When it comes to the crunch end of the Premier League season, success or failure is often obtained by how well you do against the teams around you.
That is borne out by results between the top six this season, as shown in a mini-league between those clubs.
Manchester City are clear at the top – as they are in the full 20-team league – while Arsenal are off the pace, just as they are in the real table.
Manchester City dominate the mini-league of results between top six Premier League clubs
Just as they are in the 20-team table, Arsenal are well off the pace of the rest of the top sides
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 18 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| 3 | Tottenham Hotspur | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 12 | -1 | 10 |
| 4 | Liverpool | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 18 | -3 | 10 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 9 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 19 | -10 | 6 |
Liverpool are top six entertainers – their eight games against big sides have featured 33 goals
In the seven games they have played against the other sides currently in the top six, Manchester City have only lost one, winning the other six.
That defeat – their only league loss all season – came at Anfield in one of the games of the season, a 4-3 loss at Liverpool. Otherwise it has been complete dominance for Pep Guardiola’s men.
They have outscored all their top six rivals – 21 goals in their seven games, six more than second best – have the joint-top defensive record, and are the only one to have a positive goal difference.
Among their most impressive performances have been their 4-1 hammering of Tottenham at home, a 2-1 away win over rivals Manchester United that was more convincing than the score suggests, and the 5-0 crushing of Liverpool in September that signalled to English football what was to come.
Tottenham are the only top six side beaten by Arsenal – but got their revenge at Wembley
They have also beaten Arsenal home and away – 3-1 at the Etihad in November, then 3-0 at a snowbound Emirates on Thursday night – to compound the misery on Arsene Wenger.
In contrast, Arsenal have won just one of nine league games against the top six this season – 2-0 at home to North London adversaries Spurs, in arguably their best performance of the season.
Outside of that game, it has been a miserable campaign against the big boys for Arsenal. They have conceded more than any other side in the mini-league – 19 – and scored just nine in return.
Manchester United have ground out three victories over top six sides so far this season
Particularly abject displays have come in their 4-0 defeat at Liverpool in August, 3-1 at home to Manchester United in December, and a 1-0 loss at Wembley when Tottenham extracted their revenge – had Spurs scored five or six it would not have flattered them.
The rest of our mini-league also reflects the Premier League table as a whole, with barely any difference between the other four sides, reflecting how tight the race for the top four is turning out to be.
The entertainers of the top six are Liverpool, who have scored 15 in eight against their league rivals, but while letting in 18 at the other end.
Chelsea have shut up shop against big clubs, scoring and conceding seven in seven games
As well as the thumping win over Arsenal and their two games with Man City – which have produced 12 goals – they have also drawn 3-3 at the Gunners, 2-2 at home to Spurs, and lost 4-1 at Wembley.
In contrast, Manchester United and Chelsea have shut up shop much more readily in the big games – both have records of played seven, scored seven, conceded seven.
Jose Mourinho’s United, predictably, have been more successful when it comes to squeezing out results, with three wins over the two of Antonio Conte’s team.