Most Expensive Starting Eleven Of New Years Day

As you may know, New Years Day saw all 20 Premier League teams in action on what was a great day of Football. However I found myself wondering if how expensive each teams starting eleven was, correlated to a teams position in the league. So I have created this list (which took ages) to see which team had the most expensive starting eleven and how their ranking on this list matched up to their league position. Enjoy!

N.B. All prices are in pounds sterling and are approximations. Academy Player means the player was brought up through the clubs youth system and m = million.

20th- Burnley with a starting eleven costing £6.8m :

Heaton-Free

Trippier-0.2m

Keane-Loan

Shackell-1.1m

Mee- Free

Boyd-3m

Jones-Free

Marney-0.5m

Arfield- Free

Ings-1m

Barnes-1m

19th- Leicester City with a starting eleven costing £8.3m

Hamer-Free

Simpson-2.2m

Wasilewski-Free

Morgan-1m

De Laet-1.1m

Mahrez-0.4m

James-1.1m

Drinkwater-0.8m

Hammond-Free

Schlupp-Free (Academy Player)

Vardy-1.7m

18th- Crystal Palace with a starting eleven costing £17.6m

Speroni-0.8m

Mariappa- 3m

Dann-1.6m

Delaney-Free

Kelly-1.5m

Ward-0.4m

Puncheon-1.8m

McArthur-7m

Ledley-1m

Bolasie-0.5m

Zaha-Loan

17th- West Brom with a starting eleven costing £17.9m

Foster-4.4m

Wisdom-Loan

McAuley-Free

Lescott- Free

Baird-Free

Morrison-2.2m

Mulumbu-0.2m

Dorrans-0.2m

Sessegnon- 7.9m

Brunt-3m

Berahino- Free (Academy Player)

16th- Swansea with a starting eleven costing £18m

Fabianski-Free

Rangel- 0.1m

Fernandez-8m

Williams-0.4m

Taylor-0.1m

Britton-Free

Ki-6m

Dyer-0.5m

Sigurdsson-Free (P/Ex)

Routledge-2.9m

Gomis-Free

15th- QPR with a starting eleven costing £25m

Green-Free

Isla-Loan

Dunne-Free

Caulker-8m

Hill-Free

Vargas-Loan

Henry-1m

Barton-Free

Fer-8m

Zamora-4m

Austin-4m

14th- Aston Villa with a starting eleven costing £25.6m

Guzan-0.6m

Hutton-3m

Okore-4m

Vlaar- 3.2m

Cissokho-2.2m

Bacuna-0.9m

Sanchez-4.7m

Cleverley-Loan

Weimann- Free (Academy Player)

Benteke-7m

Agbonglahor-Free (Academy Player)

13th- Newcastle with a starting eleven costing £29.8m

Alnwick-Free (Academy Player)

Janmaat-5m

Taylor-Free (Academy Player)

Coloccini-10.3m

Dummett-Free (Academy Player)

Tiote-3.5m

Colback-Free

Perez-1.5m

Sissoko-1.8m

Gouffran-1.7m

Riviere-6m

12th- Everton with a starting eleven costing £30.7m

Joel- 3.5m

Alcaraz- Free

Jagielka- 5.2m

Barry- Free

Coleman- Free

Besic- 4m

Barkley- Free (Academy Player)

