Season 6 - Premiership - Mid-Season Review

Published: September 4, 2025

The Title Picture

Up until Round 17, it looked like this might be a bit of a procession. Steve Outten and Manchester United had been outstanding, taking 45 points from a possible 51. In the final two games before the midway point though, the unbeaten run fell at Stamford Bridge before Crystal Palace took a point from Old Trafford, and the gap between Chelsea and United shrunk to just one point. The Blues are on a five game winning run, and will look to apply pressure straight out of the gate from Round 20. It would be foolish to count out Manchester City at this point, but they have more league defeats than Chelsea and United and seven points to make up, and it's going to be tough (but not impossible to make that up). Tottenham Hotspur have flirted with the title race for some time, but four defeats in five has brought them closer to the rest than those in the upper reaches.

The Race for the CL

With four, possibly five Champions League spots well up for grabs at this point, form and momentum are key, and Liverpool hold the longest unbeaten run in the division by a long way, sitting 9 games without defeat which has propelled them up into 5th position. Portsmouth have also been mightily impressive in their promotion season, with Neil Kirby guiding his team to 10 wins from the opening 19, and level on points with Liverpool. Five points separate 5th and 11th though, so this division is going to be shaken up a few more times before we hit Round 38, with Burnley, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Millwall and Blackburn Rovers also keeping their eyes on the prize. There are some underachievers in midtable, but still plenty of time and not many points to make up for these teams to get back into contention. Both Aston Villa and Arsenal made the CL positions in Season 5, but neither have been consistent enough to sit in the top half and there are questions for Emlyn Brennan and Darren Humphris to answer, with squads at very different ends of the age spectrum. Southampton have just been flat out disappointing, and need more from striker Alexander Isak who has just six goals in all competitions.

The Fight for Survival

It is looking for bleak for Cardiff City and Coventry City at the foot of the division with just 3 wins, 31 losses and 109 goals conceded between them. Full credit though to managers Matt Rose and Will Schoolar who knew they had tough seasons coming up, and have remained committed and submitted teamsheets regardless of their teams' struggles. Realistically, it's looking a fight between Newcastle United, Barnsley and Wolves for who avoids the final spot, with a losing run of four games seeing Wolves surprisingly sat in the bottom three at halfway. Barnsley have downgraded for youth though and might be in trouble, while Newcastle will unashamedly play their way, week in, week out. Leeds United are more in this conversation than any other, but have extricated themselves from the mire at the bottom with four wins in six, and with new manager James Bucknall wasting no time in replacing young keeper Maik Taylor, there's every chance they go upwards rather than downwards.