By Esper · Published · Updated
This map ranks all 20 Premier League teams of 2022–23 on the five style axes behind our FM26 tactic cards: pressing intensity, defensive line, tempo, width and build-up. The tables below show the teams at each end of every axis, the chart sets pressing against possession, and the full grid for all 20 teams is at the bottom.
What the five axes measure
- Pressing Intensity — Tackles won, interceptions and fouls, ranked twice and combined: once per game and once relative to the time spent without the ball, with the second ranking counted double.
- Defensive Line — Opponents caught offside per game. Teams that hold a higher line usually catch more.
- Tempo — Shots per game.
- Width — Crosses per game.
- Build-Up — Share of possession. The cards read more of the ball as a shorter build-up.
Every rank is within this league’s 20 teams for this season.
Pressing against possession
Leeds pressed hardest and finished 19th
Leeds ranked 1st for pressing intensity (1st on the per-game count, 5th adjusted) and finished 19th with 31 points, changing manager during the season. Chelsea were 2nd (8th per game, 2nd adjusted) and finished 12th with 44 points. Manchester United were 3rd and finished 3rd with 75. At the other end Brentford ranked last for pressing and finished 9th with 59 points, and West Ham, 19th for pressing, finished 14th.
Manchester City: first for possession, 20th on the pressing count
City won the league with 89 points, five ahead of Arsenal. They had the most possession (64.7%, against 60.8% for Liverpool) and ranked 10th for pressing: last of 20 on the plain per-game count of tackles won, interceptions and fouls, and 6th once time without the ball is counted. The pattern repeated a year later in the 2023–24 report.
Aston Villa had the highest line, Wolves the lowest
Aston Villa's opponents were caught offside 3.1 times a game, ahead of Fulham and Liverpool (level in 2nd on 2.3). Villa finished 7th with 61 points while ranking 18th for pressing. Wolverhampton Wanderers had the lowest line (1.0) and finished 13th with 41 points. Brighton and Manchester United were level in 18th for line (1.1). Brighton led tempo with 16.0 shots a game and finished 6th with 62 points, and United finished 3rd.
Width and possession at the edges
Liverpool crossed the most (21.0 a game), ahead of Fulham and West Ham (20.2 each), and were 2nd for tempo and possession. They finished 5th with 67 points. Leicester City were the narrowest team (13.1 crosses a game) and finished 18th with 34 points. Nottingham Forest had the least possession (37.6%) and finished 16th with 38.
Top and bottom three on each axis
Pressing Intensity
Tackles won, interceptions and fouls, ranked twice and combined: once per game and once relative to the time spent without the ball, with the second ranking counted double.
| Rank | Team | Per game · out of possession |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Leeds United | 1st · 5th |
| 2nd | Chelsea | 8th · 2nd |
| 3rd | Manchester United | 6th · 4th |
| Rank | Team | Per game · out of possession |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Brentford | 18th · 20th |
| 19th | West Ham | 16th · 17th |
| 18th | Aston Villa | 17th · 16th |
Defensive Line
Opponents caught offside per game. Teams that hold a higher line usually catch more.
| Rank | Team | Opp. offsides / game |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Aston Villa | 3.1 |
| =2nd | Fulham | 2.3 |
| =2nd | Liverpool | 2.3 |
| Rank | Team | Opp. offsides / game |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1.0 |
| =18th | Brighton | 1.1 |
| =18th | Manchester United | 1.1 |
Tempo
Shots per game.
| Rank | Team | Shots / game |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Brighton | 16.0 |
| 2nd | Liverpool | 15.8 |
| =3rd | Manchester City | 15.5 |
| =3rd | Manchester United | 15.5 |
| Rank | Team | Shots / game |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Bournemouth | 9.4 |
| 19th | Nottingham Forest | 9.5 |
| 18th | Brentford | 10.5 |
Width
Crosses per game.
| Rank | Team | Crosses / game |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Liverpool | 21.0 |
| 2nd | Fulham | 20.2 |
| 3rd | West Ham | 20.2 |
| Rank | Team | Crosses / game |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Leicester City | 13.1 |
| 19th | Bournemouth | 13.4 |
| 18th | Manchester United | 13.6 |
Build-Up
Share of possession. The cards read more of the ball as a shorter build-up.