Baines-6m

Naismith-Free

Kone-6m

Mirallas- 6m

11th- Stoke with a starting eleven costing £31.3m

Begovic-3.2m

Cameron-1.8m

Shawcross- 2m

Muniesa- Free

Pieters- 3m

Walters- 3.3m

N’Zonzi-3m

Whelan- 0.6m

Arnautovic- 3.4m

Crouch- 11m

Diouf- Free

10th- Hull with a starting eleven costing £36.3m

McGregor-1.8m

Chester-0.3m

Bruce-Free

Davies- 2.3m

Robertson-2.9m

Elmohamady- 2m

Meyler-1.5m

Livermore- 8m

Ramirez-Loan

Hernandez- 10m

Jelavic- 7.5m

9th- Sunderland with a starting eleven costing £39.5m

Pantilimon-Free

Vergini-Loan

O’Shea-4m

Brown-1m

Jones-Free

Rodwell-10m

Buckley-2.5m

Larsson-Free

Gomez-Free

Johnson-10m

Wickham-12m

8th- West Ham with a starting eleven costing £41.3m

Adrian-Free

Jenkinson-Loan

Collins-2.5m

Reid-1.3m

Cresswell-4m

Song-Loan

Amalfitano-1m

Kouyate-7m

Downing-6m

Sakho-4.5m

Carroll-15m

7th- Spurs with a starting eleven costing £54.3m

Lloris-11.8m

Walker-5m

Fazio-8m

Vertonghen-10m

Rose-1m

Bentaleb- Free (Academy Player)

Mason-Free (Academy Player)

Townsend-Free (Academy Player)

Eriksen-11.5m

Chadli-7m

Kane- Free (Academy Player) 

6th- Southampton with a starting eleven costing £59.4m

Forster-10m

Alderweireld- Loan

Fonte-1.2m

Gardos-6m

Bertrand-Loan

Davis-0.8m

Wanyama-12.5m

Ward-Prowse-Free (Academy Player)

Mane-10m

Tadic-10.9m

Pelle-8m

5th- Liverpool with a starting eleven costing £109.2m

Mignolet-9m

Can-9.7m

Toure- Free

Sakho- 15m

Henderson- 20m

Gerrard-Free (Academy Player)

Lucas-5m

Moreno-12m

Coutinho-8.5m

Sterling-5m

Lallana- 25m

4th- Arsenal with a starting eleven costing £113m

Szczesny-Free (Academy Player)

Debuchy-10m

Mertesacker-8m

Koscielny-10m

Gibbs-Free (Academy Player)

Chambers-16m

Coquelin-Free (Academy Player)

Oxlade-Chamberlain-15m

Cazorla-15m

Rosicky-7m

Sanchez-32m

3rd- Man City with a starting eleven costing £194m

Caballero-4.4m

Zabaleta-6.5m

Demichelis-4.2m

Mangala-32m

Clichy-7m

Toure-24m

Fernandinho-30m

Navas-14.9m

Silva-24m

Nasri- 25m

Jovetic- 22m

2nd- Chelsea with a starting eleven costing £200.4m

Courtois-7.9m

Ivanovic-9m

Cahill-7m

Terry-Free (Academy Player)

Azpilicueta-6.5m

Fabregas-30m

Matic-21m

Willian-30m

Oscar-25m

Hazard- 32m

Costa-32m

1st- Man Utd with a starting eleven costing £200.5m

De Gea- 17.8m

Evans- Free (Academy Player)

Smalling- 10m

Jones-17m

Mata- 37.1m

Shaw-27m

Carrick-18.6m

Rooney-27m

Young-16m

Falcao- Loan- 6m Loan Fee

Van Persie-24m

So there you have it, Man Utd had the most expensive starting eleven in the Barclays Premier League on New Years Day. However they were unable to beat Stoke who rank in at 11th on the list. Chelsea who are 2nd on this list were beaten by Spurs ,who are 7th, in a 5-3 classic at White Hart Lane. Below is how each team's ranking on this list compares to their league form:

Team	Positon in First Eleven Cost Table	Position in Premier League
Burnley	20th	19th
Leicester City	19th	20th
Crystal Palace	18th	18th
West Brom	17th	17th
Swansea	16th	9th
QPR	15th	16th
Aston Villa	14th	12th
Newcastle	13th	10th
Everton	12th	13th
Stoke	11th	11th
Hull	10th	15th
Sunderland	9th	14th
West Ham	8th	7th
Spurs	7th	5th
Southampton	6th	4th
Liverpool	5th	8th
Arsenal	4th	6th
Man City	3rd	2nd
Chelsea	2nd	1st
Man Utd	1st	3rd

So it seems that there is a correlation between the cost of your squad and your league finish. With more expensive teams doing better on average than teams with a less costly first eleven. However Arsenal and Liverpool seem to be overpaying for their league positions with Swansea seeming to have found some bargains. Stoke, West Brom and Crystal Palace are the only 3 teams with the same position in both tables.

Happy 2015!

James