Bear in mind, these grades are solely based on league performances. Achievements in European competitions and domestic cups aren't taken into account.
Arsenal (1st)
Start of season target: Win the Premier League
Grade A
Whilst there does feel a mounting pressure on Arsenal to win the Premier League this season, to be four points clear of a revitalised Manchester City at the top of the table at the mid-way point is a job well done. Mikel Arteta's side haven't had it their own way and they have dropped points in games they could have managed better but that is just being critical.
There is little arguing they deserve an A grade at the halfway point after producing some scintillating attacking displays whilst being the strongest defence in the land. Nine clean sheets from an imposing back-four that has such brilliant depth that injuries to Gabriel and Saliba haven't hurt the Gunners too badly.
The football has been a big improvement on last season and the goals being spread out incredibly evenly between their attack and midfield means there is less reliance on Bukayo Saka to produce the goods. With the best squad depth in the league, a coach that the players and board believe in and individually world-leading players throughout the core of their side, Arsenal are very much the team to beat in 2026.
Aston Villa (3rd)
Start of season target: Qualify for Europa League
Grade A
After a relatively quiet summer, it would have been reasonable to assume Aston Villa might struggle to reach the heights of their 2025/26 campaign but once again, Unai Emery has proven everyone wrong. After a slow start to the season in front of goal, Villa have been on an inspired run that sees them third in the Premier League and involved in the title race.
A bad defeat in their final game of 2025 to title rivals Arsenal has dented their title hopes somewhat, but to be in with a fantastic chance of securing Champions League football next season is incredible. Emery is doing a stellar job at Villa Park and is proving once again why he is one of the best coaches in the business.
Bournemouth (15th)
Start of season target: Top half finish
Grade D
After ending October second in the Premier League, Bournemouth will be wondering where it all went wrong in the last two months of 2025. The Cherries have gone from being on course for European football to finding themselves just nine points above the relegation zone and a battle on their hands in the second half of the season to finish the season in the top half.
Under Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth are still a good side, and they showcased in recent draws against Manchester United and Chelsea that they can challenge almost anyone in the league. They just need to find a way to stop leaking so many goals, and their season can still be rescued.
Brentford (9th)
Start of season target: Avoid relegation
Grade A
At the start of the season, there were genuine fears that Brentford might be at risk of going down after losing their two star players and manager in the summer. However, despite all the scepticism over his CV, Thomas Frank's replacement, Kieth Andrews, has silenced his critics emphatically after leading Brentford to the top half of the Premier League at the halfway point.
Big wins against Newcastle United and Bournemouth stand out in what has been an impressive first half of the season by one of the best surprises of the 2025/26 campaign.
Brighton (14th)
Start of season target: Top half finish
Grade C
It is a testament to how much Brighton have overachieved that we are disappointed when they aren't in the top half and challenging for Europe. It has been far from a disastrous first half of the campaign by Fabian Hurzeler's side. However, similar to Bournemouth, they had a horrid end to the year, which leaves them with work to do to reach their pre-season target.
Brighton play some really nice football and they are only a few points off European places in a congested table, so there is hope of achieving their goals in the second half of the campaign.
Burnley (19th)
Start of the season: Avoid relegation
Grade E
At the start of the season, there was very little expectation that Scott Parker's side would avoid the drop. Those fears are being realised at the halfway stage after picking up just 12 points and finding themselves six points away from 17th.
With one of the worst attacks and defences in the league with 20 goals scored and 37 conceded, there is very little positivity to take from a largely miserable first half of the season.
A couple of hard-fought draws near the end of 2025 will give Burnley some hope heading into the second half of the season but with one of the weakest squads in the league, survival feels more like a pipe dream than a realistic ambition.
Chelsea (5th)
Start of the season: Compete for the title
Grade C
After the billions Chelsea have spent since being purchased by Todd Boley and Blue Co., it didn't feel unreasonable to expect a title challenge at the start of the season. However, despite the considerable amount spent, Chelsea's squad still feels some way off Arsenal's and Manchester City's. Therefore, sitting in 5th place and in contention for Champions League qualification at the halfway point isn't disastrous.
