Manchester United may have become, dare we say it, something of a laughing stock over the past decade since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club. They are still clearly one of the better teams in the top flight but they are so far from being among the best and supporters of many other clubs are enjoying that immensely.
The main reason for that is that the Red Devils were so dominant, for so long. For more or less 25 years, they were very much the top dogs in English football, even if the Gunners (and other clubs at times) did occasionally manage to wrestle the PL title away from Old Trafford. However, it is now over a decade and counting since they last won the title. Yet despite that, they remain, unquestionably, the most successful team in the history of the Premier League.
But who are second behind them, taking into account only the era from the 1992/93 season onwards when the English top flight rebranded? Ask a younger fan and they are almost certain to say Man City, and certainly the Gunners would be unlikely to be mentioned by too many. However, depending on what criteria we use, there is a very strong argument to say that it is indeed Arsenal.
On Titles Alone, It’s Man City
If we are considering only titles won then there is a fairly clear winner and that is indeed Man City. Whilst Man United have a massive 13 Premier League trophies in their cabinet, City are still a clear second with their seven. Note that all details in this argument are accurate prior to the start of the 2024/25 campaign.
Behind the Manchester duo come Chelsea with five titles, and the Gunners are down in fourth place, with three titles to their name. That is three times as many as Liverpool, however, with the Merseysiders level on one title with Blackburn and Leicester. These seven clubs are the only ones to have ever won the top-tier title in the Premier League.
In a sense, this illustrates the problem of only considering titles won. More than 50 teams have played in the Premier League since its inception in the early 90s. If finishing top of the pile is the only measure of success, then we are dismissing the achievements of around 86% of them.
Longevity Counts
One factor in Arsenal’s favour is that they are one of the founder members of the Premier League. They, along with United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and some other north London team that play in white, are the only ever-present clubs in the competition. Man City are very much newcomers in terms of trophies and it is worth noting that until their current run of four titles in a row, they are level with the Gunners on just three PL crowns.
Their record in terms of actually being in the Premier League is a little more established. They have been in the top flight since 2002/03, but even so, their total of 26 seasons in the PL lags behind Arsenal and the others. The teams mentioned above have all played 32 campaigns in the post-1992 competition, and so on this basis we would have to mark City down.
What About the Overall Premier League Table?
Perhaps the best measure we can use to fully measure the success each club has had in the Premier League is to consider the all-time table. This looks at every fixture played by every club in the PL going right back to 1992/93. In many ways, this is the fairest measure, although some may argue it unfairly advantages clubs who have played more games. But, of course, you have to be in it to win it, and so we don’t think it is unreasonable to use the all-time table as a gauge of success.
| Position | Team | Points | Games Played | Points Per Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man United | 2501 | 1228 | 2.04 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 2314 | 1228 | 1.88 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 2258 | 1228 | 1.84 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 2245 | 1228 | 1.83 |
| 5 | Spurs | 1913 | 1228 | 1.56 |
| 6 | Man City | 1809 | 1038 | 1.74 |
| 7 | Everton | 1650 | 1228 | 1.34 |
| 8 | Newcastle | 1541 | 1110 | 1.39 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 1487 | 1114 | 1.33 |
| 10 | West Ham | 1350 | 1072 | 1.26 |
The table above very much shows that Arsenal are not just well ahead of Man City (by a whopping 500+ points), but also a clear second behind United. The Gunners are well clear of Liverpool, and even Chelsea, despite the west Londoners playing every season in the PL and having won the title five times.
This is a testament to the consistency the Gunners have shown over the years, and only rarely have they finished outside the top six in the division with just one season (1994/95, 12th) where they finished outside the top 10.
Arsenal are second to United in terms of points won and, as we can see, they are also second in terms of points per game. One might have assumed that City would fare better via this second metric but they still trail the Gunners by some distance.
Arsenal Second on Wins Too
Given their strong stats in the all-time table, it should also come as no surprise that Arsenal have the second-highest tally of wins in the rebranded top tier too. Man United are well clear of everyone else with 744 wins, with Arsenal having managed 673.
That 673 means they have won 21 more games than Liverpool, who are third on the list. More importantly, if we consider Chelsea and City to be Arsenal’s main rivals for the dubious honour of “Second Best Side in Premier League History”, they have 26 more than the Blues and fully 144 more than the Cityzens.
Last of all, Arsenal also come second if we look at the overall goal difference. Whilst they trail Man United significantly, their overall GD of +976 compares very favourably to Chelsea (+853) and Man City (713). So, overall, we think it is fair to say that the Gunners are the second-best team in the history of the PL, especially considering they are the only team in the competition’s history to go through an entire season unbeaten!