How Many Games in a Premier League Season?

That means every team must play a total of 38 home and away matches throughout the campaign before the club with the highest points is crowned the Premier League champions. 

When the Premier League was incepted in 1992, it had 22 teams, each playing a total of 42 matches throughout the season. That changed in 1995 when the number of Premier League teams was reduced to 20, bringing down the total number of games to 38 per season, a constant trend to date.

While the Premier League is best known for its exciting weekend fixtures, the clubs also play midweek matches to decongest the busy schedule. This is possible when a few games are postponed or some teams are involved in other competitions, such as the FA Cup or League Cup. 

Naturally, Premier League title winners are decided by the number of points earned at the end of the season, with the team with the highest points getting crowned the champions. 

If two or more teams are level on points at the end of the season, the winner is decided by goal difference, which is the difference between the goals scored and those conceded. In this case, the team with the better goal difference wins the Premier League title. 

If two or more teams still can’t be separated by goal difference, the Premier League uses other methods to determine the winner, such as the total goals scored throughout the season or the head-to-head records. 

As the team with the most points gets crowned the champions at the end of the season, the bottom three clubs are relegated to the 2nd tier of English football, and their place is taken by the three newly promoted sides from the Championship.

In the past, some Premier League teams have failed to honor their fixtures because of natural occurrences such as injuries to multiple players within the squad. In such cases, the team that forfeits the match is considered to have lost by a 3-0 margin, and the opponent is awarded 3 points without kicking a ball. 

Maximum Points in the Premier League

If a club were to win all 38 games in a Premier League season, they would end the campaign with 114 points. This is the maximum achievable point for any team competing in the top flight. 

However, this is an almost impossible feat considering the competitive nature of the league, injuries, and morale, among other factors. The current record for the most Premier League points in a campaign is 100, set by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the 2017/2018 season. 

On the other hand, a team would have to go the entire season without winning a match or getting a draw to earn the minimum points in the league, which is zero. However, that has never happened in Premier League history because it’s impossible to go an entire campaign without winning a match or getting a draw. 

Derby County holds the record for the fewest ever points in a Premier League campaign thanks to their horrible show in the 2007-08 season when they only managed 11 points. That also made them the worst club in Premier League history with the most defeats, the longest winless run, and the least wins. 

While clubs have been relegated with as high as 42 points, it is widely believed that at least 40 points are enough to guarantee a team’s safety in the Premier League.