After twelve match days, the Premier League table is more balanced than ever. For Liverpool FC, it got even worse on Monday evening than it already was.
When Manchester United plays Everton, the result is rarely to the liking of Liverpool fans. On Monday evening, they certainly didn’t mind that their archrivals lost again after five games and that two teammates on the pitch got into such a heated argument with their city rivals that one of them, Idrissa Gueye, was sent off. But they couldn’t really rejoice over Everton’s 1-0 coup at Old Trafford. Not only does this mean that the Reds are behind the Toffees in the table for the first time since March 2021, but they have also slipped to twelfth place. The last time they were lower was on matchday 3 of the ill-fated 2022/23 season, when they started with two draws and a defeat under Jürgen Klopp and ended up finishing only fifth. Liverpool last finished below 12th place well before Klopp’s era, in 2010/11 when they were 13th after 22 games. Blackburn (1995/96, finished 7th) and Leicester (2026/17, 12th) are the only defending champions who, like Liverpool in 2025/26, had already lost six times at this stage.
Goal difference (-2): Big jumps are possible in the table week after week. Only five points separate second-placed Chelsea FC from Arne Slot’s team ten places below. This has never happened before in the Premier League after twelve matchdays. As strange as it may sound for a team in twelfth place, Liverpool, like many others, are still in contention for a Champions League spot, and that is probably all that matters for them this season.
There is an outlier at the top and bottom
At the top, there is an outlier in the form of leaders Arsenal, who already have a six-point lead, as well as at the bottom: Wolverhampton Wanderers have only two points to their name even after the change of coach and are already eight points behind second-to-last Burnley.
Apart from the Gunners (1) and Crystal Palace (2), all Premier League teams have lost at least three times after twelve matchdays. And the most recent match day proved that, with a few exceptions, anyone can beat anyone this season: Liverpool went down to basement club Nottingham (0-3), Newcastle, 14th and even behind the Reds, slowed Manchester City (2-1), Fulham stopped Sunderland’s high-flying run (1-0). And Everton conquered Old Trafford.
