And while some sides will be glad to put this season in their rear-view mirror, other teams can revel in results that beat all expectations.
We’ve run the rule over every team’s campaign. It’s our Premier League report card!
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Liverpool: A+
What a season. Unbeaten at home in the league and claiming a club record 99 points. Yes, they missed out on the unbeaten season. Yes, they missed out on the 100-point mark – just. But ask any Liverpool fan if that really matters and the answer is almost universally a resounding ‘no’.
There was disappointment in the FA Cup and the Champions League – in no small part due to star keeper Alisson being injured – but the 30-year league drought was finally put to rest.
It was the greatest ambition of the Reds, the one that means most to the Anfield faithful. Just look at the reaction from the players, from Jurgen Klopp, from club legends like Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher.
This was a season like no other, but there will be no asterisk on the trophy. Liverpool overcame injuries, the pandemic-forced shutdown, and emerged triumphant if not downright dominant.
Players like Trent Alexander-Arnold, who had reached dizzying heights last campaign, did not falter under pressure but grew into true champions – TAA, for example, even bettered his 12 assists last season (the PL record for a defender) with 13 this time around.
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Manchester City: B-
For most teams, finishing second and garnering 81 points would be classed as a wonderful season. But Manchester City is not like most teams, and there is little doubt that those who call the Etihad Stadium home will be disappointed at how this campaign has turned out.
It’s not just the 18-point gap to Liverpool. It’s not just the fact that they have slumped to nine defeats – the same as seventh-place Wolves. It’s the manner of their performances against much weaker sides that has been so worrisome.
Losses to Norwich and Southampton as well as draws with Newcastle United and Crystal Palace.
At the heart of the problem? Aymeric Laporte’s injury. While Liverpool’s defence was strong enough to cope with the absence of Alisson, when Laporte was ruled out for months at the start of the season it immediately opened up the defence – particularly on the counter-attack.
By the time Laporte returned it was already too late. When January 2020 arrived, City had already dropped 19 league points; more than the entire two previous seasons combined.
The team also struggled on the road, as seven of their nine league defeats came away from home.
There have been plenty of highlight reel, eye-catching performances. Kevin de Bruyne has been magnificent, his 20 assists equalling Thierry Henry’s record. Raheem Sterling has also shone with 20 goals, while Sergio Aguero banged in 16 from just 24 appearances.
The Premier League isn’t City’s top target this season, the Champions League is.
While that is still up for grabs, there’s no doubt that – in the league at least – this season has fallen far short of expectations.
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Manchester United: A-
At the start of the season, Manchester United were viewed as contenders for a Europa League qualification spot. The Champions League was widely seen as out of reach.
Halfway through the season, the exact same viewpoint remained predominant.
On 30 January, they were 14 points off Leicester in third and six behind Chelsea in fourth.
And yet, here we are.
“It didn’t seem like you [the media] were expecting this – all the predictions were sixth or seventh,” Solskjær said after the match.
“To finish third with this team and this squad, and where we have been with this rebuild, has been a massive achievement by everyone. ”
He’s right.
In their first 12 matches, the Red Devils won four, drew four, and lost four. In their last 14? Nine wins, five draws, and zero losses. They finish the season as the only side to go unbeaten since the restart.
Their lofty finish won’t mask some serious issues, however. David de Gea has somehow turned into a high-paid error-machine. Their defensive unit as a whole – including the mega-money Harry Maguire – has suffered from lapses at crucial moments.
But look at the developments in the squad this season. Bruno Fernandes arrived in January and almost immediately turned the team into a vastly different prospect for opponents. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have both taken significant strides forward. Youngster Mason Greenwood – still just 18 – has scored 17 times in all competitions.
This season was always going to be about growth, about evolution. They have achieved that – and exceeded general expectations – but must press on next season. And there is no doubt the squad still needs significant reinforcements in order to genuinely challenge for the title.
Manchester United finished on the same number of points as last season, won fewer games and finished further behind the champions.They finished three places higher. It’s been a strange Premier League season.
