What tiebreaker is used if teams finish level on points in the Premier League?

For the first time in recent memory, there are three teams in with a real chance of winning the Premier League as we enter the closing stages of the season. Although Aston Villa flirted with a title challenge and still aren’t too far adrift, one of Liverpool, Manchester City or Arsenal will almost certainly get their hands on the trophy in May, with the last few weeks suggesting the race will go down to the wire.

Pep Guardiola’s side have won four of the last five titles and many believe they have the experience and know-how to clinch yet another one. But they’ve never had two separate challengers to fend off, which is an interesting new dynamic.

Both City and Arsenal will be hoping to go all the way in the Champions League, but could that play into Liverpool’s hands? The stakes are considerably lower for The Reds in the Europa League and Jürgen Klopp will be desperate to sign off in style before leaving the club in the summer.

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What tiebreakers are used in different soccer leagues?

Things are incredibly tight at the top, much so that there is even a chance that the two teams could finish level on points on 19 May. How would they be separated if that were the case?

Head-to-head?

One curiosity of elite-level soccer is that different comPetitions in different countries use different tiebreakers. For instance, Real Madrid famously won LaLiga in 2006-07 by virtue of having a better head-to-head record in their two league matches that season against Barcelona, with whom they finished level on points. Serie A uses the same system, as does the UEFA Champions League in the group stage.

The argument in favour of that system is that the team that has proved themselves to be ‘superior’ is seen to come out on top. The downside is that potential drama is lost, with goal difference taken out of the equation and permutations limited as a result.

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Goal difference?

Like Liga MX, Ligue 1 in France and Germany’s Bundesliga, the Premier League uses goal difference as the first tiebreaker. Unusually, City are worse off as things stand, although with Kevin De Bruyne back and Erling Haaland in the team, as well as matches between the teams coming up, there is still opportunity for that to change.

In the unlikely event that two teams finish on the same number of points and have the same goal difference, Premier League rules state that “the number of goals scored, then the team who collected the most points in the head-to-head matches, then who scored most away goals in the head-to-head” will determine who finished ahead of who in the table.

As a separate point of interest, MLS uses a different system to the two mentioned in their regular season standings, with the total number of wins across all matches acting as the first tiebreaker ahead of goal difference.

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Has the Premier League title ever been decided on goal difference?

The name Sergio Agüero is probably enough to trigger your memory. In 2011-12, City and Manchester United were tied on points going into the final game of the season. The Sky Blues’ goal difference was eight better than the Red Devils’, which realistically meant that all they had to do was beat relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers at home.

With United having won 1-0 away to Sunderland, City found themselves facing a shock 2-1 defeat and title heartbreak until two goals in injury-time from Edin Dzeko and Agüero clinched the most dramatic of league titles, their first since 1968.

“I swear you’ll never see anything like this again, so watch it, drink it in!” said Sky Sports commentator Martin Tyler. He may be right, although there is still a small chance history could repeat itself on 19 May.