The Premier League standings after Matchday 9 make for a clear early story: Arsenal are top, three points clear, and the chasing pack behind them is already splitting into groups. Nine rounds into a 38-game season, the table below is the full picture as it stands on 4 November 2026, with every club’s played, won, drawn, lost, goals and points figures checked against the live table.
Arsenal’s lead comes from consistency rather than firepower. They have won eight of nine, drawn none and lost once, scoring 14 and conceding five. Manchester City, in second, have actually scored more goals (20) but have lost twice, including two defeats in a row. That contrast is the whole story of the opening quarter of the season: the side that keeps winning narrow games sits above the side that scores freely but drops points.
For context on how the season was set up, our Premier League season guide covers the 2026-27 campaign team by team. The table below is the current state of play within that season.
Premier League standings in full after Matchday 9
The table is ordered by points, then goal difference, then goals scored. Two clubs, Newcastle United and Everton, have played eight matches rather than nine, so both hold a game in hand on the rest of the division.
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 24 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 9 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 10 | +10 | 21 |
| 3 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 7 | +17 | 19 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 15 | +4 | 16 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 9 | +2 | 15 |
| 6 | Brentford | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 14 |
| 7 | AFC Bournemouth | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 12 |
| 8 | Tottenham Hotspur | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 12 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 12 |
| 10 | Hull City | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 11 |
| 11 | Leeds United | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 11 |
| 12 | Newcastle United | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 11 |
| 13 | Ipswich Town | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 18 | -4 | 11 |
| 14 | Everton | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 10 |
| 15 | Fulham | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 11 | -2 | 9 |
| 16 | Coventry City | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 16 | -7 | 9 |
| 17 | Manchester United | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 15 | -5 | 7 |
| 18 | Crystal Palace | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 21 | -12 | 7 |
| 19 | Nottingham Forest | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 12 | -6 | 6 |
| 20 | Sunderland | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 17 | -10 | 5 |
Table figures: played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, goal difference and points, as published in the live standings table and still current on 4 November 2026, with no Premier League round played since Matchday 9. The full source table is published by Vavel’s Premier League standings page.
What the Premier League standings tell us after nine games
Three things stand out. First, the top is unusually clean: the top three have all won at least six of nine, and Arsenal are the only side in the division yet to draw a game. Second, the middle is crowded. From seventh-placed Bournemouth on 12 points down to 16th-placed Coventry on nine, ten clubs sit within three points of each other, which means a single weekend can move a team half a dozen places. Third, the bottom is already taking shape, with a two-point gap between 17th and 19th and Sunderland adrift on five points.
Goal difference is worth watching as a secondary story. Brighton have the best goal difference in the league at plus 17, better even than the two clubs above them, because they have scored 24 goals, the most in the division. That attacking output is why their 19 points feel more solid than a typical early-season third place. At the other end, Crystal Palace have conceded 21 goals, the most in the league, which explains why a side with two wins sits in the relegation zone.
The title race: Arsenal three points clear
Arsenal’s position changed on Sunday 1 November, when they won 1-0 at Liverpool, their first Premier League win at Anfield since September 2012. Arsenal had started the weekend second on 21 points from eight games; the win took them to 24 points and opened a three-point gap over Manchester City, who had led earlier in the season. Liverpool, who started the weekend fifth on 15 points from eight games, stayed fifth on 15 points after the defeat, now nine points behind the leaders with 29 games still to play.
City remain the obvious threat. They have scored 20 goals and their goal difference of plus 10 is better than Arsenal’s plus nine, so if the two clubs finish level on points, City would currently hold the tiebreaker advantage. But City have now lost twice in a row, and their next fixture is away at Nottingham Forest, a side desperate for points at the foot of the table. Arsenal, by contrast, host Hull City next, a side that has drawn five of nine and is hard to beat but has won only twice.
Chelsea in fourth on 16 points and Liverpool in fifth on 15 are not out of it by any serious measure. Nine games is less than a quarter of the season, and a gap of nine points has been closed before. What matters for both is stopping the pattern of dropped points: Chelsea have lost three already, Liverpool have drawn three. Title-winning sides in recent seasons have rarely carried that many dropped points this early and still finished top, but neither club is far enough back for the race to be called.
