Four games into the 2026-27 Premier League season, the title race already looks lopsided — and the bottom half looks worse.
Arsenal and Manchester City sit level at the top, both perfect through four matches with 12 points, already four points clear of third-placed Hull City and five ahead of the rest of the pack. Defending champions Arsenal arrive on the back of a nine-game winning streak that started with a Community Shield win over City.
History says this isn’t decided yet — but it’s close. Only 24 of 80 teams that have won their opening four Premier League matches have gone on to win the title, and just two clubs in league history have come back to win it after trailing by five points this early. Both numbers cut against whoever’s chasing.
It’s a genuinely bad start for two traditional heavyweights. Manchester United sit 13th with four points — their worst start to a season since 1992-93 — as new manager Michael Carrick navigates his first Premier League campaign in charge. Tottenham have failed to score in all four league matches, something that’s never happened in the club’s history, under new manager Roberto De Zerbi.
New managers are reshaping the league’s middle and top tiers all at once: City are adjusting to Enzo Maresca after Pep Guardiola’s departure, Chelsea have brought in Xabi Alonso, and Liverpool have hired Andoni Iraola — meaning four of the league’s biggest clubs are running new systems simultaneously this season.
The bottom line: it’s very early, but the gap at the top and the collapse at Manchester United and Tottenham are both extreme enough, historically, that this season is shaping up as one of the more lopsided in recent Premier League memory.
Sources: Read Crystal Palace — Premier League Title Race: Arsenal and Man City Lead