Premier League table: Updated 2022 EPL standings and Champions League, relegation & title races

The Premier League is considered by many to be the strongest and most difficult league in the world and the 2021-22 season is holding to form, with places hotly contested up and down the table. 

Although marred by COVID-19 disruptions, the races are compelling. Man City has pulled ahead with a commanding lead, but Liverpool (and possibly Chelsea) can still make a race of it in the second half of the season. The Reds would seem to be the most likely challenger standing in the way of Pep Guardiola’s fourth title in the last five seasons.

Other finishes across the table are just as important, with teams fighting for Champions League and European places, while others are battling to avoid relegation. A snapshot of each race follows below.

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Premier League title race

Manchester City currently holds a 10-point lead atop the Premier League table, and FiveThirtyEight has the Citizens at 87 percent to win the Premier League title after topping Chelsea in the blockbuster matchup on Jan. 15.

However, Liverpool and Chelsea can still make things interesting if City slips up. Liverpool now sits 11 points back and still has a game in hand, while Chelsea has work to do to catch back up.

Outside of these three, no other team has a realistic shot at winning the Premier League title as it would take a cataclysmic collapse by multiple top teams to see the likes of West Ham, Arsenal, Spurs, and Manchester United swept into the mix.

PTS = Points, GP = Games Played, GD = Goal Difference (goals scored less goals conceded)

Champions League places: Top 4 chase

The Champions League race — only four spots are available and they go to the top four teams in the table — is probably the most fascinating, as a number of teams are in the mix and only four can make it through.

Man City, Chelsea, and Liverpool all seem to be trending towards comfortably finishing in the top four, as FiveThirtyEight puts each of them at over 90 percent to clinch a berth in next season’s Champions League.

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The fourth and final spot is the one everyone has their eyes on. West Ham currently holds the fourth position thanks to a fabulous start to the season, but the Hammers slipped a bit in late November and early December. Now Arsenal and Spurs are both within four points, and while Manchester United is six points back of that final spot, the Red Devils have games in hand.

FiveThirtyEight‘s predictions actually have Arsenal the most likely to snatch that spot, at 41 percent, while Tottenham is at 34 percent, West Ham at 11 percent, and United at just 10 percent. Ralf Rangnick has a lot of work to do.

Premier League race for European places

In addition to the Champions League, there are two Europa League berths up for grabs: one goes to the fifth-place Premier League team and the other goes to the FA Cup winner. There is also a Europa Conference League berth that goes to the League Cup winner. 

However, if the FA Cup or League Cup winners have already qualified to the Champions League or Europa League through other means, the berth automatically assigned to the cup winner is transferred to the next highest team in the Premier League standings that has not already qualified for a European competition. In that scenario, finishing fifth, sixth or sevent could mean a spot in Europe.

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So until there’s clarity with the cup scenarios, we will assume that fifth, sixth, and seventh are in contention for European berths. And with Man United, Wolves, Brighton, and Leicester City all having games in hand, that would give them an edge on the others for those spots.

Premier League relegation battle

Premier League revenue streams are astronomical in the football world, so absorbing relegation from the English top flight is a costly proposition. Teams fight as hard as possible to avoid the bottom three places and keep from suffering this fate.

With the bottom four teams within three points, the relegation race is wide open.

For long stretches this season it appeared that Norwich City would almost certainly be headed for the drop, but on the heels of a managerial change and a big result against Everton, the Canaries are just one point from safety.

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Newcastle, under new ownership, is already spending big money to improve the squad in the January transfer window with plenty of time left yet to score points.

Things are not looking bright for Burnley, especially with star forward Chris Wood making the switch to Tyneside. But their many games in hand give the Clarets a fighting chance.

Watford is also a candidate, while Leeds and Everton are in a much more advantageous position with a significant gap below, but they have looked lost at times this season and any prolonged slips would see them sucked into the vortex. Especially Everton fans know there’s no room for error, having parted ways with manager Rafa Benitez as the Toffees continue to stumble.