Has the Premier League 'Big Six' lost its on-field dominance?
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur — the Premier League’s traditional 'Big Six' — have seen their collective on-field dominance in England’s top flight come under question as of 16 October 2026. Tottenham, in particular, have not finished in the top six in each of the past two seasons, ended one place above the relegation zone in both campaigns and are currently second bottom on three points after failing to win any of their first six games.
The grouping was long associated not only with regular top-table finishes but also with the largest fanbases and greatest financial power in the division. That financial status remains: City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea all sit inside the top 10 of highest revenue-generating clubs in world football. On the field, however, recent seasons have seen Tottenham and Manchester United fighting at the wrong end while clubs such as Aston Villa, Brentford and Brighton have pushed into the top positions; Manchester City also face uncertainty after the club was found guilty of breaching financial rules over nine years.
One of the landmark shocks to the established order was Leicester City’s 2015-16 title, but the season that followed saw the 'Big Six' reassert themselves for three campaigns, during which the smallest gap between sixth and seventh place was eight points. Between 2010-11 and 2018-19 the six clubs finished in those leading positions five times, finished in the top seven twice and in the top eight once, and the 2010-11 season was the first occasion the top six comprised Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham — a combination repeated in 2014-15, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
The pattern has shifted since then: in only one of the six seasons since 2018-19 have all six clubs finished in the top six, and Aston Villa, Newcastle and Brighton have occupied places in that band at different points. Five of the top six places in the past three years have been taken by clubs outside the traditional six — the same number as in the previous eight years combined — and this season, early on, Manchester United sit 13th and Liverpool ninth.
Investment and recruitment strategies at other clubs have been central to this change. Newcastle moved from 11th in 2021-22 to fourth the next season and then fifth two seasons later after a £305m takeover led by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund in 2021. Brighton have repeatedly bought young players cheaply and sold them for large fees: Moises Caicedo was signed in 2021 for £4m and sold two years later to Chelsea in a deal worth £115m, Marc Cucurella was signed for £15m and sold to Chelsea for £62m, and Alexis Mac Allister arrived for £7m before leaving for Liverpool in a deal worth £55m.
Brighton sporting director Mike Cave described that model on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast: "Our recruitment strategy and philosophy has been something that we've built on over a long period of time now," he said. "The data element of it gets a lot of attention because going back a few years it was quite novel in comparison to some other clubs. Really it's just a component of a bigger process that goes on. It's an important component, it helps us to identify talent from around the world in quite an efficient way which allows us to move quickly in what is a really competitive transfer market."
Managerial turnover has also been a factor at several traditional clubs. Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Manchester United have struggled to approach their previous success and have had four different permanent managers since the start of the 2020-21 season. Chelsea have had seven different permanent managers in the same period and Tottenham six, while Arsenal appointed Mikel Arteta in 2019 and the Gunners ended a 22-year wait for a Premier League title last season.
The composition of English football’s upper tier has changed repeatedly over decades — the league began with a perceived 'Big Five' in 1992 and later moved through eras described as a 'Big Two' and a 'Big Four' before the 'Big Six' label emerged — and the current campaign already features Brighton, Brentford and Everton in the top six. There remains a lot of football to be played this season, with the top end of the division appearing unusually open.