Chelsea: B+
Replacing Eden Hazard, who joined Real Madrid for a jaw-dropping £103.5m, was always going to be a tough ask. And while the Blues haven’t quite managed to do so, it’s still been a very strong season for Frank Lampard’s side, given their low expectations this campaign.
After the season ended with a 2-0 victory over Wolves, Lampard was clearly well-satisfied with his fourth-place finish.
“I have to say that I’m proud,” Lampard said. “I always put small brackets around that because it is Chelsea and we want to be challenging for league titles, but we are not in that position now.”
That’s true, but lifting the trophy was never a realistic aim this campaign. And Lampard has ensured Chelsea is significantly closer to challenging for the top gong in the future.
Fans will be pleased by Lampard’s style, if not always his results. He has drawn on the academy, building towards the future and unleashing exciting youngsters who hasten the heart-rate with the ball at their feet. Next year’s offence could be even better. Hakim Ziyech has signed. So too Timo Werner, who watched the final match from the stands. The rumours of Kai Havertz signing grow stronger every day.
But it will all mean nothing if the defence can’t be fixed.
Conceding five goals at Anfield last week means Chelsea let in 54 this season, more than any other top-half team. More than Crystal Palace (14th) and as many as Brighton (15th).
It is their worst defensive record since Roman Abramovich took ownership of the club, and only a clean sheet on the final day helped Chelsea avoid matching their worst ever Premier League record in terms of goals conceded.
Of particular issue has been corners, which has forced Lampard to swap defensive systems between zonal and man-marking more than once this season. Their 10 goals conceded from corners is second only to bottom-placed Norwich, though of course they have only conceded roughly half as many corners as the Canaries!
Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga also slumped to an atrocious record before being dropped for the final game of the season. Using the expected goals metric, Kepa should have conceded 34 times this season. Instead, he let in 47.
That’s a (negative) differential of 13 goals, where no other top-half keeper in the Premier League has a differential of even four!
Kepa will have a hard task convincing the manager to keep him for next campaign.
Nevertheless, Chelsea can be happy – if not ecstatic – at being back in the Champions League, and Stamford Bridge has once again become one of the most appealing destinations for top players.
Leicester City: A-
Having finished the last two seasons in 9th (and the season before that in 12th) there’s no doubt that this year’s fifth-place result represents a significant step back towards the top.
And all that despite the biggest sale in the club’s history – a whopping 80 million pounds for Harry Maguire. Incredibly, the club didn’t jump into the transfer market to replace Maguire in the heart of defence.
Brendan Rodgers bought a right-back young Luton Town talent James Justin – but that was for a pittance. All the money went towards bolstering the attack: Centre midfielders Youri Tielemans and Dennis Praet, and striker Ayoze Perez from Newcastle. All three have been immediate successes.
Perez had eight goals and four assists. Tielemans had three goals and six assists. Leicester played exciting football in their trademark counterattacking style. They’ve relied on Jamie Vardy, who defied his age to reach a century of Premier League goals, having netted a Golden Boot-winning 23 this campaign.
The highlight of the season was clear; a 9-0 demolition job at Southampton. Vardy bagged a hat-trick, as did Perez. It was the joint-largest win in Premier League history and the largest away win in the English top flight.
There will be some bitterness at missing out on Champions League qualification. Leicester had been in the top four for 298 days (!) and could have finished there had they beat Manchester United.
But their form in the 2020 calendar year was not deserving of that reward. Since New Year’s Day, the Foxes won just four times in the league.
Injuries to key players like James Maddison, Ben Chilwell, and Ricardo Pereira severely dented their hopes.
“Overall, yes, we’re disappointed, we’re hurt,” Brendan Rodgers said, “ … but over 38 games, we finished fifth, second highest in the history of the Club in terms of the Premier League.”
Tottenham: C-
What a sad, sad season for Spurs. All of the promise of the season before – having reached the Champions League final – soon crumbled into disappointment.
New arrivals Giovani Lo Celso and record signing Tanguy Ndombele (£55m) failed to make their mark in the start to the season, while the departure of Kieran Trippier to Atletico Madrid quite obviously weakened the defence.
