What the Premier League Would Look Like if Only 90 Minutes Was Considered

Dive into the world of Premier League football where FIFA's latest added time directive has revolutionized the duration of games, leaving the traditional match length in its wake. Learn how these changes affect the standings and betting strategies, and what if league outcomes were frozen at 90 minutes. This article offers an in-depth analysis of the potential impact on your favourite teams, the league table itself, and which Betting Sites offer 90-minute betting options.

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Current and Correct Premier League Table

*Everton 8 points deducted, Nottingham Forest 4 Points Deducted

Manchester City find themselves top of the Premier League and they do so with a two-point gap over both Arsenal and Liverpool. Recent defeats for both the Gunners and the Reds have certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons in this season’s title race.

No games in hand and no what-ifs at present, a simple race for the title and one that this season involves three teams instead of the usual two. Who will come out on top? With a margin of error this small, I would not like to say.

At the bottom, Everton’s run-in with the football laws has seen them suffer another two-point deduction, but one that still sees them a single point clear of Nottingham Forest and a further point ahead of Luton in the battle to avoid 18^th.

The City Ground outfit has been hit with their own four-point deduction; consequently, they have been dragged back into the relegation battle. With the amount of deductions now taking place, this season may finish in the appeal courts.

90 Minute Premier League Table

Now that the real life Premier League table is in place, we can look at the 90 minute table and see what changes have been made. Who benefits the most from added time? Who wishes there was no concept of additional minutes? 

*Everton 8 points deducted, Nottingham Forest 4 Points Deducted

If the Premier League had no added time attached to its 2023/24 matches, it would be Manchester City who would currently rule the roost. A massive seven points clear at the top, as Arsenal find themselves placed as their nearest challengers.

A margin this big only highlights how important injury time has been and with Arsenal being so far behind in this table compared to in real life, it does suggest that the Emirates outfit have done a lot of their heavy lifting as the seconds begin to run out.

From there the Gunners would be better off than Liverpool by virtue of goal difference and on the basis of 90 minutes alone, these two teams may have already conceded when it comes to this season’s title race.  

Sitting fourth in the table would be Aston Villa and in the battle for the remaining Champions League place, they would find themselves a two points clear of Tottenham – positions that are mimicking what is happening is real life.

Rounding out the top six would be Manchester United, the Red Devils sitting two points clear of Brighton as the Seagulls round out the European places. In addition to this, Newcastle, West Ham and Wolves would all find themselves in the top 10.

At the bottom, the picture begins to get worse for Luton and although they have been assisted by the recent points deduction to Nottingham Forest, in this table they find themselves three points from safety in 18^th.   

Points Difference

With two contrasting tables now in play, the next step is to see the points difference between the two and in doing this, we can see who the true profiteers of adding time are and who ends up bemoaning all this newfound added time.

While there is something to be said for leaving it late and with Arsenal earning a net profit of 13 additional points in added time and all those additional entries have fired the Gunners to the top of the Premier League table.

13 additional points for Arsenal, the same number of additional points for Liverpool and with both teams able to squeeze out every last second of the game, the race for this season’s title looks set to go down to the wire.

Two more points than Chelsea who have gained 11 additional points from late goals and with Cole Palmer currently joint-top of the Premier League scoring charts, there is no underestimating his contribution in front of goal.

The Blues have gained a single point more than Newcastle when it comes to late goals and with Newcastle finding an additional 10 points, that tally has played a huge part in them leapfrogging Manchester United into sixth and the race for the Europa League places.

Now propping up this comparison table, two clubs have a net loss at present and one is break-even The trio of Burnley, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace are all seemingly struggling when it comes to game management within the confines of the Premier League.

While if relegation was decided on dropped points alone, Burnley and Sheffield United would be mimicking their current real life positions and Nottingham Forest would find themselves with a stay of execution.  

Positional Comparison

Finally, we can add another layer of context by comparing a team’s position from the 90 minute table to the overall table and see who has benefitted the most from a positional standpoint: 

When all the numbers are crunched and the positions are all realigned, we can see that four clubs have currently profited from late goals. However, some have profited more than others and the biggest profit can be found in West London.

After Chelsea’s incredible win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, it has helped place the Blues into ninth. Were it not for goals after 90 minutes had elapsed, then Mauricio Pochettino’s men would only be 12^th.

Behind them, it is Newcastle who have profited the most in terms of position. They should be in eighth if the clock stopped on 90 minutes. Thankfully for Eddie Howe, the Magpies are sixth and join West Ham as the only club that is currently better off.  

The Hammers would only find themselves in ninth position if the clock stopped on 90 minutes and with West Ham still in the mix when it comes to European qualification, those late goals may be priceless come the final week of the season.   

Three clubs profiting, another four feeling the pinch at the other end. Brighton the worst of all and if the clocked stopped on 90, the Seagulls would be in the European positions. Instead, they currently find themselves in 10^th.

While a trio of clubs are worse off because of late goals. Manchester United have slipped outside the Europa League places and both Wolves and Fulham’s are ready to get the deckchairs out as they stuck within the confines of midtable.  

With thirteen teams being unaffected at the time of writing, it perhaps suggest that every club in their own way is being affected by late goals. Just with the other nine that were just mentioned, they are getting affected in a slightly bigger way.

Methodology

One of the main takeaways from the 2022 FIFA World Cup was not necessarily Lionel Messi finally getting his hands on the one prize that had constantly eluded him until then but more the amount of additional minutes played within the confines of Qatar.

A newly added time directive from FIFA saw time-wasting quickly become a thing of the past, and with some games creeping into 100-minute territory without anything in the way of a serious injury, it certainly added a new dimension to any fixture played on the game’s biggest stage.

Although there were plenty of additional minutes to be added, the directive was largely deemed a success and if players wanted to try and kill the clock as they would in the past, they would simply see those same seconds added back on.

As always, if a directive is a success in the World Cup it will then soon trickle down to domestic competitions and at the start of the 2023/24 season, the Premier League decided to take the same stance on timewasting.

Again, this has led to a flurry of additional minutes being added to proceedings and not only are paying supporters getting more action overall but it also widening the number of minutes available for in-play betting.

Something which has created a double-edged sword for those who like a weekend wager, as although it does offer punters more time for a bet to get over the line, it also offers the same additional minutes for it all to go wrong. 

Thankfully the bookies have tried to see off this threat and offer something of a safety net when it comes to late, late goals. With new 90-minute markets in place, it means any goals in the newfound abundance of added time will not affect the outcome just seconds before.

This got us thinking, what if the Premier League was decided on results at 90 minutes? The clock stops dead and all those late twists in the tale are erased, as a consequence, the league table could have a completely different look to it.

This meant the next step was to record all this season’s Premier League results slice off all the goals post 90 minutes and see how those final scores would comprise a league table with this new criteria.

Source

https://fbref.com/en/

Data correct as of 17th April 2024