We are 10 games into the Premier League season. Who are the biggest underperformers and overachievers? Manchester United and Hull City, in particular, make for an interesting contrast when you compare their league position with how much their squads cost to assemble.
While squad cost is not a direct assessment of how a team should perform, it does give us an idea of where they should be aiming for.
With that in mind, we’ve taken the current Transfermarkt valuation of each Premier League squad cost and compared it to where each team currently finds itself in the table.
And boy, does it make Manchester United look bad. United are 18th in the Premier League table, despite having the fifth-most expensive squad in the division, giving them a 13-place disparity between their squad cost position and their actual league position.
That’s miles worse than even the likes of Tottenham and Newcastle, who this table doesn’t exactly make pretty reading for either.
At the other end of the scale, Hull are 13th despite having the cheapest squad in the division. That puts them six places above where their squad cost would suggest they might be expected to be.
Everton are also punching well above their weight, sitting sixth despite ranking 16th for squad cost. Brighton (+7), Leeds (+8), Arsenal (+5) and Brentford (+2) have also outperformed their squad cost rankings.
Manchester City, meanwhile, are third in the Premier League while having the second-most expensive squad according to Transfermarkt.
Here’s the full ranking:
20. Manchester United
League Position: 18
Squad cost Position: 5
Total squad cost: £883.5m
Difference: -13
19. Tottenham
League Position: 11th
Squad cost Position: 4
Total squad cost: £883.5m
Difference: -7
18. Crystal Palace
League Position: 20
Squad cost Position: 15
Total squad cost: £293.7m
Difference: -5
17. Newcastle United
League Position: 12
Squad cost Position: 7
Total squad cost: £677.4m
Difference: -5
16. Nottingham Forest
League Position: 16
Squad cost Position: 12
Total squad cost: £357.8m
Difference: -4
15. Liverpool
League Position: 4
Squad cost Position: 1
Total squad cost: £977.9m
Difference: -3
14. Aston Villa
League Position: 10
Squad cost Position: 8
Total squad cost: £485.5m
Difference: -2
13. Chelsea
League Position: 5
Squad cost Position: 3
Total squad cost: £900.7m
Difference: -2
12. Sunderland
League Position: 19
Squad cost Position: 18
Total squad cost: £231.4m
Difference: -1
11. Fulham
League Position: 15
Squad cost Position: 14
Total squad cost: £308.3m
Difference: -1
10. Ipswich
League Position: 14
Squad cost Position: 13
Total squad cost: £308.9m
Difference: -1
9. Manchester City
League Position: 3
Squad cost Position: 2
Total squad cost: £977.9m
Difference: -1
8. Coventry
League Position: 17
Squad cost Position: 19
Total squad cost: £186.4m
Difference: +2
7. Brentford
League Position: 8
Squad cost Position: 10
Total squad cost: £384.2m
Difference: +2
6. Bournemouth
League Position: 7
Squad cost Position: 11
Total squad cost: £358.8m
Difference: +4
5. Arsenal
League Position: 1
Squad cost Position: 6
Total squad cost: £857.8m
Difference: +5
4. Hull City
League Position: 13
Squad cost Position: 20
Total squad cost: £170.7m
Difference: +7
3. Brighton
League Position: 2
Squad cost Position: 9
Total squad cost: £425.2m
Difference: +7
2. Leeds United
League Position: 9
Squad cost Position: 17
Total squad cost: £248.5m
Difference: +8
1. Everton
League Position: 6
Squad cost Position: 16
Total squad cost: £287.4m
Difference: +10
READ NEXT: The shocking Premier League home table since Spurs moved stadium in 2019
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every club to have played in the English top flight?