With Enzo Maresca's sacking after their last game of 2025, it is obvious that things haven't gone the way the Club World Cup champions would have expected pre-season but when we look back on the season in the summer, Maresca's work in the first half of the season might well be looked back on positively.
A likely future under Liam Rosenior (with the Englishman set for a promotion from within Blue Co.) doesn't inspire much hope for the rest of the season, and a mid-season Grade C could easily turn into an end-of-season Grade E or worse...
Crystal Palace (10th)
Start of season: Mid-table finish
Grade B
Crystal Palace are another traditionally mid-table side that went from overachieving to dropping off in the final couple of months in the first half of the season. Palace were flying high and playing with enormous confidence up until the last few weeks. The Eagles surged into the Premier League's top four on December 7th, but have since lost three and drawn one in the league.
They are still in a strong position to hit their target for the season, but after such a convincing start to the campaign under the brilliant Oliver Glasner, it would be fair to expect more from the second half of the season.
Everton (8th)
Start of season: Mid-table finish
Grade B
After a positive end to the summer window, moving into their new state-of-the-art stadium and with the reliable David Moyes at the helm, there was good reason to believe Everton would have a solid season.
However, to actually pull it off when there is a certain level of expectation at the club for the first time in a long time is impressive. Sometimes moving into a new stadium can lead to a settling-in period but by all accounts, Everton's supporters felt instantly at home at the Will Dickinson Stadium.
And that support has translated into a good record at their new home, and some memories have already been made.
Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye give Everton the star factor they have been missing for some time, and under Moyes' great stewardship, Everton have a great shot at a top-half finish and possibly even European football.
Fulham (11th)
Start of the season: Mid-table finish
Grade B
Fulham are the third club in a row to be on course to achieve their pre-season target of a mid-table finish. The way Marco Silva has consistently kept Fulham well above the relegation zone and safely away from a battle for survival deserves huge credit.
A quiet summer window felt like a missed opportunity to take this side to the next level but Silva has done a really good job once again of getting results in such a competitive division. On their day, Fulham are one of the hardest teams to face in the league and don't be surprised if they finish in the top half of the table.
Leeds United (16th)
Start of season: Avoid relegation
Grade A
After securing promotion back into the Premier League last season, the goal was simple for this campaign: survive. Leeds United began the 2025/26 season strongly but a poor run of results had them languishing in the relegation zone up until the final month of the year.
Up until December, Daniel Farke's side were heading for a much lower rating. However, a six-game unbeaten run to end the year, including hard-fought draws against Liverpool and high-flying Sunderland, and Leeds aren't just out of the bottom three but they have opened up a seven-point gap to West Ham in 18th.
Liverpool (4th)
Start of season: Win the title
Grade E
Heading into the 2025/26 season as the holders and team to beat, Liverpool were most people's favourites to win the league again. Expectations rose even further after the club splashed the cash on what looked on paper to be statement summer signings. There were some warning signs in their opening game win against Bournemouth; however, it became apparent that Arne Slot saw his new signings as the missing pieces to his vision to play a more expansive and gung-ho approach.
Asking his full-backs to bomb forward at every opportunity and Florian Wirtz's inclusion in the midfield created an imbalance that didn't exist last season. Moving too far away from a title-winning formula felt bizarre, and it would prove to be a naive decision.
After a nightmare first few months of the season, Slot adapted his system (arguably making Liverpool too boring) and results have improved since. His new signings have also begun to settle and if they continue to do so, a top-four finish is a realistic ambition, a position Liverpool would take in their newly found situation.
Manchester City (2nd)
Start of season: Challenge for the title
Grade B
After a successful summer window where Manchester City added some much-needed fresh energy into their squad, a title challenge felt like a realistic goal. City would have been desperate to put the memories of last season behind them but a mixed start to this season and it was beginning to feel familiar - maybe Pep Guardiola had just run out of magic?
City have been in formidable form lately though, and aside from a minor setback in their final game of the first half of the campaign at Sunderland, they have started to look like the side that has dominated English football in the last decade.
