Which Team Has The Best Opening Round Record in Premier League History?

Premier League run in Fixtures
Premier League run in Fixtures

Burnley welcome champions Manchester City on Friday night to get the new campaign underway, and kickstart gameweek one into action. With all 20 teams featuring across the weekend, it got us thinking here at SportsLens – which team has the best opening round record in Premier League history?

  • Taking into account the results from the opening round of 2022/23, SportsLens have compiled the records of each of the 50 teams who have competed in the Premier League since its inception in 1992.
  • The results are reflected as a points-per-match figure.
  • Arsenal boast the best opening day record according to our metric, just ahead of Manchester United whose defeat to Brighton last season saw their average fall.

Figures supplied by Premier League and collated by SportsLens.

Best Opening Round Record in Premier League History

Club P W D L Points-per-Match
Blackpool 1 1 0 0 3.00
Arsenal 31 17 6 8 2.22
Manchester United** 30 20 4 6 2.13
Chelsea 31 20 6 5 2.12
Liverpool 31 18 9 4 2.03
Nottingham Forest 6 4 0 2 2
Brentford 2 1 1 0 2
Manchester City** 25 13 6 6 1.80
Hull 5 3 0 2 1.80
Wimbledon 8 4 2 2 1.75
Leeds 15 6 7 2 1.66
Reading 3 1 2 0 1.67
Sheffield Utd 5 2 2 1 1.60
Swansea 7 3 2 2 1.57
Bolton 13 6 2 5 1.54
Bradford 2 1 0 1 1.50
Huddersfield 2 1 0 1 1.50
Brighton 6 3 0 3 1.50
Blackburn 18 7 5 6 1.44
Coventry 9 4 1 4 1.44
Tottenham* 30 13 7 10 1.43
Everton* 30 9 12 9 1.30
Aston Villa** 27 9 8 10 1.29
West Ham 27 11 1 15 1.25
Fulham 16 5 5 6 1.25
Wolves 9 3 2 4 1.22
Newcastle 28 9 7 12 1.21
Bournemouth 6 2 1 3 1.16
Derby 7 1 5 1 1.14
Portsmouth 7 2 2 3 1.14
Sunderland 16 4 6 6 1.13
Watford 8 2 3 3 1.12
Leicester 17 4 7 6 1.11
Crystal Palace 14 4 3 7 1.07
Burnley** 7 2 1 4 1.00
West Brom 13 3 3 7 0.92
Charlton 8 2 1 5 0.88
Middlesbrough 15 2 7 6 0.87
Birmingham 7 1 3 3 0.86
Ipswich 5 1 1 3 0.80
Southampton 24 2 10 12 0.66
Norwich 10 1 3 6 0.60
Stoke 10 1 3 6 0.60
Sheffield Wed 8 1 1 6 0.50 
Wigan 8 1 1 6 0.50
Oldham 2 0 1 1 0.50 
QPR 7 0 1 6 0.14
Cardiff 2 0 0 2 0.00 
Swindon 1 0 0 1 0.00
Barnsley 1 0 0 1 0.00 

*Tottenham vs Everton was postponed in 2011/12.

**Aston Villa, Burnley, Manchester City and Manchester Utd didn’t feature in an opening round fixture in 2020/21.

Usual Suspects Near the Summit

Aside from Blackpool’s sole opening day victory in 2010 which sees them top the charts, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea boast the best records out of the current pool of Premier League teams.

Nottingham Forest, who face the Gunners in their season opener on Saturday, would have ranked above all three of those teams had it not been for their baptism of fire against Newcastle, on their return to the top flight last term.

At the other end of the spectrum,  Bournemouth have averaged the worst points haul out of the current 20 teams, picking up just four points across their five games. Meanwhile newly-promoted Burnley will hope to improve on their record of seven points from as many games, albeit with a mighty uphill task against Manchester City on Friday.

In terms of defeats, West Ham have registered the most across their Premier League history with 15, although their 11 wins from 27 total appearances sees them average 1.25 points-per-match.

 

Related Football Content

Arrow to top