Football is all about
winning, losing, or drawing. But which Premier League teams are
spending most time in those game states in 2025-26? We look at the
numbers.
Game state is a stat few talk about, but it impacts football
significantly.
Whether a team is winning, losing or drawing obviously usually
plays a huge part in their tactical setup, and can therefore also
provide meaning for other data outputs.
For example, as any responsible expected
goals (xG) enthusiast will tell you, game state is an onion in
the ointment when it comes to analysing one-off matches. One team
having a higher xG than another doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve
been better, it could just be that one team was trailing for most
of the game, so had a greater need to attack more.
It is also arguably one of the metrics that most indicates game
management ability, something that is often discussed in football
but rarely with more than just suggestions that a team ‘looks
comfortable’.
With all that in mind, we wanted to see how Premier League teams
were doing in terms of game state this season, and to what extent
it reflects their position in the table.
With everyone 11 games in, 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 find out.
In It to
Win It
The most important thing is being ahead when the final whistle
blows, so in theory how long you’re actually ahead in games doesn’t
matter all that much.
However, it does seem easier to just get in front early and stay
there.
After Matchday 11 of the 2025-26 Premier League season, Manchester
City are the team to have spent the longest time ahead in
games, and by some distance. Pep Guardiola’s men have led for 55.4%
of their games (610 minutes and 47 seconds), the only team to have
been ahead for more than half of their game time.
While the leaders in this category won’t surprise many, you may
raise a quizzical eyebrow when we tell you that their neighbours,
Manchester
United, are second.
Ruben Amorim’s men may not have ended as many games as they’d
like ahead, but they have been in front for 44.7% of their game
time (496 mins, 5 secs). If they can just learn to protect those
leads better, they might be in business, having dropped six points
from winning positions.
Remarkably, after just 11 games, United have already been ahead
for 140 minutes and 25 seconds longer than they led across their 27
matches under Amorim last season (355 mins, 40 secs). They’re only
53 minutes and 32 seconds off overtaking their total for the
entirety of 2024-25 (549 mins, 37 secs).
Premier League leaders Arsenal
come next, having been ahead for 44.3% of their games. The Gunners
have actually led for a longer period than United by 18 seconds
(496 mins, 23 secs) but have also played more football, so
percentage-wise the Red Devils are ahead.
Bournemouth
(39.5%) and Chelsea
(38.2%) come next, while it might surprise some to see Brentford
– a team many tipped for a relegation fight this season in the
summer – sixth highest (37.9%).
Champions Liverpool
have struggled to keep pace at the top this season, sitting in
eighth place after already losing five games, and linked to that is
their comparatively low minutes holding an advantage. Only seven
Premier League teams have been ahead for a lower percentage of
their games than Arne Slot’s side (24.1% – 269 mins, 35 secs). Even
rivals Everton
have been ahead for longer (27.7% – 303 mins, 37 secs).
That might not be a surprise to many given Liverpool spent the
early weeks of the season scoring late winners, but it’s surely
something they will want to address, especially after leading the
rankings last season for time spent ahead (45.6%) on their way to
winning the Premier League title.
Bringing up the rear are West
Ham, despite having won their last two games. They have been
ahead for just 9.2% of their total game time this season, though
the vast majority of that has come in those recent home victories
over Newcastle and Burnley (78 mins, 1 second). Prior to that, the
Hammers had led for just 25 minutes and seven seconds across their
first eight games.
The
Biggest Losers
Crystal
Palace have had a largely impressive start to the season and
proven themselves a hard nut to crack.
That is shown by the fact OIiver Glasner’s side have been behind
in games for the shortest amount of time in the Premier League this
season, only losing for 12.9% of their match time (143 mins, 13
secs). That is quite an improvement on last season’s 25.8% (10th
lowest).
The Eagles have only trailed in three of their 11 games, at
Everton (10 mins), at Arsenal (60 mins, 45 secs) and at home to
Bournemouth (72 mins, 28 secs).
In fact, only 11 teams across the top five European leagues this
season have been losing for a lower proportion of time in 2025-26
than Palace.