Four points off Arsenal in second place at the midway point is not a bad position to be in, and expect Guardiola's side to be there or thereabouts come May.
Manchester United (6th)
Start of season: Top-seven finish
Grade D
The word before the season began was that it couldn't get any worse than last season for Ruben Amorim and Manchester United. That has proven to be true as United find themselves in the top half of the table at the midway point of the season but it has been far from convincing from Amorim's side.
In a normal campaign, 30 points at the halfway season would see you with a mountain to climb to challenge for the top four. As it is, United are just three points off fourth-placed Liverpool and are still in the race for Champions League qualification.
Just staying where they are would see them hit their target and improve drastically on last season, but with unrest building in the fanbase, Amorim might well need improved performances and better results in the second half of the season to save his job.
Newcastle United (13th)
Start of season: Top-six finish
Grade E
We were a bit sceptical about how Newcastle would cope with juggling European football at the start of the season and our fears have been proven to be justified. Eddie Howe's side have struggled this season; there is no two ways about it. The Geordie giants were dealt a blow in the summer when they were reluctantly forced to sell their best player and talisman, Alexander Isak, for a Premier League record fee.
His replacement, Nick Woltemade, has done well and become an instant fan favourite but Isak is a unique player, and his departure has hurt them. What else has hurt Howe's men has been their inconsistency, not just from game to game but within the same match, a problem they haven't experienced in recent years before this campaign.
Nottingham Forest (17th)
Start of season: Top-eight finish
Grade F
After the highs of last season and securing European football, Nottingham Forest have been brought back down to earth with a bang this season. It has been a rough ride for Forest after sacking both Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou before the end of October. Santo's sacking was more due to a falling out with the owner than anything else but Postecoglou's was a results-based decision after a disastrous stint for the Aussie coach.
Sean Dyche has since steadied the ship, and you would expect, with Dyche's experience in these situations and the quality at his disposal, Forest should have more than enough to stay up. Still, surviving a relegation battle will be some way off our pre-season target.
Sunderland (7th)
Start of season: Avoid relegation
Grade A
The story of the season easily goes to Sunderland. They looked nailed on to be in a scrap for their lives after scrapping into the Premier League via the playoffs. However, Sunderland have written their own story this season and deservedly reach the halfway point of the season in seventh place and on course for European football.
With an electric home support behind them at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland have played with an intensity and energy of a side with a point to prove. Regis Le Bris's men scouted brilliantly in the summer, too, as all of their new signings have been resounding successes, no more so than the signing of the summer, Granit Xhaka.
Tottenham (12th)
Start of season: Top-seven finish
Grade E
In their final game of the first half of the season, Tottenham fans chanted 'boring boring Tottenham', summing up the mood at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the halfway point. Thomas Frank was a fan favourite at Brentford, but after poor results and uninspiring performances in his first season, Frank is far from popular at his new home in North London.
Results need to come fast if Spurs want to rescue a season that feels like it is getting away from them.
West Ham United (19th)
Start of season: Mid-table finish
Grade F
It has been a disastrous season for a club that appears to be in a bit of a mess on and off the pitch. There was a sense that West Ham would struggle this season since their squad doesn't look particularly strong on paper but with players like Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta in their ranks, we thought they would have enough to be safe.
However, the Hammers have been awful and even the brilliant Nuno Espirito Santo has been unable to rescue this sinking ship. West Ham fans will take hope from the fact that the board are closing in on completing a couple of ambitious moves in January but is it too little too late?
Wolves (20th)
Start of season: Avoid relegation
Grade F
Three points and winless at the midpoint of the campaign and it doesn't take a genius to work out that Wolves are in big, big trouble. They are also at risk of becoming the Premier League's worst-ever side if they don't get their act together in the second half of the season.
It was only ever a matter of time before something like this happened to Wolves after years of selling their best players every summer. Matehus Cunha and Rayan Ait Nouri were the two stars to leave for the red and blue of Manchester in the summer, and it has hit them as hard as you would expect.