After winning just three of their first 12 league games, beloved manager Mauricio Pochettino was shown the door. After years of building a talented squad and an exciting brand of football, suddenly Poch was replaced by Jose Mourinho.
Suddenly the exciting brand of football – despite its lack of results – was replaced by Mourinho’s trademark defensive strategy.
Spurs ended the season having taken the least shots of any campaign since the statistics began to be recorded in 1997/98.
But the tactic worked, as it so often does for ‘The Special One’.
Mourinho took over with the team in 14th, and guided the side to Europa League qualification via a sixth-place finish. Harry Kane was as deadly as ever, despite receiving poorer service and support in attack. Son Heung-min made it into double digits in league goals.
Mourinho can be happy with how the season played out. But fans probably won’t feel the same.
Wolverhampton: B
Is there any team more consistently exciting to watch than Wolves? Besides Liverpool or perhaps Manchester United, I doubt it. The Portuguese pals (a full SEVEN players of manager Nuno Espírito Santo’s own nationality have appeared for the club in the league this season) have played with energy and passion all season, despite racking up a monster number of games due to their long-awaited return to European competition.
They are still alive in the Europa League, but will only qualify for the competition again next season if Chelsea win the FA Cup. Missing out on sixth position was a disappointment, but Wolves improved upon their points tally from last time out. Given their gruelling schedule, it’s all they could have hoped for.
A club-record £30m was splashed on Raul Jimenez to turn his loan move permanent, and he rewarded the club’s faith by building on his 13 PL goals in 2018-19 – delivering a whopping 17 goals. It’s a record for the Wolves in the Premier League.
Adama Traore became one of the season’s breakout stars, and warding off the circling vultures – including plenty of Premier League rivals – could prove crucial to their success next season.
But for now, as Nuno Espirito Santo says, “The season is not finished yet. It’s not over for us yet.”
They could yet win the Europa League and gain a very lucrative spot in the Champions League next campaign.
Arsenal: D
It’s been a trainwreck season for the Gunners.
Before the season even started, there were significant concerns for the club. Captain Laurent Koscielny exited in acrimonious fashion. And of course there was Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac being victims of an attempted carjacking in broad daylight!
Things hardly improved on the field when the season started. Record signing Nicolas Pepe failed to adapt quickly to life in England – though he delivered on his promise in the latter half of the season. Swiss captain Granit Xhaka was stripped of the captaincy after swearing at disgruntled fans in an ugly tantrum. Ozil was placed into an absurdly costly exile.
Losses continued to pile up, until finally Unai Emery was axed.
New manager Mikel Arteta has improved matters at the club, albeit not nearly enough to satisfy fans. By February, he guided the club to two consecutive wins for the first time since the opening two games of the season. By late March, the club was five points off the top four, looking as though European qualification was very possible.
Perhaps that’s why this season is so disappointing: there was so much promise, but things simply haven’t come together.
David Luiz, brought in to shore up the defence and provide leadership, instead can’t stop gifting opponents cheap goals. His penalty in their final hitout meant he broke the Premier League record for most penalties conceded in a season with five. It’s an unbelievable statistic, given he only conceded three in all his years at Chelsea.
Matteo Guendouzi has showed plenty of talent, but has spent more time on the training park fighting his manager than actually training, so it appears. Arteta himself had the misfortune of suffering coronavirus, though fortunately he swiftly recovered.
Arsenal’s greatest flaw was this season was undoubtedly their awful starts to matches.
Incredibly, the Gunners have gone into halftime trailing in 13 of their 38 Premier League games this term.
The last time that happened, in 1994-95, Arsenal ended up 12th. By that comparison, they should be happy to come home in eighth.
Sheffield United: A
Before the first ball was kicked in anger this campaign, few would have predicted just how well the Blades would perform. A promoted side pushing for a spot in Europe? What a dream for their fans!
Alas.
