The Premier League explained for new fans

The Premier League is the top division of men's soccer in England (football, to most of the world). It has a large following outside England, including in the US, and if you are new to it, a few of its rules work differently from the American leagues you may know.

There are no playoffs for the title, no conferences and no draft. The bottom teams don't get a high pick; they get sent down a division. Once you understand the table, the whole season makes sense.

The short version

• 20 clubs play each other twice, once at home and once away, for 38 games each between August and May.
• A win is worth 3 points, a draw 1 and a loss 0. The club with the most points at the end is champion. There is no playoff for the title.
• The bottom three clubs are relegated to the second tier, the Championship, and three clubs come up to replace them.
• The top clubs qualify for European competitions the next season, mainly the Champions League.
• The best way to pick a team is to follow a few for a month and keep the one you keep checking on.

How the season is shaped

The 2026–27 season began on the weekend of August 22, 2026, and the last round is on May 30, 2027, when all ten games kick off at the same time. In between, the league says there are 33 weekend rounds and five midweek rounds, which adds up to 380 games.

Most games are on Saturdays and Sundays. The schedule is busiest over Christmas and New Year, and the league pauses for international breaks.

Clubs also play in two domestic cups. The FA Cup is open to hundreds of clubs from across the English game, so a semi-professional team can end up facing a Premier League side. The League Cup, known by its sponsor's name as the Carabao Cup, is for the 92 clubs in the top four divisions. Clubs in Europe also play midweek games in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League.

For fans in the US, most weekend games fall in the morning or early afternoon on the East Coast.

Points and the table

The standings are called the table. Each row shows games played, wins, draws, losses, goals scored, goals conceded, goal difference and points.

Draws are common in soccer and they matter. Two draws are worth less than one win and one loss (2 points against 3), which is why teams chasing a result will often take risks late in a game.

If two clubs finish level on points, they are separated by goal difference (goals scored minus goals conceded), then by total goals scored, then by their results against each other. A playoff game is possible only in the rare case where everything is still level and the title, relegation or a European place depends on it.

Because every club plays every other club twice, the table is a fair comparison by the end. Early on it can mislead, since some clubs have had harder starts than others.

Relegation: the fight at the bottom

The three clubs that finish 18th, 19th and 20th are relegated to the Championship, the second tier. They are replaced by the top two clubs in the Championship plus the winner of the Championship playoffs. From 2026–27, those playoffs include the clubs that finish third to eighth, up from four teams before.

For 2026–27, Coventry City and Ipswich Town came up automatically and Hull City came up through the playoffs. They replaced Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley and West Ham United.

Relegation costs a club a great deal of television money, so the race to avoid it is often as tense as the title race. Our guide to how promotion and relegation work covers the details.

European places

Finishing near the top earns a place in one of UEFA's three club competitions the following season.

• Champions League: the top four qualify. In recent seasons a fifth Premier League club has also gone in, because English clubs did well enough in Europe the year before to earn one of two bonus places UEFA hands out each season.
• Europa League: usually the next club in the table and the winner of the FA Cup.
• Conference League: usually the winner of the League Cup, or the next club in the table.

If a cup winner has already qualified through the league, its place usually passes to the next-best club in the table, so the number of places changes from year to year. For how the Champions League itself works, see how the Champions League format works.

The big clubs

Six clubs are often called the "Big Six" because of their history, money and worldwide following: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

Recent titles have been shared among a few of them. Manchester City won four in a row from 2020–21 to 2023–24, Liverpool won in 2024–25, and Arsenal won in 2025–26, their first league title in 22 years. Manchester United have won the most Premier League titles, all of them under Alex Ferguson, but they have not won the league since 2012–13.

The label is a rough guide rather than a rule. Newcastle United and Aston Villa have both reached the Champions League in recent seasons.

How to pick a team

There is no wrong way to choose, but a few approaches tend to stick.

• A connection. A family link, a city you have visited or lived in, or a friend who will watch games with you.
• A player. Following a player you like, including one from your own national team, gives you a reason to watch from the first week.
• A style. Some teams press high and attack, others sit deep and counter. Watch a few and see what you enjoy.
• A story. A newly promoted club fighting to stay up can be more fun to follow than a club expected to win everything.

A good test is to follow three or four clubs for a month. The one whose results you check first is probably your team.

Frequently asked questions

How many games does each Premier League team play?

Each club plays 38 league games: one home game and one away game against each of the other 19 clubs. Cup and European games come on top of that.

Is there a playoff to decide the Premier League champion?

No. The club with the most points after 38 games is champion. Playoffs are used only lower down, to decide a promotion place from the Championship.

What does relegation mean?

The three clubs at the bottom of the table drop to the Championship for the next season, and three clubs from the Championship move up.

How many Premier League teams qualify for the Champions League?

The top four qualify. In recent seasons a fifth club has also gone in, thanks to a bonus place UEFA gives the countries whose clubs did best in Europe the year before.

Once you have a team or two, Get Your Sports Here can send you a short daily email about them, with each fact linked to its source, and the site shows their schedule and lets you make a one-page game sheet before a game. If the Premier League is one of several sports you follow, our guide to following multiple sports without the noise may help. You can set up a briefing here.