Every Premier League club’s wage bill vs. 2025-26 league position after 19 games | OneFootball

Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have all underachieved in the Premier League this season when you compare their performance on the pitch so far to their outlay on wages.

At the other end of the scale, Brentford, Crystal Palace and Sunderland are doing the best relative to their spending on player wages.

There are notable exceptions, but looking at the table of Premier League wages is usually a decent benchmark for where each club ‘should’ be finishing in the league when all is said and done.

For example, it’s no great surprise that Burnley are in the relegation, given how little they spend on wages compared to some of the English top-flight’s more established clubs.

Scott Parker’s squad take home only a fraction of what the likes of the two Manchester clubs and Arsenal spend on player wages.

But Brentford, who still have the lowest wage bill, have demonstrated that it is possible to get a lot from limited resources as they sit in mid-table.

Sunderland and Crystal Palace are also performing well above where they logically should, while Aston Villa and Everton are clearly being managed astutely.

Table toppers Arsenal can be considered the best of the ‘big six’, given they spend less on wages than their direct competitors.

At the other end of the scale, it’s no wonder there’s so much noise around Chelsea and Manchester United, considering they both spend big bucks and sit outside the Champions League places.

Nottingham Forest, Tottenham and Newcastle are all significantly underperforming, as are bottom three occupiers Wolves and West Ham.

We’ve listed every Premier League single club by their league position in comparison to their wage bill, ranking them in order of the biggest overperformers down to the biggest underperformers.

2. Sunderland

League Position: 7th Wage bill: 14th Total wage bill: £68,016,000 Difference: +7

3. Crystal Palace

League Position: 10th Wage bill: 15th Total wage bill: £67,828,800 Difference: +5

4. Aston Villa

League Position: 3rd Wage bill: 7th Total wage bill: £130,317,200 Difference: +4

5. Everton

League Position: 8th Wage bill: 12th Total wage bill: £75,379,200 Difference: +4

6. Brighton

League Position: 14th Wage bill: 17th Total wage bill: £60,645,000 Difference: +3

7. Leeds

League Position: 16th Wage bill: 18th Total wage bill: £59,306,000 Difference: +2

8. Arsenal

League Position: 1st Wage bill: 2nd Total wage bill: £189,322,000 Difference: +1

9. Bournemouth

League Position: 15th Wage bill: 16th Total wage bill: £62,764,000 Difference: +1

10. Fulham 

League Position: 11th Wage bill: 11th Total wage bill: £77,519,000 Difference: 0

11. Burnley

League Position: 19th Wage bill: 19th Total wage bill: £55,970,000 Difference: 0

12. Manchester City

League Position: 2nd Wage bill: 1st Total wage bill: £222,315,600 Difference: -1

13. Liverpool

League Position: 4th Wage bill: 3rd Total wage bill: £174,220,800 Difference: -1

14. Chelsea

League Position: 5th Wage bill: 4th Total wage bill: £164,788,000 Difference: -1

15. Manchester United

League Position: 6th Wage bill: 5th Total wage bill: £159,341,000 Difference: -1

16. Newcastle

League Position: 13th Wage bill: 8th Total wage bill: £116,584,000 Difference: -5

17. Tottenham

League Position: 12th Wage bill: 6th Total wage bill: £132,912,000 Difference: -6

18. Wolves

League Position: 20th Wage bill: 13th Total wage bill: £72,358,000 Difference: -7

League Position: 17th Wage bill: 9th Total wage bill: £93,457,000 Difference: -8