A late slump ensured that dream would have to wait for another season. But that hardly tarnishes the incredible record the Sheffield United side produced. And there’s the tactical innovations. Overlapping central defenders, something the Premier League had never seen!
Sadly, the lack of individual quality and depth in the squad came back to bite the Blades, who missed the chance to go eighth on the final day and secure a best-ever finish since 1975.
Manager Chris Wilder said: “We have to come stronger next year, we have to recruit well in the summer, we have to improve the players we’ve got here, and bring better players in if we want to be an established Premier League football club.”
For a team in their first season following promotion, finishing ninth and with a goal difference of exactly zero is a wonderful result. They will only be left wondering what could have been.
Burnley: A
Say what you want about the way Burnley plays – it’s all about the results. It’s not always pretty, but there’s no arguing with their position on the ladder, with the points they’ve accrued.
Before going down 2-1 to Brighton on the final day, Burnley had lost just once in 16 games – and that was to Manchester City.
Discipline in defence, clinical in attack. It’s a simple formula, but has proven beyond the ability of so many sides in the past. Not Sean Dyche’s men.
Keeper Nick Pope just missed out on winning the Golden Glove with 15 clean sheets, one shy of Manchester City’s Ederson. Either way, he became the first Burnley player to keep 15 clean sheets in a top-flight campaign since the legendary Colin McDonald in 1954/55.
And in attack, Kiwi Chris Wood became the first Burnley player to score 13 goals in the top flight since Ray Hankin and Peter Noble in 1975/76 – then scored again on the last day.
Their defeat to Brighton ensured that Burnley would not improve on their Premier League points record of 54, although they’ll probably be very happy to have matched that mark this season.
Everton: C-
Everton came into the season promising the world, riding high on the signatures of Moise Kean, Alex Iwobi, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Andre Gomes (from loanee to fully fledged Toffee). After years of finishing just outside – but well off the pace – of the European spots, this was going to be the campaign Everton finally got back in the big time.
They finished it in the bottom half of the ladder for the first time since 2015-16.
In fairness, the Toffees looked like they were going to finish far below 12th for much of the season and had stints under three managers.
As was the case at his former club Watford, manager Marco Silva failed to back up the positive results of his maiden campaign for the club, and was given the sack midway through the season. He left the club off the back of a 5-2 hammering at the hands of cross-town rivals Liverpool and with Everton languishing in 18th place after 15 games.
In late December Everton pulled off a coup by signing the legendary Carlo Ancelotti to take the reins after a brief caretaker stint by Duncan Ferguson, who had dragged them up to 15th in his fortnight in charge.
Ancelotti has set his sights on getting Everton back into European football. That’s the same ambition every Everton manager has had for the past 15 years, but the Italian does at least have some true pedigree at the highest level. He is one of only three managers to have won the European Cup/Champions League three times.
Southampton: B
I’m not sure many Saints fans will soon forget the record 9-0 thrashing they received at the hands of Leicester in October. Indeed, it might be preferable to just wipe away the memories of the entire first half of the season! After 17 rounds, Southampton were languishing in the relegation zone and were hot favourites for the drop.
But the second half of the season was quite simply excellent, with the Saints finishing the campaign in 11th – a significant improvement on the 16th and 17th of the two seasons prior.
The Saints deserve full credit for trusting in Austrian manager Ralph Hassenhuttl during the lean start, with the tactician having since repaid the faith by signing a long contract extension at the club.
He, in turn, will be thanking Danny Ings, after the striker notched 22 goals to go one shy of Vardy’s golden boot tally. He was a crucial member of an impressive offensive unit which scored 51 times this season, equal with seventh-placed Wolves.
The defence struggled at times, shipping 60 goals – worse than the four teams who finished below them.
But the form of the side, and their remarkable turnaround, shows plenty of promise for next season. Having emerged re-energised after the break, the Saints lost just once in the run to the finish line.
Hassenhuttle said: “It’s amazing, especially after lockdown. What we did was unbelievable.”
Newcastle: C
With Perez off to Leicester, Newcastle needed goals. They brought in club-record signing Joelinton from Hoffenheim. It’s been nothing short of a disaster. He netted just TWO times all season.
