Take a look at all the facts and stats behind the Premier League in 2018 to see who is the best and worst teams of the calendar year.
Premier League team of 2018
Recent defeats for Man City have seen Liverpool end the year with as many points as the champions but with Guardiola’s side just edging them on goal difference, while Spurs are just three points worse off after their consistent year.
Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer combine to put United in fourth place with Chelsea finishing with five more points in the calendar year than Arsenal.
Premier League 2018 table
- Man City P37 W28 D4 L5 Pts88
- Liverpool P37 W27 D7 L3 Pts88
- Tottenham P38 W27 D4 L7 Pts85
- Man Utd P37 W22 D6 L9 Pts72
- Chelsea P37 W20 D8 L9 Pts68
Clean sheets
Virgil van Dijk in January and Alisson in the summer have combined to make Liverpool the most solid defensive outfit in the Premier League this year. Alisson has 12 of their 20 clean sheets and they’ve conceded just 22 goals all year – that’s the same as Stoke conceded from 20 fewer games!
The other table-toppers make up the top five but Crystal Palace make an appearance with Roy Hodgson making them a tough unit to break down.
Team clean sheets in 2018
- 20 – Liverpool
- 16 – Spurs
- 15 – Man City
- 14 – Chelsea
- 12 – Crystal Palace
Comeback kings
Who should you be backing in-running to come from behind? Well, it’s Eddie Howe’s Cherries who have recovered more points than anyone else from losing positions in 2018. Mourinho’s United engineered a number of amazing comebacks during his spell in charge while Unai Emery’s Arsenal have a new-found spirit this season.
Points gained from losing positions
- 20 – Bournemouth
- 18 – Man Utd
- 17 – Leicester
- 16 – Arsenal
- 15 - Tottenham
Can't see it out
It shows Arsenal's turnaround that they're among the worst teams for letting points slip this year, but it looks a different story this season. Southampton are most guilty of throwing points away and that goes some way to explaining their predicament at the foot of the table. Chelsea are a bit of a surprise to see in this list.
Points lost from winning positions
- 30 - Southampton
- 20 - Arsenal
- 17 - Chelsea
- 16 - West Brom
- 15 - Crystal Palace
Draw specialists
It’s an unsurprising list of candidates for your draw coupon with Southampton topping the charts but they seem to have become a lot more adventurous now Mark Hughes is no longer at the helm. Rafa Benitez tries to keep things tight at Newcastle and Brighton are tough to break down and don’t score many – the perfect combination for a stalemate.
Most Premier League draws in 2018
- 13 – Southampton
- 10 – Everton
- 10 – Newcastle
- 10 – Brighton
- 9 – Leicester & West Ham
Top scorers
No surprises to see Man City top the scoring charts - they reached 100 goals in the last season and fell just one goal short of three figures for the calendar year, which is some effort from the champions. Liverpool and Arsenal are just behind them while Man Utd's recent flurry of goals sees them pip Chelsea to fifth place.
Most Premier League goals in 2018
- 99 - Man City
- 84 - Liverpool
- 78 - Arsenal
- 78 - Tottenham
- 66 - Man Utd
Naughty boys
Leicester have seen the most red cards shown to their players this year, two clear of Brighton and three ahead of Southampton, so maybe going high on booking points when these teams meet could prove profitable in 2019.
Most Premier League red cards in 2018
- 7 - Leicester
- 5 - Brighton
- 4 - Southampton
- 3 - Man Utd
- 3 - Everton