| Rank | Team | Possession |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Manchester City | 64.7% |
| 2nd | Liverpool | 60.8% |
| 3rd | Brighton | 60.2% |
| Rank | Team | Possession |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Nottingham Forest | 37.6% |
| 19th | Bournemouth | 40.4% |
| 18th | West Ham | 42.1% |
All 20 teams
| Finish | Team | Pressing Intensity | Defensive Line | Tempo | Width | Build-Up | FM26 card |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st89 pts | Manchester City | 10th | 7th | =3rd | 4th | 1st | Pep Guardiola |
| 2nd84 pts | Arsenal | 14th | 5th | 5th | 10th | 4th | Mikel ArtetaHand-researched card |
| 3rd75 pts | Manchester United | 3rd | =18th | =3rd | 18th | 6th | Erik ten Hag |
| 4th71 pts | Newcastle United | 9th | 12th | 6th | 5th | 7th | Eddie Howe |
| 5th67 pts | Liverpool | 4th | =2nd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | Jürgen Klopp |
| 6th62 pts | Brighton † | 6th | =18th | 1st | 8th | 3rd | Roberto De ZerbiHand-researched card32 of 38 games |
| 7th61 pts | Aston Villa † | 18th | 1st | 11th | 16th | 10th | Unai Emery25 of 38 games |
| 8th60 pts | Tottenham † | =11th | 16th | 7th | 6th | 8th | Antonio Conte28 of 38 games |
| 9th59 pts | Brentford | 20th | 10th | 18th | =11th | 16th | Thomas Frank |
| 10th52 pts | Fulham | =15th | =2nd | 14th | 2nd | 11th | Marco Silva |
| 11th45 pts | Crystal Palace † | 8th | 8th | 13th | 15th | 14th | Patrick Vieira27 of 38 games |
| 12th44 pts | Chelsea † | 2nd | 15th | 8th | 9th | 5th | Graham Potter22 of 38 games |
| 13th41 pts | Wolverhampton Wanderers † | =11th | 20th | 17th | =11th | 9th | Julen Lopetegui23 of 38 games |
| 14th40 pts | West Ham | 19th | 17th | 9th | 3rd | 18th | David Moyes |
| 15th39 pts | Bournemouth † | 17th | 9th | 20th | 19th | 19th | Gary O'Neil23 of 38 games |
| 16th38 pts | Nottingham Forest | =15th | 11th | 19th | 17th | 20th | Steve CooperHand-researched card |
| 17th36 pts | Everton † | =11th | 13th | 12th | 7th | 17th | Frank Lampard20 of 38 games |
| 18th34 pts | Leicester City † | 7th | 6th | 16th | 20th | 12th | Brendan Rodgers28 of 38 games |
| 19th31 pts | Leeds United † | 1st | 4th | 10th | 13th | 13th | Jesse Marsch20 of 38 games |
| 20th25 pts | Southampton † | 5th | 14th | 15th | 14th | 15th | — |
† Changed manager during the season. The figures are the team’s whole season, so they mix more than one manager’s games; the card is filed under one of them, with the number of games that manager took. Teams without a card (—) are kept as a team record only, usually because no manager was in charge for most of the season.
Notes and sources
- Teams level on a stat share a place, shown as =2nd. Fulham and Liverpool share 2nd for defensive line, Brighton and Manchester United share 18th, and Manchester City and Manchester United share 3rd for tempo.
- Figures are rounded to one decimal place, while ranks use the unrounded figures. Arsenal, City and United all show 15.5 shots a game, but Arsenal rank 5th while City and United share 3rd. Fulham, Liverpool and Leeds all show 2.3 opposition offsides a game, but Leeds rank 4th.
- † marks a team that changed manager during the season: Brighton, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Wolves, Bournemouth, Everton, Leicester, Leeds and Southampton. Their figures cover the whole season, so they mix more than one manager's games. Southampton have no FM26 card because no single manager had enough games.
- Arsenal, Brighton and Nottingham Forest link to a hand-researched card instead. Its five axes show the same ranks as this report, but the rest of the card was researched and written separately and describes the manager’s approach in its own words, so it may not line up with every number here.
Source: FBref (Sports Reference) team season statistics for the Premier League 2022–23, 20 teams. Ranks calculated on 14 October 2026.
- How the five axes are calculated (methodology)
- Browse all FM26 tactic cards
- More league style reports
- Arsenal 2022–23 FM26 card — Mikel Arteta (hand-researched)
- Brighton 2022–23 FM26 card — Roberto De Zerbi (hand-researched)
- Nottingham Forest 2022–23 FM26 card — Steve Cooper (hand-researched)
- Leeds United 2022–23 FM26 card — Jesse Marsch
- Manchester City 2022–23 FM26 card — Pep Guardiola
- Premier League 2023–24 Style Map: Aston Villa Held the Highest Line, and City Won Without Pressing Much
- Premier League 2024–25 Style Map: Who Pressed Hardest and Who Held the Highest Line
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