The chasing pack: Brentford lead a crowded middle
Brentford in sixth on 14 points are the quiet success of the opening weeks. They have lost only once, drawn five times and conceded nine goals. Their next game is away at Brighton, which will test whether they belong in the European conversation or are simply a well-organised side enjoying a kind start.
Behind them, Bournemouth, Tottenham and Aston Villa are locked together on 12 points, and Hull, Leeds, Newcastle and Ipswich all sit on 11. The differences between these sides are small: Hull and Leeds have each drawn five games, Newcastle have a game in hand, and Ipswich have scored 14 but conceded 18, the profile of a side that is fun to watch and fragile at the back. Expect this group to shuffle every weekend for the next month. A team that puts two wins together here can suddenly find itself sixth; a team that loses twice can find itself looking over its shoulder.
Everton on 10 points from eight games also belong in this conversation. Their game in hand means a win would lift them to 13 points and into the top half, which changes how their start reads entirely. Fulham on nine and Coventry on nine round out the middle, with Coventry the more volatile of the two: three wins and six defeats, no draws at all, a side that either wins or loses.
Relegation trouble: United, Palace, Forest and Sunderland
The bottom four tell four different stories. Manchester United in 17th on seven points have won just once in nine, drawing four and losing four. They are out of the relegation zone only on goal difference, ahead of Crystal Palace, who also have seven points but a goal difference of minus 12 after conceding 21 goals. United’s next game is at home to Aston Villa, one of the sides on 12 points, so there is no easy fixture to steady the run.
Nottingham Forest in 19th on six points have scored only six goals, the fewest in the division, and their next game is at home to Manchester City. Sunderland in 20th on five points have one win, two draws and six defeats, and they travel to Chelsea next. Neither side can afford to wait for form to turn; the gap to safety is only two points for Forest and four for Sunderland, but the fixtures do not get kinder in the short term.
It is worth remembering how early this still is. The bottom of the table after nine games rarely looks like the bottom of the table after 38, and the crowded middle means a three-game winning run would lift any of these four clubs into mid-table. What the standings do show, though, is which clubs have a problem right now rather than a blip: one win in nine, or six goals in nine, is a pattern, not a single bad weekend.
How the Premier League standings work
Each club plays 38 matches, home and away against every other club. A win is worth three points, a draw one point and a defeat none. Clubs are ranked first by points, then by goal difference (goals scored minus goals conceded), then by goals scored. If clubs are still level after those measures, further tiebreakers apply, which is why goal difference matters long before the final day: it is effectively worth a point whenever two sides finish tied.
The top four at the end of the season qualify for the following season’s Champions League league phase, and the bottom three are relegated to the Championship. Those two cut-offs are what give the table its shape all season: the race for fourth and the fight against 18th place matter as much as the title race for most of the division, and both are already visible in this table. Chelsea in fourth are only one point ahead of Liverpool in fifth, and the gap between 17th and 18th is goal difference alone.
What comes next in Matchday 10
The next round of fixtures gives the leading sides very different tests. Arsenal host Hull City, Manchester City travel to Nottingham Forest, Brighton host Brentford in a meeting of third against sixth, Chelsea travel to Sunderland, and Liverpool travel to Crystal Palace. Elsewhere, Bournemouth host Ipswich, Tottenham travel to Leeds, Aston Villa host Manchester United, Newcastle host Everton in a meeting of the two sides with a game in hand.
For readers tracking individual milestones within the season, our Premier League all-time top scorers page puts the current campaign’s scoring in historical context, and the records hub linked from it tracks the season marks that are under threat.
Frequently asked questions
Who is top of the Premier League standings?
Arsenal are top of the Premier League standings after Matchday 9 with 24 points from nine matches, three points clear of Manchester City in second.
How many points do Arsenal have?
Arsenal have 24 points, from eight wins and one defeat in nine matches, with 14 goals scored and five conceded.
Who is bottom of the Premier League?
Sunderland are bottom of the Premier League with five points from nine matches, having won once, drawn twice and lost six times.
How many games are left in the 2026-27 Premier League season?
After Matchday 9, each club has 29 league matches remaining, except Newcastle United and Everton, who have played eight matches and have 30 remaining.
What separates teams level on points in the Premier League standings?
Teams level on points are separated first by goal difference and then by goals scored, which is why Brighton’s plus 17 goal difference is a genuine asset in third place.