While they might not feel as consistent as others, Chelsea
have generally been very good at not falling behind in games,
trailing for only 13.1% of their match time (146 mins, 21 secs),
and 93 and a half minutes of that was in their 2-1 defeat at Man
Utd. Other than that loss, when they were reduced to 10 men after
just five minutes, Enzo Maresca’s side have only been behind for 52
minutes and 51 seconds.
The top two of Man City (14.3%) and Arsenal (16.9%) are third
and fourth respectively, while despite sitting in 14th place after
their loss at Brentford on Sunday, only four teams have been behind
for a shorter percentage of their game time than Newcastle
(17.8%). Their two very late losses at home to Liverpool and
Arsenal partly explain that, but the Magpies could really do with
working on seeing out games more often. No Premier League team have
lost as many as their nine points from winning positions this
season.
If you thought Liverpool’s unfamiliarity with leading this
season was notable, then the fact they have been behind for a
whopping 36.9% of their game time (413 mins, 4 secs) may raise
those eyebrows higher still, as should the additional note that
only West Ham (47%) and
Wolves (57.8%) have been losing for a greater percentage of
their matches.
That means even 17th-placed Burnley
(36.4%) and 19th-placed Nottingham
Forest (32%) have had less time in losing positions than the
Reds across their first 11 games.
It also means Liverpool have been behind for 143 minutes and 29
seconds longer than they’ve been winning. That surely cannot last
with the quality they have and a slightly kinder set of fixtures on
the horizon, but it shows quite a drop-off for a team who were only
behind for 615 minutes and one second in the whole of last season,
a total they’re already three quarters of the way to just 11 games
into this season.
Other notable strugglers include Brighton, who have been behind
for 34.7% of their match time, while Tottenham
(32.4%) have actually trailed for more time than both Forest and
Leeds
United (32%), despite Spurs having double the points of the
former (18-9) and seven more than the latter.
Level
Headed
Football matches are generally low-scoring affairs, so in
contrast to most other sports, we see a lot of time spent where
both teams are level. It can lead to tense moments, and
participants struggling with the choice of whether to stick or
twist.
If you’re a fan of that, head to the north east of England.
Sunderland
have been drawing games for longer than any other team this season,
with the Black Cats caught in a stalemate for 59.3% – almost 11
hours (657 mins, 44 secs) – of their match time in their first
season back in the top flight.
Coupled with the fact they have only been behind for 20.9% of
their games, the sixth-smallest percentage in the Premier League,
we can see just how difficult teams are finding it to break Regis
Le Bris’ side down despite them being pre-season favourites for
relegation.
Sunderland have shown that steel even when falling behind,
winning nine points from losing positions, more than any other team
in the Premier League.
Staying in the north east, Newcastle are second in terms of
percentage of game time spent level, so it should be a close
Tyne-Wear derby when they meet at the Stadium of Light on 14
December.
It is particularly interesting that Newcastle have been drawing
more than most as they have also played the most Premier League
minutes this season (1,125 mins, 15 secs), while they are one of
three teams, along with Brighton (7) and Liverpool (8), to have
conceded as many goals when level as they have scored (7).
Eddie Howe’s men are also the only Premier League team who
haven’t been more than two goals ahead or behind this season,
meaning they have never seen a game get away from them too much,
though they also haven’t been able to pull away from opponents.
The only other teams to have spent more than half of their game
time drawing this season are Crystal Palace (56.2%) – who have
drawn more matches than any other Premier League team this term (5)
– Fulham
(52.1%) and Nottingham Forest (52%).
Manchester United don’t seem to like being tied, only drawing
games for 28.9% of the time, while Manchester City (30.3%) also
haven’t been level for long.
Brentford are the one team in the Premier League for whom
drawing is their rarest game state. The Bees have been level for
just 29.9% of their overall match time, compared to 32.1% behind
and 37.2% ahead.
Wolves are another who haven’t been drawing for long (30.5%),
largely thanks to falling behind so often, while Liverpool have
been tied for 39% of their match time, despite being the only
Premier League team yet to have drawn a game this season.
Make of all that what you will. It should be considered that
some teams have had tougher starts than others, and so, like most
numbers, they perhaps won’t take on significant meaning until we’re
19 games in and everyone has played everyone.
What is always most important is where everyone is sat when the
music stops, but ideally, teams will always be looking to get
ahead.
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