Title Winners – Manchester City (86 points)
Top Scorer – Luis Suarez (31 goals)
Champions League qualification – Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal
Europa League qualification – Everton, Tottenham, Hull
Relegation – Norwich, Fulham, Cardiff
Pre-season odds in August 2013:
Title winners – Man City @9/4, Chelsea @9/4, Man United @5/2, Arsenal @10/1, Liverpool @25/1
Relegation – Crystal Palace @4/7, Hull @5/7, Cardiff @9/5, Norwich @5/2, Fulham @6/1
Selected top goalscorers – Suarez @18/1, Aguero @12/1
The surprise package of the Premiership season has undoubtedly been Liverpool, with Brendan Rodgers showing that he can build a side that is more than capable of sustaining a title challenge right up until the end. Suarez was obviously the main man and grabbed the majority of the headlines, but the impressive nature of which Liverpool managed to involve a wider variety of attacking talent was key. Coutinho, Sterling, Sturridge, Gerrard all had exceptional seasons.
Another talking point will obviously be the struggles of David Moyes and his inability to continue the tradition of taking Manchester United into the Champions League. A seventh place finish was pretty inconceivable before the season kicked off, and even finishing outside the top four would have got you 7/1 back in August. But lacklustre performances and an especially poor home record were factors in proving that no-one gets a free pass into European competition these days.
I was impressed by the consistency of Southampton again this season. They had good quality in all areas of the pitch, with the likes of Lallana, Shaw, Schneiderlin, Lovren and Rodriguez all maintaining their high level of performance. They had a tricky patch around November/December time, but managed to come out the other side without ever really looking in danger. Everton also had a very good season, and were very much in the frame for Champions League football at one stage. Lukaku, Coleman, Jagielka, McCarthy have all been excellent. They were 7/2 to finish in the top 6 at the start of the season.
Other notable achievements included the ability of Crystal Palace and Sunderland to avoid the drop. Tony Pulis worked wonders since his arrival and completely turned around the fortunes of Palace – a side looking destined for relegation before he took over in Novemeber, to a mid-table finish. Sunderland were cut adrift approaching the final few weeks, after a run of 8 losses and 2 draws in 10 games. But they mustered a last push for safety, with 4 wins on the bounce including away victories over Chelsea and Man United to avoid Championship football next season.
No-one in the bottom half of the table had particularly inspiring season over the course of the 38 games. I think Newcastle fans will look at the second half of the season they had and will feel lucky to have finished in 10th place. Swansea were in danger of getting sucked into the relegation fight at one point, but Wilfried Bony played a big part in keeping his side in mid-table mediocrity.
The battle at the top resulted in a slightly last-gasp title deciding final day, which Manchester City won. However, Liverpool did themselves no favours by losing their 3-0 lead to Crystal Palace the week before, effectively putting the title fight fully out of their hands. Both City and Liverpool finished the League season having scored over 100 goals each, but ultimately City prevailed. They appear to have the best squad in the league, and with the ‘spine’ of Kompany, Toure, Silva and Aguero they look capable of picking up points anywhere.
Chelsea and Arsenal both fell short of the race for the title, with the Blues caught up in a Champions League campaign at the sharp end of the season. Their ability to draw 0-0 against any of the big sides probably didn’t win Mourinho any fans from the neutral contingent, but it was probably the losses against Villa, Palace and Sunderland that ultimately did for their hopes of lifting the Premiership title. Arsenal, after going on a dodgy run in which they almost surrendered 4th place when losing Everton, managed to finish on a high by securing Champions League football (playoff) and lifting the FA Cup.
Individual awards:
FWA, PFA and Premier League Player of the Year: Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
PFA Young Player of the Year: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Barclays Manager of the Season : Tony Pulis (Crystal Palace)
LMA Manager of the Year : Brendan Rodgers (Liverpool)
Statistics:
Total goals: 1052
Penalties scored: 73
Clean sheets: 232
Goals per 90 mins: Sergio Aguero (0.99), Luis Suarez (0.94), Daniel Sturridge (0.83)
Pass completion: Mathieu Flamini (93.17%), Laurent Koscielny (92.45%), Per Mertesacker (92.38%), Mousa Dembele (91.60%), John Terry (91.57%)
Completed passes per 90 mins: Yaya Toure (70.89), Michael Carrick (70.00), Jose Canas (69.73), Aaron Ramsey (68.53), David Silva (67.06)
Completed final 3rd passes per 90 mins: Mesut Ozil (30.58 – 81.86% completion), David Silva (29.53 – 78.67% completion), Samir Nasri (23.69 – 81.58% completion)
Save %: Vito Mannone (77.51%), Petr Cech (77.14%), Adrian (76.11%)
Matches per clean sheet: Artur Boruc (2.07), Petr Cech (2.13), Wojciech Szczesny (2.31)