Their other strikers failed to find the net. Andy Carroll was brought back – a risky proposition – but couldn’t regain the form that made him a legend at the club in his first stint.
It’s a scary prospect when midfielder Jonjo Shelvey is the club’s top scorer.
There have been positives: the emergence of Allan Saint-Maximin and his flair down the wing has been a rare bright spark. The Longstaff brothers have demonstrated clear potential.
After an average start to the season, Newcastle steadied. They haven’t been in the relegation zone since Round 10. And beginning the restart with four unbeaten games proved that the team aren’t easybeats by any means. But there’s still plenty of improvement needed for next season.
Crystal Palace: C
Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace slid from mid-table to lower mid-table which just about sums up another uneventful campaign for the Eagles.
They’ve been too good to be involved in a relegation scrap for a while now but still haven’t found a way to put themselves in the mix for a Europa League finish.
It has been five seasons since Palace last finished in the top half of the ladder and until the London team finds a way to regularly win matches rather than survive them, that wait could go on for a while. Relegated Norwich City were the only team to score fewer goals than Crystal Palace’s 31 for the campaign.
Nevertheless, surviving in the Premier League is no mean feat and as long as Hodgson keeps ensuring that, the owners and the fans will be happy. What does look a concern however is the team’s form after the COVID-19 lockdown. After returning to action with a win over Bournemouth, Palace lost seven games before rounding out the season with a draw with Spurs.
As always, Palace’s chief concern in the off-season will be holding onto Wilfred Zaha.
West Ham: D
West Ham spent big in the off-season, with Sebastien Haller (€40.00m) and Pablo Fornals (€28.00m) coming in to reinvigorate an attack that already featured mercurial attacking talents Felipe Anderson, Andriy Yarmolenko and Manuel Lanzini. Despite that investment, West Ham still looked blunt for much of the campaign.
It’s money the Hammers might have been better off spending in midfield, where young spark -and potential future captain – Declan Rice has been left on his lonesome to regularly fight fires as age catches up with Mark Noble and injuries with Jack Wilshere. The team has struggled in transition in both attack and defence. Their issues were only compounded by an injury to the excellent
West Ham sacked Manuel Pellegrini in late December with the team sitting just a single point above the relegation zone. In his place, the Hammers brought back David Moyes, the same man Pellegrini had replaced.
Moyes did just enough to drag West Ham out of the relegation fight and will be hoping to use the coming season to prove he is the man they should back in the long term. West Ham’s form after the mid-season break was what saved them from a nervy finish to the campaign and the London club will hope that is a sign of things to come.
Brighton: B
Brighton’s form fell off a cliff after the COVID-19 lockdown but thankfully for Australian PL fans the side escaped relegation by seven points.
Aaron Mooy had one of his less productive seasons and dropped in and out of the starting XI as a result, while goalkeeper Mat Ryan excelled before a late campaign dip.
Away from an Australian perspective, 23-year-old striker Neal Maupay impressed in his first season in the Premier League, while Yves Bissouma started to blossom into the midfielder Brighton was so excited to have signed in 2018.
Brighton had two main objectives this campaign. One was to survive and the other was to play good football, hence the sacking of Chris Hughton and hiring of Graham Potter. They achieved both and Potter will be keen to turn that football into a better finish next season.
But there will be no complaints about ending up 15th on the ladder.
Aston Villa: C
It came down to the wire, but Villa escaped relegation on the final day. In doing so, they pulled off one of the Premier League’s great escapes.
Coach Dean Smith said: “We’ve been written off by everybody. We had to build a squad, build a culture. To get to where we are is an unbelievable achievement for the whole of the group.”
It seemed as though they would end up a carbon copy of Fulham from the year prior, who spent big upon promotion to the top flight then were relegated that season (not to mention sacking both Slaviša Jokanović and Claudio Ranieri along the way).
While money doesn’t buy happiness, in Villa’s case it bought them survival.
