Harry Diamond
Manchester City’s 2-0 victory over Sheffield United yesterday saw the full-time whistle blown on the final fixture of a fascinating decade of Premier League football.
The 2010’s have provided some iconic moments in the league’s history, including the departures of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, Leicester’s shock title-triumph and the emergence of the aforementioned City as a dominant force in English football.
As we head into the new year and new decade, we’ve decided to look back at some of the best stats from the past ten years and see which sides have enjoyed the greatest amounts of success during the 2010’s.
Here are the six Premier League clubs with the most points this decade…
Arsenal – 702 points
It’s been a decade of disappointments for Arsenal fans, who have seen their side continue to slowly decline in recent years. Former manager Arsene Wenger was widely mocked for his pride at routinely finishing in the top four, a position Gunners’ supporters would now gladly take given their current predicament.
Arsenal secured Champions League qualification for seven consecutive seasons at the start of the decade, before drifting outside of the top four in recent years and enduring some time outside of Europe’s elite.
Their consistency under Wenger leaves them in the top six for points gained over the past ten seasons, the north London side having accumulated 702 points – the sixth-highest total in the division.
Tottenham – 703 points
North London bragging rights belong to Tottenham this decade, but only just.
Spurs have accumulated just one point more than their great rivals over the past ten seasons, securing six top-four finishes including four consecutively to finish the decade.
The appointment of Mauricio Pochettino helped to establish the club in the now widely referred to ‘big six’, and they take their place in the list of six clubs with the most points this decade courtesy of an impressive 703 point haul.
The club are yet to truly establish themselves as title challengers, though they did finish as runners-up to Chelsea during the 2016/17 season and will hope they have the platform to emerge as contenders under new manager Jose Mourinho in the coming seasons.
Liverpool – 710 points
It has been quite the transformation for Liverpool over the past ten years, beginning the decade with the club on the brink of administration and crisis before rounding out the 2010’s as world and European champions.
Key to that success has been a change of ownership and latter appointment of Jurgen Klopp, the German having turned the Reds into arguably the continent’s finest side due to astute season-on-season progression since his appointment in 2015.
Such has been the club’s up and down journey over the past ten years, their range of Premier League positions include finishing both eighth and as runners-up twice each, but it is in the past two years where their points total has truly swelled.
Last season saw the club finish second with a record points haul of 97 points, losing just once all season, whilst they have begun the new campaign in almost flawless fashion with 18 wins from 19 fixtures.
Liverpool finish the 2010’s as the fourth most successful side in the Premier League, having accumulated 710 points in total.
Chelsea – 740 points
Unsurprisingly featuring highly in this list is Chelsea, the Blues having won three league titles under three different managers during the 2010’s, their often criticised hire and fire policy not proving detrimental to success in modern times.
The anomaly of a 10th-placed finish aside in 2015/16, Chelsea have remained continuously around the top spots and have been Champions League regulars for most of the past decade, finishing in the top four on seven occasions.
Having begun the decade with a domestic double the club continued to pick up silverware at a regular rate, whilst also showing strong league form and totalling 740 points over the past ten seasons – the third highest in the Premier League during that period.
Manchester United – 747 points
Perhaps a surprise to finish in second place, given their struggles in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, but Manchester United have accumulated more points than all but one of their Premier League rivals over the past decade.
The most successful club in English football history began the 2010’s in strong fashion by winning titles in both 2011 and 2013, but it has been a struggle since the retirement of the legendary Ferguson as the club have toiled under a succession of managerial appointments.
From that point their league positions have fluctuated between 7th and 2nd, failing to secure top four finishes in four of the past six seasons.
That said, having reached 80+ points in more than half of the seasons this decade, United are the second most successful Premier League club during that period, earning seven more points than Chelsea with a total of 747 for the 2010’s.
Manchester City – 818 points
No surprises for guessing the team in first place in this feature, the blue half of Manchester having risen following their billionaire takeover of the club and becoming the dominant force in English football over the 2010’s.
The club’s success has delivered ten major honours including four Premier League titles, the latter two having been won in relentless fashion with huge points hauls. The 2017/18 campaign saw Pep Guardiola’s side become the first side in the league’s history to reach 100 points, setting a host of records including most wins, most goals and most consecutive victories.
The following season saw the club fight off the challenge of Liverpool to finish on a huge 98 points, part of a total of 818 points the club have accumulated over the past decade.
Man City have finished in the top four for the past nine seasons in succession, their sustained success seeing the club finish the decade with a massive 71 points more than nearest challengers Man United.
Read – Premier League Festive Awards: Alexander-Arnold amazes, astonishing Ayew, bewildering West Ham
Read Also – Best of the 2010’s – Premier League Team of the Decade