Winless Wolves on Track to Be Worst Premier League Team Ever

Wolverhampton Wanderers have finished bottom of the Premier League twice before, in 2008/09 and 2017/18, and they look well on course to complete an unwanted hat-trick.

After 14 rounds of fixtures, Wolves have just two points, the joint-fewest of any club at this stage of a season in the history of the Premier League.

What has gone so wrong? Will it get any better? Or are Wolves destined to become the worst team in Premier League history?

Wolves’ 2025/26 Premier League season so far

Wolves started the 2025/26 season with five straight defeats, before rallying with draws against Tottenham and Brighton. But those two draws have been followed by a further seven losses.

With just seven goals in 14 games, Wolves are the Premier League’s lowest scorers by some distance. Nottingham Forest, the second-lowest scorers, have exactly double Wolves’ goal tally.

Defensively, Wolves have also conceded more Premier League goals (29) than any other team this season.

Wolves are rock bottom, eight points below Burnley in 19th and 12 behind Leeds, who sit just above the relegation zone.

Bottom of the Premier League table

Why have Wolves been so bad this season?

While the extent of Wolves’ terrible form was perhaps not foreseen, many had expected them to struggle this season.

Wolves were winless after 10 rounds of Premier League matches last season, although they eventually stayed up by a healthy margin of 17 points.

Their survival last season was largely secured by a run of six consecutive wins in March and April – coupled with Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester all posting points tallies of 25 or fewer.

Jorgen Strand Larsen, on loan from Celta Vigo, scored six goals in that stunning six-game winning run. So it felt like a big deal when Wolves signed him permanently for £23 million in July.

However, the summer transfer window also saw Wolves sell 17-goal top scorer Matheus Cunha to Manchester United, while star left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri departed for Manchester City.

Out of all 20 clubs in the summer, Wolves ranked 17th in the Premier League in terms of net transfer spend, having made a profit of £20.9 million.

That level of investment, or lack of it, is dangerously low for a team expected to be in a relegation battle.

The worst start to a season in Premier League history

Only once before has a Premier League team had just two points after their first 14 fixtures. That was Sheffield United in the 2020/21 campaign.

However, Wolves have officially made a worse start, because the Blades had a goal difference of minus-17, while Wolves are currently on minus-22.

That Sheffield United team ended the season with 23 points and were relegated in last place.

Wolves on track to be the worst Premier League team ever

Wolves are currently averaging 0.14 points per game. Maintaining that current average, they are projected to end the season with just five points.

That points tally would make them officially the worst team in Premier League history, freeing Derby County from the unwanted record they have held since finishing the 2007/08 season with just 11 points.

Will things get better for Wolves?

This is a big winter for Wolves, although it could be a testing one. In terms of Premier League players going to the Africa Cup of Nations, only Sunderland will lose more than Wolves.

The January transfer window is crucial. Wolves should have money to spend after their summer of saving up, but January is a notoriously difficult time to buy well and they need investment at both ends of the field.

Fixture-wise, Wolves have also already had what would appear to be some of the most winnable games, having lost at home to three of the four teams currently ranked between 16th and 19th.

Things will likely improve for Wolves in the sense that they should be able to increase their average points return from 0.14 between now and the end of the season.

But staying up seems a huge long shot. Bookmakers currently price Wolves as 1/33 favourites to go down. That represents an implied probability of 97.06%, with relegation feeling almost inevitable right now.

Unless something miraculous happens in January, the ambition for Wolves might soon shift from staying up to staying out of the record books.