As the Premier League’s wealthier clubs have tried to work out how close they are to a 2026-27 title challenge, one calculation has caused excitement. Some of their analyses predict that winning the league may require just over 80 points. That would be the lowest since 2016, a period with a few parallels to now.
The low estimated figure is largely down to the general evolution of the division since then… but also one distinctive end point: Pep Guardiola, English football’s singular most influential figure since Sir Alex Ferguson, has gone.
