Did the Premier League season pass you by?
Can you barely remember what took place before the World Cup?
Are you a bit unsure of what happened with Bournemouth?
It’s difficult to describe a 380-game campaign concisely. But here is an attempt: all 20 Premier League teams’ seasons summarised in 10 choice matches…
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West Ham United 0-2 Manchester City (August 7)
In hindsight, maybe the destination of the title was clear from the opening weekend. Erling Haaland scored twice. The first was a penalty that he had won himself, the second came after he ran onto a Kevin De Bruyne through ball and finished calmly.
The De Bruyne-Haaland partnership was the defining part of this City side, with that assist-goal combination producing eight goals.
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After the game, David Moyes commented on how difficult it was to play against this City system, with defenders pushing into midfield. From West Ham’s perspective, this was barely a contest, not helped by the fact they had four centre-backs out, goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski went off injured too and Kurt Zouma spent much of the game limping around the pitch as there were no other options.
This would prove an entirely forgettable campaign for the Hammers — domestically, at least.
Arsenal 4-2 Leicester City (August 13)
In a unique Premier League campaign essentially split in two because of the World Cup, Arsenal were the division’s best side before Christmas, in part thanks to the immediate impact of Gabriel Jesus, who scored twice here. But this game also hinted at Arsenal’s weaknesses: at 2-0 up it seemed game over, but Leicester pulled it back to 2-1 out of nothing, and then when Arsenal reinstated their two-goal lead with Granit Xhaka making it 3-1, Leicester again scored to make it 3-2.
Eventually, Gabriel Martinelli put the game to bed, but two goals would prove to be a dangerous lead for Arsenal in 2022-23, with collapses against Liverpool and West Ham later in the season proving fateful.
Relegated Leicester, meanwhile, scored the joint-10th-most goals this season, but only three teams conceded more, so this result neatly encapsulated their strength and weakness. Goalkeeping was a particular issue, with Danny Ward struggling, and for Leicester’s third concession in this game, he dropped a cross at the feet of Jesus. Their only impressive performer here was goalscorer James Maddison. That would be true for much of their campaign.
Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool (August 22)
Unusually, three of the sides who finished in the Champions League places were different from those who did so last season — Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle replaced Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Given their long-standing rivalry, it was United displacing Liverpool which felt like the most significant story, and you can trace things all the way back to their meeting on the Monday night in the third matchday of the campaign.
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United had endured a bruising first two weeks, losing 2-1 to Brighton & Hove Albion then 4-0 at Brentford, with their only goal in those games being an own goal.
Another loss here to Liverpool and Erik ten Hag would have already been under serious pressure. But United were excellent: pressing high up in the early stages, countering with pace from deep later on and switching play from flank to flank expertly, including for the first goal.
Lisandro Martinez, under heavy scrutiny at this point, progressed the ball well, Bruno Fernandes was involved in everything and Marcus Rashford, having endured a dreadful 18-month period, was moved to the left flank having started up front, and after scoring a goal out of nothing, suddenly looked revitalised.
In a disappointing campaign for Liverpool, this game demonstrated several of their problems. Trent Alexander-Arnold was poor defensively, offering no recovery run for either goal, and this would become such an issue that Jurgen Klopp ended up switching him to a half-back role which suited him much better, though it came too late to save Liverpool’s campaign.
Mohamed Salah played particularly wide in this game and wasn’t at his best, but still offered Liverpool’s main goal threat, grabbing a consolation. The midfield looked porous, with Fabinho left out, Harvey Elliott surprisingly starting and Jordan Henderson and James Milner simply not covering enough ground.
Brentford 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers (October 29)
A low-key game between two of the less significant sides in this season’s Premier League.
Brentford should very much take that as a compliment: they were never in serious danger of relegation, despite pre-season concerns that they wouldn’t be able to cope with the loss of Christian Eriksen.
This draw was the first match of an outstanding 12-game unbeaten run for Thomas Frank’s side that stretched from late October to early March. Only Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle went on longer unbeaten runs this season.
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For Wolves, this match came during their worst period of the season and they were bottom during the World Cup break. They ended up as the division’s lowest scorers and there will be little to remember this season by.
But the real reason this game works well for both teams is that both goals were scored by each club’s respective Player of the Year. Ben Mee, the centre-back who Brentford supporters voted as their player of the campaign, popped up in the opposition box for a somewhat uncharacteristic left-footed volley, while Wolves’ equaliser came from an entirely characteristic long-range effort from Ruben Neves.
Southampton 1-4 Newcastle United (November 6)
Southampton weren’t actually that bad here, narrowly winning the contest in terms of xG. But poor performances in both boxes cost them, and that was the story of their campaign; they ended the season around 13 goals down on what the expected goal numbers would have suggested, the worst rate in the Premier League. Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, in his first Premier League campaign, desperately struggled. Ralph Hasenhuttl was sacked afterwards, a decision that felt inevitable at the time, but there was minimal improvement thereafter.
Newcastle were dynamic and full of attacking promise throughout, with goals from four different players: Miguel Almiron, Chris Wood, Joe Willock and Bruno Guimaraes. That quartet nearly demonstrates the mix of technical footballers and more straightforward, hard-working players.
This was a good demonstration of Newcastle’s 4-3-3 with No 8s Willock and Sean Longstaff storming forward to good effect. While formations are open to interpretation, it’s fair to say Eddie Howe was the only manager who stuck with the same system in every game this season.
