When you take a step back from the thrills and spills – from controversial changes courtesy of VAR to the managerial merry-go-round remaining well-oiled – of Premier League football, there is one aspect that matters more than anything, and that’s winning. But how much of every side’s game time has been spent in winning positions since the curtain was raised on August 17 when Manchester United played host to Arsenal?

 

Of course, how a team goes about a match is – albeit not entirely – rather dependent on whether they are winning, drawing or losing. If they’re in a state of the former, it may be a case of shutting up shop and ensuring that conceding is not on the horizon. The latter, it’s different, and teams are prone to throwing the kitchen sink at a match in the hopes of bagging an equaliser.

 

The phenomenon – the emotions and tactical approaches which coincide with the triumvirate of game states: winning, drawing and losing – is certainly interesting.

 

And in a campaign of English top flight football which has been, to say the very least, unpredictable, the folks at Opta Analyst have released a hefty set of data to clearly display, in their words, “who are the best at going ahead and staying ahead, who have been falling behind and struggling to recover, and which teams are spending the most time with games on a knife edge?” Let’s take a closer look.

 

How Much Time Every 25/26 Premier League Team Has Spent Losing

 

Spare a thought for those associated with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Not only are they rock-bottom of the 20-team table at this point in the campaign, but they have also found themselves searching for a goal in a losing position more than any other team – 57.8% compared to 19th-placed West Ham United, who have notably struggled amid a raft of changes behind the scenes.

 

Then… there’s Liverpool. A shadow of their title-winning 2024/25 version of themselves, the fact the Reds have been behind for an eye-catching 36.9% – which equates to 413 minutes and four seconds – of their game time is certainly an eyebrow-raising aspect of this data. It seems their summer of big spending has not paid off. Other notable strugglers in Burnley and Brighton & Hove Albion follow, respectively, having led for 36% and 35% of their game time with teams just north of ten matches into the current season.

 

Thomas Frank’s Tottenham (32.4%) have actually been in a position of trouble (losing…) more time than both Nottingham Forest and Leeds United – both of whom are currently on 32%. Incredibly, that’s despite the north Londoners being on double the points of the former and seven more than the latter.

 

In the actual Premier League table, Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United may have dropped to a meagre 14th place after recently losing to Brentford – but only four teams have spent less time losing than them this season. Having led matches for longer than the Magpies are Arsenal (17%) and then Manchester City (14%) – but that’s to be expected given they are among those hustling and bustling at the summit of the table.

 



 

Reigning champions of the Club World Cup, Chelsea have been somewhat underwhelming, some would say, but they have been ensuring not to fall behind in games this term – evidenced by the fact they’ve been trailing for just 13.1% of their games in 2025/26. That equates to 146 and 21 seconds, which is made even more impressive by the fact that 93 and a half minutes of that was during their 2-1 loss to United.

 

Proving to be a tough nut to crack under Oliver Glasner, Crystal Palace – who are the reigning champions of the FA Cup – are not used to chasing a game, according to Opta’s data. Since the 2025/26 league campaign got underway in August, the London outfit have trailed for just 12.9% of their matches (143 minutes and 13 seconds); last season, in comparison, they were in a losing position for 25/8% of their game time.

 

How Much Time Every Team Has Spent Losing

 

Rank

 

Team

 

% of Time Losing

 

1.

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers

 

58%

 

2.

 

West Ham United

 

47%

 

3.

 

Liverpool

 

37%

 

4.

 

Burnley

 

36%

 

5.

 

Brighton & Hove Albion

 

35%

 

6.

 

Brentford

 

32%

 

7.

 

Tottenham Hotspur

 

32%

 

8.

 

Leeds United

 

32%

 

9.

 

Nottingham Forest

 

32%

 

10.

 

Fulham

 

30%

 

11.

 

Aston Villa

 

26%

 

12.

 

Manchester United

 

26%

 

13.

 

Everton

 

24%

 

14.

 

Bournemouth

 

22%

 

15.

 

Sunderland

 

21%

 

16.

 

Newcastle United

 

18%

 

17.

 

Arsenal

 

17%

 

18.

 

Manchester City

 

14%

 

19.

 

Chelsea

 

13%

 

20.

 

Crystal Palace

 

13%

 

How Much Time Every 25/26 Premier League Team Has Spent Drawing

 

They say that drawing matches is the most boring aspect of football – but the fact that Arsenal managed to do it 12 times in their Premier League-winning campaign in 2003/04 could give Sunderland, who have been in that position for 59% of their game time this season, some solace. Not that they need anything to scream and shout about, mind, given how well they’ve fared in the top flight.

 

The Black Cats have been settled in a stalemate for 11 hours (657 minutes and 44 seconds) since their curtain-raiser earlier this season. In terms of every side’s percentage of being level, up next are Sunderland’s arch-rivals in Newcastle (57%). The two Tyne-Wear derbies, therefore, could end up being rather drab.

 

GIVEMESPORT Key Statsitic: As of November 12, Newcastle are the only side in the Premier League to have not been more than two goals ahead or behind this season.

 

Crystal Palace (56.2%), Fulham (52.1%) and Nottingham Forest (52%) are the only other Premier League sides to have spent north of half their league outings drawing and, then, just below the half-way line are Chelsea (49%) and a triumvirate of top flight teams who are all on 48% – Everton, Leeds United and Burnley.