Aston Villa almost matched Man United to become the second-biggest spenders in the off-season with a £144.5m outlay on 12 players. The biggest spends were Tyrone Mings (£20m), Wesley (£22m), Matt Targett (£17m) and Douglas Luiz (£15m).
Mings impressed, backing up a strong loan spell in the second half of last season with more impressive performances this time out. Wesley suffered an ACL injury which significantly hampered his season. His absences – and struggle to find his shooting boots when back – gave rise to Villa’s biggest issue this season: a lack of out-and-out scorer.
Jack Grealish topped the charts with nine, including the crucial goal on the final day that spared them from relegation. Trezeguet found form late to finish with six, with Wesley third with five. Time and again, Villa’s decent attacking play was foiled by poor delivery in the final third or wayward shooting.
But during the lockdown, Smith transformed Villa’s style to counteract this weakness. Just a month ago the defence was the worst in the league, jeopardising even the slimmest chance of survival. The team became far more disciplined and organised in defence. Set pieces in attack improved.
And the talismanic Grealish delivered salvation.
Thirty-five points is hardly a successful season, especially given the massive squad overhaul.
But they avoided abject failure by the slimmest of margins and live to fight another day.
Watford: D-
An absolute mess of a season for Watford in every sense, summed up by the dreadful first half of the final game of the season where they conceded three goals in 33 minutes.
The Hornets went through four managers this season, sacking Nigel Pearson with just two games to go after axing Javi Garcia only four games into the campaign. In between them Quique Sánchez Flores was given 10 league games. Under-23s coach Hayden Mullins was handed the reins for the final two games of the season.
Watford seemed destined for relegation all season before Pearson took over. In his time there, Watford picked up more points than eight other PL sides to lift itself out of the relegation zone, notching famous wins over Manchester United and Liverpool. Despite that, a 3-1 loss to West Ham in the third-last game of the season was enough for Pearson to get his marching orders.
Given all the turmoil at the top, it’s no surprise Watford has been relegated. For Pearson, there is only the scant consolation that he maintains his record of never having seen a side be relegated under his charge.
Whoever replaces Pearson in the long term will be well and truly entering the hornets’ nest, becoming the 13th manager the club has had in nine years.
Bournemouth: D
What a bitter end to the Cherries’ sweet stint in the top flight. Five years and plenty of memorable moments later, Bournemouth’s increasingly poor transfer dealings finally caught up with them.
Having finished 14th in 2018-19, slipping to relegation represents a rather severe collapse.
The club raked in 30 million pounds from the sales of Mings to Villa and Lys Mousset to Sheffield. In hindsight, they would probably wish neither had departed! They were certainly not adequately replaced.
The primary issue, compared to the season prior, is clear. While they conceded 70 league goals in 2018-19, this season they conceded 65.
But where they scored 56 times in 2018-19, this season that dropped to just 40. Top scorer Callum Wilson alone went from scoring 15 in the league to seven this time out. No one picked up the slack.
In all fairness, injuries decimated the squad at times. The average age of the side was the second-youngest in the competition, behind just Manchester United. But that will do little to cheer up the mood of Cherries’ fans, or that of Eddie Howe. The young manager, such a bright light in England’s coaching ranks, boasted the honour of being the Premier League manager who had spent the longest time in charge of their present club.
It’s not clear whether he will continue that reign in the Championship next season.
Norwich City: E-
After a three-year absence, Norwich were finally back in the Premier League. And the season started with some promise. After losing to Liverpool – no worries there – Teemu Pukki bagged a hat-trick against Newcastle in the second game of the season. The Canaries were singing, and how sweet the tune! Pukki was given PL player of the month honours. They were up in 11th place and playing a magical brand of football.
Unfortunately, the win was one of just FIVE they would notch all season. To put that into perspective, Norwich lost that same number of games by four or more goals!
As good as the style of football was, the results just didn’t follow. They finished the season having scored just 26 goals, while Manchester City belted 102.
But at least Norwich can look back on a magical 3-2 over Manchester City and fondly remember the day they stunned the reigning champions.
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