Premier League table: First nine v last nine matches

The forthcoming set of fixtures represents the 19th Matchweek, the halfway point of the 2024/25 Premier League, where each team will have played one another (apart from the Merseyside derby which was postponed due to bad weather).

But before we get there, we have split up the 18 Matchweeks so far into two sets of nine to see which teams started the season well and who have had a good run more recently.

Looking at the tables below, here is what stands out.

Of course, the biggest transformation is at the defending Premier League champions, Manchester City. They were top of the table after nine matches, having won seven and drawn the other two fixtures for 23 points. But waiting around the corner was the worst run of form at the club in 18 years, and Pep Guardiola‘s worst period as a coach.

City have claimed only five points from their next nine matches, form so poor that it puts the champions in the bottom three for the last nine Matchweeks, with only two promoted sides, Southampton and Leicester City, below them on goal difference.

Other teams to have struggled in their last nine Matchweeks are Aston Villa, who won 18 points from their opening nine matches and were placed fourth, but added only 10 points from their last nine fixtures, the 15th-worst performance. Brighton & Hove Albion have also dropped off, going six matches without a win to claim 10 points from MW10-18, six fewer than in the opening nine rounds.

On the flipside, Wolverhampton Wanderers are the team who have made the biggest improvement.

From the first nine matches, Wolves had won only two points, but their 13 points in the last nine encounters, including back-to-back wins under new head coach Vitor Pereira have earned them the eighth-best record in the period.

Meanwhile both AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United have improved their performances by five points between Matchweeks 10-18.

EPL