By Esper · Published · Updated
This map ranks all 20 Premier League teams of 2023–24 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
Manchester City: first for possession, last on the pressing count
Manchester City won the league with 91 points, two ahead of Arsenal. They had the most possession (65.2%, against 61.6% for Tottenham in second) and were 2nd for tempo (18.0 shots a game). Their pressing rank was 12th overall, but that blends two very different numbers: on the plain per-game count of tackles won, interceptions and fouls they were 20th, the lowest in the league, and counted against the time they spent without the ball they were 6th.
Liverpool were the league's busiest attackers. They led tempo with 20.6 shots a game, 2.6 more than City, were 2nd for width (21.5 crosses a game) and 2nd for pressing, and finished 3rd with 82 points.
Aston Villa: a line nobody else came close to
Aston Villa's opponents were caught offside 4.4 times a game, far ahead of Tottenham in second (3.3) and Fulham in third (2.6). Villa finished 4th with 68 points while ranking level in 17th for pressing (19th on the per-game count, 15th once time without the ball is counted). The highest line in the league was not paired with a high press.
At the other end, Nottingham Forest had the lowest line (1.0) and finished 17th with 32 points. Wolves (1.2) finished 14th and Luton (1.3) 18th.
Tottenham pressed hardest, Burnley least
Tottenham ranked 1st for pressing (4th per game, 1st adjusted) and finished 5th with 66 points. Liverpool were 2nd and Chelsea 3rd (12th per game, 3rd adjusted), and Chelsea finished 6th with 63. Burnley were last for pressing and finished 19th with 24 points. Aston Villa, Luton and Sheffield United were level in 17th.
Width and the bottom of the table
Luton crossed the most (22.1 a game), ahead of Liverpool (21.5) and Everton (19.8), and finished 18th with 26 points. Sheffield United finished bottom with 16 points and ranked last for tempo (9.5 shots a game), width (11.3 crosses a game) and build-up (35.8% possession).
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 | Tottenham | 4th · 1st |
| 2nd | Liverpool | 7th · 2nd |
| 3rd | Chelsea | 12th · 3rd |
| Rank | Team | Per game · out of possession |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Burnley | 16th · 17th |
| =17th | Aston Villa | 19th · 15th |
| =17th | Luton Town | 11th · 19th |
| =17th | Sheffield United | 9th · 20th |
Defensive Line
Opponents caught offside per game. Teams that hold a higher line usually catch more.
| Rank | Team | Opp. offsides / game |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Aston Villa | 4.4 |
| 2nd | Tottenham | 3.3 |
| 3rd | Fulham | 2.6 |
| Rank | Team | Opp. offsides / game |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Nottingham Forest | 1.0 |
| 19th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1.2 |
| 18th | Luton Town | 1.3 |
Tempo
Shots per game.
| Rank | Team | Shots / game |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Liverpool | 20.6 |
| 2nd | Manchester City | 18.0 |
| 3rd | Arsenal | 17.0 |
| Rank | Team | Shots / game |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Sheffield United | 9.5 |
| 19th | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 11.2 |
| 18th | Luton Town | 11.2 |
Width
Crosses per game.
| Rank | Team | Crosses / game |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Luton Town | 22.1 |
| 2nd | Liverpool | 21.5 |
| 3rd | Everton | 19.8 |
| Rank | Team | Crosses / game |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Sheffield United | 11.3 |
| 19th | Burnley | 14.5 |
| 18th | Chelsea | 14.7 |
Build-Up
Share of possession. The cards read more of the ball as a shorter build-up.
| Rank | Team | Possession |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Manchester City | 65.2% |
| 2nd | Tottenham | 61.6% |
| 3rd | Liverpool | 61.3% |
| Rank | Team | Possession |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | Sheffield United | 35.8% |
| 19th | Nottingham Forest | 40.6% |
| 18th | Everton | 40.8% |
All 20 teams
| Finish | Team | Pressing Intensity | Defensive Line | Tempo | Width | Build-Up | FM26 card |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st91 pts | Manchester City | 12th | 5th | 2nd | 8th | 1st | Pep GuardiolaHand-researched card |
| 2nd89 pts | Arsenal | =9th | 12th | 3rd | 10th | 6th | Mikel Arteta |
| 3rd82 pts | Liverpool | 2nd | 6th | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Jürgen Klopp |
| 4th68 pts | Aston Villa | =17th | 1st | 10th | 12th | 7th | Unai Emery |
| 5th66 pts | Tottenham | 1st | 2nd | 4th | 5th | 2nd | Ange Postecoglou |
| 6th63 pts | Chelsea | 3rd | 9th | 9th | 18th | 5th | Mauricio Pochettino |
| 7th60 pts | Newcastle United | 14th | =14th | 7th | 13th | 8th | Eddie Howe |
| 8th60 pts | Manchester United | 11th | 16th | 6th | 15th | =9th | Erik ten Hag |
| 9th52 pts | West Ham | 15th | =14th | 16th | 11th | 17th | David Moyes |
| 10th49 pts | Crystal Palace † | 7th | 7th | 14th | 16th | 16th | Roy Hodgson24 of 38 games |
| 11th48 pts | Brighton | 5th | 8th | 5th | 9th | 4th | Roberto De Zerbi |
| 12th48 pts | Bournemouth | 4th | 17th | 8th | 6th | 14th | Andoni Iraola |
| 13th47 pts | Fulham | 8th | 3rd | 12th | 4th | =9th | Marco Silva |
| 14th46 pts | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 6th | 19th | 19th | 17th | 11th | Gary O'Neil |
| 15th40 pts | Everton | =9th | 11th | 11th | 3rd | 18th | Sean Dyche |
| 16th39 pts | Brentford | 13th | 13th | 13th | 7th | 13th | Thomas FrankHand-researched card |
| 17th32 pts | Nottingham Forest † | 16th | 20th | 15th | 14th | 19th | Nuno Espírito Santo21 of 38 games |
| 18th26 pts | Luton Town | =17th | 18th | 18th | 1st | 15th | Rob Edwards |
| 19th24 pts | Burnley | 20th | 4th | 17th | 19th | 12th | Vincent Kompany |
| 20th16 pts | Sheffield United † | =17th | 10th | 20th | 20th | 20th | Chris Wilder24 of 38 games |
† 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 =17th. Aston Villa, Luton and Sheffield United share 17th for pressing, which is why the bottom pressing table shows four teams.
- Figures are rounded to one decimal place, while ranks use the unrounded figures. Luton and Wolverhampton Wanderers both show 11.2 shots a game for tempo but rank 18th and 19th.
- † marks a team that changed manager during the season: Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United. Their figures cover the whole season, so they mix more than one manager's games.
- Manchester City and Brentford 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 2023–24, 20 teams. Ranks calculated on 14 October 2026.
- How the five axes are calculated (methodology)
- Browse all FM26 tactic cards
- More league style reports
- Manchester City 2023–24 FM26 card — Pep Guardiola (hand-researched)
- Brentford 2023–24 FM26 card — Thomas Frank (hand-researched)
- Aston Villa 2023–24 FM26 card — Unai Emery
- Tottenham 2023–24 FM26 card — Ange Postecoglou
- Liverpool 2023–24 FM26 card — Jürgen Klopp
- Premier League 2024–25 Style Map: Who Pressed Hardest and Who Held the Highest Line
- Earlier season: 2022–23 report
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