 

During their title defence, Arne Slot-managed Liverpool – the only side yet to draw this campaign – have been level for 39% of their match time and, by virtue of the fact they have fallen into a trend of going behind so often, Wolverhampton Wanderers have found themselves in a drawing position for just 30.5% of their game time.

 

Given the sheer abundance of talent at the disposal of Pep Guardiola and his entourage, Manchester City are not the type of team to be drawing matches for too long – and that’s evidenced by the numbers: just 30.3% of the eight-time champions’ games have been spent in a stalemate and right at this end of the spectrum are Ruben Amorim’s United. A hodgepodge start to the campaign – their premature Carabao Cup exit aside, of course – has resulted in them drawing games for 28.9% of their total game time.

 

How Much Time Every Team Has Spent Drawing

 

Rank

 

Team

 

% of Time Drawing

 

1.

 

Sunderland

 

59%

 

2.

 

Newcastle United

 

57%

 

3.

 

Crystal Palace

 

56%

 

4.

 

Fulham

 

52%

 

5.

 

Nottingham Forest

 

52%

 

6.

 

Chelsea

 

49%

 

7.

 

Everton

 

48%

 

8.

 

Leeds United

 

48%

 

9.

 

Burnley

 

48%

 

10.

 

Aston Villa

 

46%

 

11.

 

West Ham United

 

44%

 

12.

 

Brighton & Hove Albion

 

40%

 

13.

 

Liverpool

 

39%

 

14.

 

Arsenal

 

39%

 

15.

 

Bournemouth

 

38%

 

16.

 

Tottenham Hotspur

 

34%

 

17.

 

Manchester City

 

31%

 

18.

 

Wolverhampton Wanderers

 

30%

 

19.

 

Brentford

 

30%

 

20.

 

Manchester United

 

29%

 

How Much Time Every 25/26 Premier League Team Has Spent Winning

 

Realistically, when you strip football back to its barest of bones, all that really matters is winning the match. Those who want any chance of holding the title aloft come May – or even those in pursuit of top four credentials – will have to do plenty more winning than drawing and losing and, 11 matches into the campaign, Guardiola’s Manchester City have spent the longest time ahead in games.

 

In their opening fixtures, the once-dominant Citizens – spearheaded by the talismanic Erling Haaland – have led for 55.4% of their matches, which equates to 610 minutes and 47 seconds, and that means they’re the only team of the 20 in the English top flight to be ahead more than half of the time.

 

Although actually adding three points to their season tally has been tougher to come by for Amorim’s United (they’ve won just five of their 11 outings), it may come as a surprise they are up next in terms of how much time they’ve been in a winning position – 44.7% (496 minutes and five seconds) compared to Arsenal’s 44.3%.

 



 

Respectively, European hopefuls Bournemouth and Chelsea follow next, before Brentford, a team many believed would be in contention for relegation this campaign, are sixth when you take into consideration how long they have been in charge of and in front in their 2025/26 fixtures. The Bees have led for 37.9% of their gametime this season.

 

Liverpool, although they were expected to steamroll to another Premier League title, have often found themselves on the backfoot, and they spent much of their opening matches relying on last-minute winners – including Rio Ngumoha’s 100th-minute strike against Newcastle. Only a total of seven sides, including Leeds and Sunderland (both on 20%) have spent less time in a winning state compared to the Merseysiders.

 

Even the reigning champions’ biggest rivals, Everton, have entered their Hill Dickinson era with bragging rights over Liverpool – well, in this regard, at least given how well Jack Grealish has taken to life at his temporary employers. David Moyes’ Toffees have been ahead in games for 303 minutes and 37 seconds, which equates to 27.7% of their total game time.

 

Rounding off the most unfortunate category of them all are West Ham, who are hoping to turn things around under the watchful eye of the experienced Nuno Espirito Santo. Flirting with the prospect of relegation to the Championship in real time, the east London side have been in the lead for just 9.2% of their game time thus far. A large chunk of that time has emerged in their last two fixtures, though, per Opta.

 

How Much Time Every Team Has Spent Winning

 

Rank

 

Team

 

% of Time Winning

 

1.

 

Manchester City

 

55%

 

2.

 

Manchester United

 

45%

 

3.

 

Arsenal

 

44%

 

4.

 

Bournemouth

 

40%

 

5.

 

Chelsea

 

38%

 

6.

 

Brentford

 

38%

 

7.

 

Tottenham Hotspur

 

34%

 

8.

 

Crystal Palace

 

31%

 

9.

 

Aston Villa

 

28%

 

10.

 

Everton

 

28%

 

11.

 

Brighton & Hove Albion

 

25%

 

12.

 

Newcastle United

 

25%

 

13.

 

Liverpool

 

24%

 

14.

 

Leeds United

 

20%

 

15.

 

Sunderland

 

20%

 

16.

 

Fulham

 

18%

 

17.

 

Burnley

 

16%

 

18.

 

Nottingham Forest

 

16%

 

19.

 

Wolverhampton

 

12%

 

20.

 

West Ham United

 

9%

 

All statistics per Opta Analyst – correct as of 12/11/2025