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Leeds United (February 5)
These sides were always set to be involved in the relegation battle, and this scrappy contest proved particularly crucial in both sides’ eventual fate.
Brennan Johnson’s winner meant this was one of five 1-0 home wins Nottingham Forest recorded this season, also defeating West Ham, Liverpool, Crystal Palace and, most memorably, Arsenal by that scoreline at the City Ground. Home form proved vital, as they collected fewer points than anyone else on their travels.
The side with the second-worst away record? Leeds. They offered plenty of attacking threat during this game, particularly from Luis Sinisterra and Wilfried Gnonto, two youngsters who emerge from this season with some credit. Leeds sacked Jesse Marsch after this game — but, just like Southampton, they ended up sacking his replacement too.
Everton 0-2 Aston Villa (February 25)
In many ways, this was a Premier League season defined by managerial departures, and Everton versus Aston Villa was a good example. At the start of the campaign, this fixture was Frank Lampard against Steven Gerrard, two members of England’s golden generation trying to prove themselves as coaches.
But both had been sacked by the time of the return fixture, with Everton going back to basics with Sean Dyche and Villa going for the experienced Unai Emery. Emery, overall, has fared much better, and came out on top here.
This game could have gone either way, in fairness, but with Villa’s Ollie Watkins scoring in his fifth straight game and Jordan Pickford performing well but not quite well enough for Everton to get anything from the game, there were a couple of familiar themes.
Chelsea 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion (April 15)
This was the Graham Potter derby — although he wasn’t actually involved, having left Brighton early in the season and being recently dismissed by Chelsea.
This felt like one of the most fitting results of the campaign. Chelsea are unquestionably the season’s biggest underachievers, having frittered away vast sums of money on players who have played like complete strangers. The appointment of Potter was a gamble that didn’t pay off, and the decision to plump for Lampard was a slightly desperate move that has prompted no improvement.
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On the other hand, Brighton’s decision to appoint Roberto De Zerbi must be considered one of the most astute moves of recent times.
De Zerbi’s team went behind following a freak goal via a deflection, but absolutely battered Chelsea and fully deserved the win.
Brighton also impressed hugely this season in terms of identifying clever new signings, including the likes of 19-year-old Paraguayan Julio Enciso, who fizzed in a brilliant long-range winner here. Another of his long-range strikes, against Manchester City, was voted goal of the season.
Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 Bournemouth (April 15)
Tottenham and Bournemouth’s two meetings this season both ended 3-2 to the away side, courtesy of a late winner — and while Tottenham inevitably finished higher in the table, it feels fair to select the match won by Bournemouth considering the mood at the two clubs now.
The south-coast club appeared doomed for much of the first period of this campaign, particularly in the aftermath of the 9-0 thrashing at Liverpool in late August. Scott Parker departed afterwards, Gary O’Neil found himself in caretaker charge, and seemingly just stuck around until the club eventually agreed to let him carry on.
Although his approach has been cautious, Bournemouth have often opened out in the second half of matches, and have generally offered a good counter-attacking threat. The January transfer window helped —and two of those arrivals were on target here, with Matias Vina making it 1-1 and Dango Ouattara snatching the crucial late winner.
This has felt like a Premier League season of caretaker managers. The likes of Aaron Danks, Steve Davis, Michael Skubala, Bruno Saltor and Adam Sadler have all found themselves in charge of a Premier League club unexpectedly, but perhaps the most curious case was Cristian Stellini, by all accounts a fine training ground coach and a likeable man, but he appeared to lack anything like the gravitas required for a head coach.
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His approach was initially sticking to his predecessor Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 at Tottenham, which had become stagnant and predictable. It didn’t work in this game.
Tottenham fans have at least been entertained this season — they are the first club to both score and concede 60 goals in a Premier League season since they themselves did it back in 2007-08. But when results like a 2-3 home loss to Bournemouth contribute to those figures, it’s not quite the type of entertainment they want.
Fulham 2-2 Crystal Palace (May 20)
The two sides who finished 10th and 11th, playing each other on the penultimate weekend? A draw will do nicely, thanks.
Fulham’s campaign was dominated by Aleksandar Mitrovic, who smashed in 14 league goals, including two here. The unusual thing was that he scored a penalty — he missed four this season, the most in Premier League history.
Fulham have regularly been involved in entertaining matches this season, right from their first game, which was another 2-2 home draw, against Liverpool. Considering in their previous season in the Premier League they were the most negative side in the division, it’s quite a transformation.
But the main protagonist here was 75-year-old Roy Hodgson, something of a hero at both clubs, having surprisingly been re-appointed Crystal Palace manager after the club had gone on a disastrous run of 12 league games without a victory.
He immediately steered the club to three wins on the bounce, and while predecessor Patrick Vieira wanted more of a front-foot style, Hodgson’s more measured approach, based around deeper defending and quick countering, still suits this squad better. The opener in this match against Fulham, which was scored when Eberechi Eze set up Odsonne Edouard, was a fine example of their quick attacking.
At one point, fans of both clubs were singing Hodgson’s name in unison. At the end of both of the last two Premier League campaigns, it seemed that we had seen the last of Hodgson. But this, surely, is the right time to say farewell.
(Photos: Getty Images)
