After an enormously busy summer transfer window in which more than £3,000,000,000 was spent on new signings, lots of clubs went into the season with lofty ambitions.
The likes of Tottenham and Chelsea were amongst the biggest spenders, yet Spurs remain winless through their first five games, while the Blues' good start under Xabi Alonso has been undone by Hull City and Brentford.
Manchester United's rejuvenated midfield gave Michael Carrick the platform to kick on though the Red Devils have been hugely disappointing, while there were question marks around the likes of Newcastle and Aston Villa, with the former largely impressing under Matthias Jaissle.
While some clubs have had excellent starts to the season, others have toiled in the opening weeks, and Liam Williams and Ellis Statham have ranked all 20 Premier League clubs based on their first five matches.
20th - Tottenham Hotspur
1/10
After spending in excess of £300m in the summer transfer window, there can be no excuses for Tottenham Hotspur’s start to the Premier League season.
While – in spells – they’ve looked capable of creating chances, they’ve been toothless in front of goal and have failed to keep their opponents at bay when coming up against teams with greater quality in the final third, like Brentford, Newcastle and Aston Villa.
It took them until gameweek 5 to score their first goal of the season, and even then a 3-2 defeat to Unai Emery’s Villans was flattering given that they were 3-0 down at the 85 minute mark.
19th - Manchester United
2/10
Given their start to the season, the minimum number of points Manchester United could have expected from their opening fixtures was seven and somehow they're two short of that. The Red Devils have had one good half of football in 10, and that was at home to Ipswich Town in a game where they ought to have been 1-0 down.
While the results have been bad, the performances have been worse, and Michael Carrick's men needed a late deflected effort to secure a point against a Fulham side who were bottom of the table with one point from their first four.
18th - Crystal Palace
3/10
With the exception of a gameweek 2 contest against Manchester City, Crystal Palace haven’t had the toughest run of fixtures to start the season, and so to sit 15th in the standings heading into the international break is underwhelming.
A draw at Elland Road is a good result given Leeds’ 4-1 thrashing of Newcastle less than a week prior, but defeats to Everton and Ipswich Town are notably poor.
The most worrying element of the Eagles’ start to the term is the lack of goals in their front line. Jorgen Strand Larsen – who joined the club for a club-record fee worth up to £48m in January – has found the net on just one occasion this term, while the likes of Yeremy Pino and Dwight McNeil have failed to offer any kind of attacking firepower.
17th - Coventry City
3/10
With zero goals scored and 10 conceded, Coventry City's long-awaited return to the top flight could hardly have gone worse, particularly losing what ought to have been their most winnable game of the season at home to Hull.
Thankfully for the Sky Blues, after a gruelling four games, a win at rivals Nottingham Forest got them off the mark and lifted them from the foot of the table, but plenty more is needed.
16th - Fulham
4/10
Pre-season talk of Fulham fighting a battle with the drop this season hardly seemed premature having lost their first three games, and while the defeat to Chelsea can be excused, losses to Sunderland and Crystal Palace do little to assuage relegation fears with games against Liverpool and Manchester United on the horizon.
To Fulham and Alvaro Arbeloa's credit, the Cottagers were good value for their draws against the two English giants, but wins are needed quickly.
15th - Aston Villa
4/10
Up until Saturday afternoon, Aston Villa’s start to the 2026/27 season closely resembled their start to the 2025/26 campaign, where it took them six Premier League contests to record their first win.
Unai Emery’s side were humiliated when falling to a 4-0 defeat against Brighton on the opening day, and while a 1-0 loss to Arsenal in gameweek 2 was comprehensible, a goalless draw against newly promoted Hull City was a particularly poor result.
It took them until gameweek 4 to score their first goal of the season – where they still fell to a 2-1 defeat against Nottingham Forest – but their 3-2 victory away at Tottenham at the weekend was pivotal and boosts their rating marginally.
14th - Bournemouth
4/10
Bournemouth will feel hard done by that they head into the international break on three points, and their position in the league standings isn’t necessarily reflective of how they’ve played.
The Cherries have conceded 50% of their league goals beyond the 84th minute this campaign, denying Marco Rose’s side of a result away at Manchester City and victories over Everton and Newcastle.
It’s worth noting that all of their opening five opponents currently sit ninth or higher in the top-flight, and there are plenty of signs to suggest that they will be just fine once their brutal run of fixtures comes to an end following their trip to face Manchester United.
13th - Sunderland
5/10
A 2-1 defeat to newly promoted Ipswich Town was an undoubtedly poor way to start the season, but a victory over Fulham and draw away at Brentford aided Regis Le Bris’ case considerably.
They’ve since lost back-to-back games against Arsenal and Manchester City – the division’s best two teams from the 2025/26 campaign – but they’ve held a reasonable account of themselves in both games and will look forward to a more favourable run of fixtures after the break.
12th - Nottingham Forest
5/10
Much was expected of Nottingham Forest under Oliver Glasner, particularly without the distraction of European football, and after a promising start, the Tricky Trees were brought back down to earth with a humbling defeat at home to Coventry.
