The mid table in the English Premier League often gets overlooked in favor of the top and bottom of the standings. But we shed the light on the middle of the pack and examine the league’s most “mid” club from the past five seasons.
Much like all the top football leagues in the world, the climax of any given Premier League season often boils down to two or three major storylines. The title race, the relegation scrap, and the chase for European football. But what about everything in between?
Enter the often-overlooked mid table. While these teams rarely dominate the spotlight, they’re the focus here. Historically, clubs in this bracket have fluctuated — some drift off, but in recent years, many have defied expectations, pushing for European places and even challenging the league’s big hitters.
We’ll take a look at how teams have looked to break out of this bracket, give you predictions on how we think the mid table will look at the end of the season, and also tell you who the most “mid” team in recent years has been.
For the sake of this article, we’ll classify a mid-table finish as anywhere between seventh and 13th place. These clubs, depending on how a season plays out, could be nervously glancing over their shoulders at the relegation zone, or daring to dream of a late surge into Europe.
The term “Mid-Table Club” has been used for many years to describe teams that are neither fighting for meaningful places nor in danger of relegation come crunch time. Ones that could provide tricky tests for the big teams on any given week. While teams in this category never really felt the danger of losing Premier League status and the vast monetary and commercial privileges it brings, there is a danger to earning this moniker.
Being stuck in this cycle means complacency can so easily kick in. Clubs and their ownership can settle into their safety and see themselves passed up by those around them eager to take a riskier approach.
This season especially, the narrative feels different. Several mid-table teams are making bold moves to shatter the glass ceiling, experience European glory, and perhaps even lay the groundwork for future title challenges.
Brighton and Brentford might be the first names that come to mind when you think of these types of teams — clubs that follow a young, ambitious manager and recruit smartly in the transfer market with a strategy that identifies and brings in affordable talent that fits the club’s vision. This also allows clubs that execute this strategy well to thrive financially, buying cheap and selling on players for huge fees and allowing funds to be reinvested into the team.
As football and scouting have become more data-driven, we’ve seen several clubs further down the tables across Europe look to follow this mold, but it will be intriguing to see if anyone can take this up a notch and make a push into the UCL or mount a proper title challenge.
This season, both Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, in seventh and third respectively, took massive jumps in their performances and subsequent league positions. The recruitment for both sides was massive and for Forest in particular, committing to playing fast, physical football with signings who lined up with this philosophy has paid off in a huge way thus far. Their jump in a single season has been staggering, and if you look at the clubs around them, it’s an outlier.
Bournemouth’s rise on the other hand has been steady since their promotion in 2022. The appointment of manager Andoni Iraola the following year was a massive part of their improvement and is the type of young, tactically ambitious coach that so many teams are looking to hire. The signings they’ve made since his hiring have contributed massively to his and the club’s success.
These are just two examples, but they tell the broader story of how much and how rapidly things can change in the middle of the Premier League table. A look at the last few seasons backs up that point.
Mid-Table Finishers in the Past Five Seasons
| 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7. Wolves | 7. Tottenham | 7. West Ham | 7. Aston Villa | 7. Newcastle |
| 8. Arsenal | 8. Arsenal | 8. Leicester | 8. Tottenham | 8. Manchester United |
| 9. Sheffield United | 9. Leeds | 9. Brighton | 9. Brentford | 9. West Ham |
| 10. Burnley | 10. Everton | 10. Wolves | 10. Fulham | 10. Crystal Palace |
| 11. Southampton | 11. Aston Villa | 11. Newcastle | 11. Crystal Palace | 11. Brighton |
| 12. Everton | 12. Newcastle | 12. Crystal Palace | 12. Chelsea | 12. Bournemouth |
| 13. Newcastle | 13. Wolves | 13. Brentford | 13. Wolves | 13. Fulham |
Number of Appearances by Club:
Newcastle, Wolves: 4
Crystal Palace: 3
Arsenal, Tottenham, Brighton, Fulham, Brentford, Everton, Aston Villa, West Ham: 2
Manchester United, Chelsea, Leicester, Sheffield United, Southampton, Leeds, Bournemouth: 1
Newcastle, in their only season outside of the mid table in the past half-decade, found themselves in fourth place in 2022-23. At the time of writing, they sit in sixth, one point above Bournemouth, and right in the thick of the scrap for European football. While Wolves are tied with the most mid-table appearances in the last five years, they currently sit 17th, and are in the midst of a relegation battle.
All in all, being tied with the most mid-table finishes, as well as the fact they’ve failed to put together a cup run that has ended in glory to date, Newcastle over the last five years have statistically been the Premier League’s most “mid” team.
However, it is important to note that as things stand, they are level on points with Manchester City and fresh off knocking Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup, setting up a final meeting with Liverpool — their second EFL Cup final appearance in three years. All in all, if you asked Newcastle fans, most would be ecstatic with their club’s performance and ambition.
As things currently stand with Chelsea’s performance in the UEFA Conference League, the Premier League could very well have five teams in the UCL next season. The trickle-down effect would mean that eight English teams would qualify for European competitions, and the mid-table scrap would have an added element of intrigue.
At the time of writing, teams like Crystal Palace, Brighton, and Fulham, all regular mid-table finishers, are currently in familiar territory. The biggest outliers at this point are Manchester United and Tottenham, who are both in the midst of horrific seasons and look set to finish well outside of the European battle.
More now than ever, as money ceaselessly flows into the game, mid-table Premier League teams have the opportunity to make pushes for loftier heights, and while there is always the risk of going all-in and failing, the allure of European football and the benefits it provides will continue to spur on these clubs. The revolving door isn’t stopping anytime soon.
Our 2024-25 Mid Table Prediction: 7. Newcastle 8. Aston Villa 9. Brentford 10. Fulham 11. Manchester United 12. Tottenham 13. Brighton
