds away from dropping points away at Newcastle United, only for set-piece specialist Gabriel Magalhaes to head home a dramatic 96th-minute winner in a 2-1 victory for the Gunners.

While Liverpool are still looking down on all the other 19 teams in the division, Arsenal have now moved to within two points of Slot's men, who are also just three points better off than Crystal Palace amid the Eagles' outstanding unbeaten run under Oliver Glasner.

As the Premier League title race heats up even at this early stage, Sports Mole takes a look at how many points are traditionally needed to win the English top-flight crown.

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At least 88 points may be required to win Premier League title

The Premier League was formed in 1992 and a total of 42 matches were played by 22 clubs in each of the first three seasons, before the league was reduced to 20 teams with 38 games played from the 1995-96 season onwards.

Since and including the first Premier League season in 1992-93, the average number of points accumulated by the champions is 87.7, but recent history suggests that title contenders will need more than that to come out on top given that seven of the last nine winners have tallied higher.

Since the arrival of legendary manager Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in 2016, the average has risen to 92.5 points, though Liverpool's 20th title success brought the number down slightly from 93.6.

Guardiola successfully steered Man City to an unprecedented fourth consecutive title in the 2023-24 season - his sixth in total since arriving in England - but he endured a difficult 2024-25 campaign as his Citizens’ side were forced to settle for a third-placed finish, 13 points behind deserved winners the Reds, who notched up 84 points.

Man City may have lost their long-standing label as reigning champions, but they are still the only Premier League club to have ever accumulated 100 points in a single campaign, achieving their historic ‘Centurion’ season in 2017-18 when they won 32, drew four and lost just two games to win the title by a whopping 19 points.

That remains the closest that any team has ever come to collecting the maximum of 114 points on offer in a 38-game Premier League season.

Liverpool’s 2019-20 title-winning side managed by Jurgen Klopp almost equalled Man City’s record when they picked up 99 points, while the Reds are also the team to accumulate the most points and fail to win a Premier League title, collecting 97 points and finishing second behind Man City (98) in 2018-19.

The 90-point mark has been reached a total of 12 times by Premier League champions (36.36%). Six of those have been achieved across the last eight seasons, while Manchester United were the first team to notch up more than 90 points back in 1993-94, though they did so over 42 games.

Between 2009-10 and 2015-16, no Premier League team picked up 90 points or more to win the title. Man City and Man United came closest in 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively (89 points each), while Leicester City needed only 81 points to secure their first and only title to date in memorable fashion in the 2015-16 season.

Only three teams in Premier League history have won the title with fewer than 80 points. Man United’s total of 75 in the 1995-96 season is the lowest ever recorded, and that was followed by Arsenal and the Red Devils again winning with 78 and 79 points respectively in the following two seasons.

Who will challenge for the Premier League title this season?

Defending champions Liverpool began the 2025-26 season as favourites to retain their crown as Slot has backed heavily in the summer transfer window, with £446m spent on several eye-catching new recruits.

The Reds broke the British transfer record twice to sign playmaker Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, while Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Hugo Ekitike have also been added to a star-studded squad including captain colossus Virgil van Dijk, elite shot-stopper Alisson Becker and last season’s Player of the Year and top scorer Mohamed Salah.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will be viewed as strong challengers after strengthening their squad with specialist centre-forward Viktor Gyokeres, playmaker Eberechi Eze, midfield maestro Martin Zubimendi and wing wizard Noni Madueke, but question marks remain over whether they are capable of making the next step and ending their 22-year top-flight drought after three successive second-placed finishes.

Many are also backing Man City to bounce back from what was a disappointing 2024-25 season by their extremely high standards.

Although Kevin De Bruyne has departed and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri will take time to get up to speed following his anterior cruciate ligament injury, Guardiola still has a talented squad at his disposal, including new signings Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Gianluigi Donnarumma.

FIFA Club World Cup champions Chelsea are another team who could be fighting for top spot. The cash has once again been splashed by the Blues this summer, with Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Jorell Hato, Jamie Gittens and Estevao added to an exciting, youthful squad including star attacker Cole Palmer, who Enzo Maresca will be relying on to deliver the goods once again.

The Blues' start to the campaign has left something to be desired, though, and at this rate, a Crystal Palace side who boast the only unbeaten record in the Premier League after six games this season are a bigger threat to Liverpool's crown.

Manchester United have strengthened their frontline with Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, but an immediate challenge for the title after finishing down in 15th spot last season seems a long shot, especially after their dire start to the new term.