A win would have tucked them in the top half on eight points; as it's happened, Forest have now won just one of their first five games with just four goals scored.
11th - Liverpool
5/10
While Liverpool are unbeaten after five Premier League games, they’ll feel that they should be rivalling Manchester City at the top after below-par draws against Nottingham Forest and Fulham at Anfield.
Alexander Isak’s form in front of goal is a huge bonus for Andoni Iraola, while Jeremy Jacquet does not look out of place next to captain Virgil van Dijk in the Reds' back line.
Andoni Iraola has been the first to admit that improvement – especially out of possession – does not happen over night however, and Liverpool fans will need to be patient as the Basque-born manager continues to implement the style of play that saw him guide Bournemouth to European qualification last term.
10th - Chelsea
5/10
Free-scoring wins against Fulham and Brighton had Chelsea looking like potential title challengers with the attacking trio of Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro striking fear into defences.
The loss to Arsenal was forgivable but a home draw to Hull City followed by a comprehensive loss to Brentford further exposed the Blues' defensive fragility, and suggests Xabi Alonso has lots more work to do.
9th - Newcastle United
7/10
Give the circumstances, Newcastle fans could hardly have wished for a better start to the season than four points from games with Liverpool and Tottenham, and there was no shame in the draw with Bournemouth.
The thrashing at the hands of Leeds well and truly burst Matthias Jaissle's bubble, but a win against Hull is not to be sniffed at, as many teams have seen this season, and a place in the top half represents a strong start for the Magpies.
8th - Ipswich Town
7/10
If Ipswich Town were to avoid another Premier League relegation, wins against sides around them would be crucial, and so far they've managed just that.
Losses at home to Liverpool and away to Manchester United and Everton aren't what will decide their fate, but wins against Sunderland and Crystal Palace will give Gary O'Neil a fighting chance.
7th - Everton
7/10
Everton have enjoyed their best start to the season since the 2020/21 campaign under Carlo Ancelotti, and any premature worries of relegation after a dismal deadline day can now be dropped.
Two goals from five is a reasonable return for Thierno Barry – who the Toffees will rely on heavily after failing to replace Beto in the summer – and there’s certainly no cause for alarm in the defensive department, conceding just three goals so far this term.
6th - Arsenal
7/10
What was a near-perfect start for Arsenal became almost par for the course in the space of one afternoon. There's no shame in an away defeat to Brighton, given Mikel Arteta's men had won their first four games, scoring eight and conceding just one, but the nature of the loss was alarming, with the Gunners going down 3-0 and being comprehensively outplayed by the Seagulls.
5th - Leeds
8/10
While another striker would have been welcome, there was plenty of excitement at Elland Road heading into the new campaign, particularly with the signings of James Trafford, Harry Wilson and Tarik Muharemovic. An opening-day win against Nottingham Forest was the perfect start, and credible draws with Brentford and Brighton maintained Leeds' unbeaten start.
The 4-1 win over Newcastle was a real marker, though their progress was halted with a 0-0 draw at home to struggling Crystal Palace.
4th - Brentford
8/10
While it perhaps doesn't look as good now as it did then, Brentford's 3-0 win over Tottenham was a real statement performance that the Bees would pick up where they left off after a good debut season under Keith Andrews. A draw at Leeds followed, before the only real blip on their record with a 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland.
A draw at Brentford maintained their unbeaten record, before thrashing Chelsea to sit in the top four heading into the international break.
3rd - Manchester City
9/10
Winning without playing superbly is a sign of champions, and Manchester City have done just that this season.
Narrow victories over Bournemouth and Coventry City, along with conceding three at home to Sunderland, are indications that the Citizens are yet to fully click under Enzo Maresca, but in Erling Haaland, Rayan Cherki, Enzo Fernandez and more, they’ve had the quality to get them over the line, where the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United so far haven’t.
2nd - Hull City
9/10
If you were to tell a Hull City fan that they’d be placed outside of the relegation zone after five Premier League fixtures, they’d have likely snapped your hand off, and so to sit eighth in the standings heading into the break is a remarkable feat given their challenging start.
They defeated Manchester United 2-0 without really being tested on the opening day, and an away victory over Coventry City – who sat 22 points above the Tigers in the Championship standings last term – shouldn’t be downplayed.
Sergej Jakirovic’s side clinched important draws points against Aston Villa and Chelsea, and while they were served their first defeat of the season against Newcastle, they were the best team for large parts of the second half and arguably deserved a point.
1st - Brighton
9/10
Barring the signing of Luka Vuskovic, there were few striking arrivals at Brighton in the summer transfer window that hinted towards a drastic improvement, but they’ve started the season superbly.
No team has kept more clean sheets than the Seagulls this campaign, while they lead the way as the highest scoring outfit in the division with 16 goals.
Brighton outplayed Arsenal on Saturday afternoon in what was arguably their greatest performance under the stewardship of Fabian Hurzeler, dismantling the reigning Premier League champions in emphatic 3-0 fashion.
