Ian Holloway's Blackpool side top Newcastle, Aston Villa, Sunderland, Burnley and others to be named among most entertaining Premier League teams

That’s according to a recent study that is based on the team performance betting make-up of every match played by every team in the top flight over the past 20 seasons.

The survey has Ian Holloway’s swashbuckling 2010/11 Blackpool side in 13th, above the likes of Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Sunderland and Lancashire rivals Burnley.

Pool ended the season with 39 points, a tally that would normally have kept them up.

They also scored 55 goals from their 38 games, the same amount as Tottenham who finished in fifth.

The Seasiders were also named as the most entertaining side to get relegated, ahead of Ipswich Town’s 2001/02 side and Reading’s 2007/08 outfit.

Manchester United unsurprisingly topped the list as the most entertaining Premier League side since 2000.

But fierce rivals Manchester City claim the title of the most entertaining team over a single season for their title-winning side of 2017/18.

Huddersfield Town are the least entertaining team overall in the same period while Derby County’s rock-bottom outfit that recorded a record low points total of 11 in 2007/08 are the least entertaining side over a single season.

Liverpool’s sides of 2019/20 and 2012/13 are the most exciting to have not won the title and not finished in the top four respectively.

The Aston Villa team of 2014/15, managed by Paul Lambert and then Tim Sherwood, are the least exciting side to stay up while Roberto Martinez’s Everton of 2004/05 are the least-entertaining to finish in the top four.

For Arsenal fans wondering where the ‘Invincibles’ side of 2003/04 stand in all of this – they don’t even make the top 10 list of best-ever sides over a single season.

The study, conducted by spread betting firm Spreadex, is based on the team performance betting make-up of every match played by every team in the Premier League over the past 20 seasons.

Teams are awarded points in each match played based on: 25 points for winning the match, 10 points for drawing, 0 for losing, 15 points per goal scored, 10 points for a clean sheet, 3 per corner taken, -5 for each yellow card received and -15 for any red card.

Spreadex spokesman Andy MacKenzie said: “Manchester United may not have won the league since 2011, but the dominance of the Alex Ferguson sides before then ensures they are still the most entertaining team of the Premier League in the past 20 years with an average Team Performance score of 60.22.

“Man City on the other hand are counting the cost of some poor seasons at the start of the millennium before the arrival of their new owners in 2008 and sit just fifth in the overall table with an average score of 55.39.

“Ipswich Town are perhaps the main surprise being the seventh most entertaining team in the top flight since 2000 despite having only spent two seasons in the Premier League in this time.

“When looking at most entertaining teams over a single season, the Man City title-winning teams of 2017/18 and 2018/19 top the charts with whopping average scores of 82.55 and 81.68 respectively.

“Chelsea’s champions of 2009/10 are third with an average score of 77.97 while Liverpool’s current table-topping side are fourth with an average score of 76.66 although of course they potentially have another nine games to go to improve upon this.

“Arsenal’s Invincibles posted just an average of 60.95 not even putting them in the top 10 of best-ever sides over a single season and the only title-winning sides to record lower average scores were Leicester in 2015/16 (57.13 points) and Chelsea in 2014/15 (59.42).”

Overall average team performance (for every match played in Premier League in past 20 seasons):

1 - Manchester United: 60.22

2 - Liverpool: 58.91

3 - Arsenal: 58.70

4 - Chelsea: 58.66

5 - Manchester City: 55.39

6 - Tottenham Hotspur: 49.20

7 - Ipswich Town: 45.26

8 - Everton: 43.52

9 - Leeds United: 42.21

10 - Leicester City: 41.24

11 - Reading: 40.40

12 - Southampton: 40.06

13 - Blackpool: 39.71

14 - Newcastle United: 38.65

15 - Charlton Athletic: 38.30

16 - Aston Villa: 38.26

17 - Blackburn Rovers: 37.69

18 - Swansea City: 36.84

19 - West Ham United: 36.82

20 - Bolton Wanderers: 36.71

21 - Crystal Palace: 35.92

22 - Fulham: 35.85

23 - Portsmouth: 35.79

24 - Wolves: 35.00

25 - Sheffield United: 34.32

26 - Middlesbrough: 33.76

27 - Birmingham City: 32.89

28 - Wigan Athletic: 32.59

29 - West Brom: 32.30

30 - Stoke City: 32.23

31 - Norwich City: 31.65

32 - Burnley: 31.06

33 - Watford: 30.89

34 - Sunderland: 29.46

35 - Cardiff City: 28.97

36 - Coventry City: 28.37

37 - Queens Park Rangers: 28.09

38 - Hull City: 27.01

39 - Bradford City: 25.84

40 - Derby County: 22.82

41 - Huddersfield Town: 21.86

Most entertaining sides ever:

1. Man City 2017/18: 82.55 (won title)

2. Man City 2018/19: 81.68 (won title)

3. Chelsea 09/10: 77.97 (won title)

4. Liverpool 19/20: 76.66 (top with 9 games to play)

5. Liverpool 18/19: 76.11 (finished 2nd)

6. Man City 13/14: 76.03 (won title)

7. Man Utd 11/12: 75.05 (finished 2nd)

8. Man City 11/12: 73.47 (won title)

9. Man Utd 09/10: 73.18 (finished 2nd)

10. Liverpool 13/14: 71.37 (finished 2nd)

Most entertaining side to go down:

1. Blackpool 10/11: 39.71 (19th)

2. Ipswich 01/02: 38.47 (18th)

3. Reading 07/08: 35.5 (18th)