Summary: Premier League sides are rated by the average age of their starting XI.
Arsenal and Manchester United are among the youngest.
Liverpool and Manchester City have found that striking a balance between youth and experience is beneficial.
The essence of the beast that is football is that there has grown a widespread belief that the younger the better. Even while this is often proven wrong in other European leagues, the Premier League has had a youth-first mentality for many years.
While this results in a lack of experience on some teams, the counterargument is that younger players make better athletes. But which end of the spectrum does each team represent? The analysts at Sportscasting have analyzed squad age data for each current Premier League club in 2024/25 and 2025/26. The data was then broken down by position, and the average squad age was compared across the two seasons to determine which starting XI is the oldest and youngest.
20-16
We’ve opted to organize the ranks from lowest to highest, so the oldest teams are at the bottom. Fulham sits at the bottom of the leaderboard, with an average age of 29.06. Marco Silva may attempt to sign some younger players in the last weeks of the transfer window.
Newcastle and Everton follow, despite the fact that they have completely different goals for the new season. The Magpies will aspire for Europe, whereas the Toffees and David Moyes, the Premier League’s oldest manager, will just hope for a smooth transfer to their new stadium.
West Ham are also deficient in the youth department, despite having a long history of producing outstanding academy players. However, as evidenced by the data, few people are interested in joining Graham Potter’s squad right now. Finally, in the bottom five, Scott Parker is clearly hopeful that his Burnley team’s experience would be enough to keep them steady over the next year.
The average age of every PL starting XI
Rank
Team
Age
20.
Fulham
29.06
19.
Everton
28.09
18.
Newcastle
28.05
17.
West Ham
28.03
16.
Burnley
27.92
15-11
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa are 15th, and he has also demonstrated a predilection for veteran players throughout his tenure at Villa Park – just ask Jhon Duran, who is pretty dissatisfied. The Villans’ current success can be attributed to players such as John McGinn and Ollie Watkins.
Nottingham Forest’s recent fortunes have been largely due to the contributions of senior figures like as Chris Wood and Matz Sels, however the youth input of players such as Nikola Milenkovic has also played a role. Meanwhile, Vitor Pereira’s Wolves face a difficult start to the season and will be hoping that their combination can keep them afloat.
Finally, in the midst of the group are two of the league’s most dominant teams, Manchester City and Liverpool. The last two Premier League champions may be all the proof you need that having a mix of young and experienced players on your roster can be quite beneficial.
The average age of every PL starting XI
Rank
Team
Age
15.
Aston Villa
27.85
14.
Nottingham Forest
27.62
13.
Wolves
27.07
12.
Liverpool
26.91
11.
Manchester City
26.83
10-6
Some may have expected Brighton to be higher on this list, considering their transfer strategy of finding young inexpensive players and selling them for profit as they grow. However, having Lewis Dunk, Danny Welbeck, and James Milner on the roster is bound to balance things out.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace and Thomas Frank’s Tottenham are on the bottom end of the scale, with the Dane proving at Brentford that he can develop younger players and help them outperform expectations.
Bournemouth, led by Andoni Iraola, are seventh on this list despite losing key young players Milos Kerkez and Dean Huijsen. That leaves recently promoted Leeds just outside the top five, a position they would no likely like to return to eventually in the official league.
The average age of every PL starting XI
Rank
Team
Age
10.
Brighton
26.69
9.
Crystal Palace
26.58
8.
Tottenham
26.37
7.
Bournemouth
26.24
6.
Leeds
26.16
5-1
Arsenal, led by Mikel Arteta, are fifth on this list, which may explain why they have never quite hit the jackpot and have fell short of winning the Premier League. Surely, given how many times they’ve placed second, their young squad understands what they need to do to win.
Chelsea’s players certainly do after winning the Club World Cup, and despite the fact that Enzo Maresca’s group is clearly swollen, they are fourth place. Manchester United, led by Ruben Amorim, has made a point of signing players under the age of 27, with Matheus Cunha being the oldest thus far.
Sunderland are going all out with a youthful group in an attempt to survive in the Premier League following their promotion, which is diametrically opposed to Parker and Burnley’s tactics. Brentford is currently in first place, demonstrating how well Thomas Frank worked with a young team. Keith Andrews, the league’s most inexperienced manager, may find that having an older roster helps him win over players and exert greater authority.
The average age of every PL starting XI
Rank
Team
Age
5.
Arsenal
25.80
4.
Chelsea
25.24
3.
Manchester United
25.18
2.
Sunderland
24.79
1.
Brentford
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