Now the dust has settled on the 2022/23 Premier League season, we can look back at what has been a unique season. Domestic football around the world paused for over eight weeks, as the 2022 World Cup got underway in Qatar, presenting a brand new challenge for managers and players.
Manchester City ran out eventual champions, with a 25 match unbeaten run allowing them to overtake Arsenal in the final run in, to claim their fifth Premier League trophy under Pep Guardiola and their third on the bounce.
Meanwhile, the makeup of the top 4 of the Premier League changed drastically, with Newcastle, Arsenal and Man United all securing Champions League football at the expense of Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham.
At the bottom of the table, Leicester, Leeds and Southampton all saw this part of their Premier League chapter end, with the primary being relegated just seven years after winning the league.
In this article, we present a team-by-team review of the Premier League season, detailing the highs and lows of yet another enthralling Premier League campaign.
Arsenal: 2nd, 84 points
Arsenal made huge improvements this season, after missing out on Champions League football to their north London rivals Tottenham last year, Mikel Arteta’s men were in no mood to do the same again.
The Spaniard’s side played the best football since the golden days of Arsene Wenger’s reign, with Bukayo Saka particularly impressing with a tally of 14 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League. In addition, former Man City duo Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko greatly improved the quality of the side.
The Gunners were at the Premier League summit for the vast part of the season, however, in their final run in they dropped points against Southampton, Liverpool, West Ham, Brighton and crucially to Man City, meaning the title was no longer in their hands.
An eventual finish in second place, nine points ahead of third placed Manchester United, gave Arteta’s side their best points tally since the Invincible's season and a much-deserved place in the Champions League.
Aston Villa: 7th, 61 points
Aston Villa’s season was arguably one of contrast. In the penultimate week before the World Cup, their then-manager Steven Gerrard was struggling to develop consistency, with poor results leading to only 12 points on the board and his sacking.
However, with the appointment of Unai Emery Aston Villa’s season transformed. A 3-1 win under the new boss against Manchester United in the last game week before the World Cup, represented a sign of things to come.
The four times Europa League winner directed a resurgence leading the club to the Europa Conference League on the final day of the season with an impressive seventh-placed finish.
It was a run which saw them only lose twice from mid-February until the end of the season, with Ollie Watkins being a key contributor with 15 league goals as well as midfielder Jacob Ramsey pitching in with 13 goal contributions.
For Villa fans, excitement awaits as they look forward to a season in Europe for the first since 2010, and much-expected investment in the summer to give Emery the tools he needs for success.
Bournemouth: 15th, 39 points
Going into the month of September, Bournemouth had played five tough games against Villa, Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Wolves with four points to show for it. However, the owners of the South Coast club were in no business to see if the then manager Scott Parker could secure Premier League survival.
Following a hasty but now well thought of decision, Gary O’Neil was given the job on an interim basis. O’Neil helped to turn things around with wins against Nottingham Forest, Leicester and Chelsea helping him to secure the permanent job.
The Cherries continued to pick up well-earned points throughout the season, with their Premier League status being confirmed one game before the end of the season. Philipp Billing and Dominic Solanke were key players scoring 14 goals and assisting 8 between them in an attack which included David Brooks, who heartwarmingly made his return from cancer treatment.
Brentford: 9th, 59 points
Following an impressive 13th-placed finish in the 2021/22 season, few expected Brentford would better it in the style they did. Thomas Frank, who will next year go into his sixth year in the job, did a fine job of leading Brentford to a record 59 points in the Premier League.
The London side were one of only four sides to beat the Premier League Champions and the only side to do the Premier League double over them. The Bees beat them 2-1 at the Etihad courtesy of an Ivan Toney goal, before in the final game of the season Pinnock scored an 85th-minute winner to give the side all the share of the points.
Frank will once again aim to lead his side into a better position, however he will have his work cut out as Brentford face up the prospect of eight months without Toney due to a gambling ban, as well as being in the position of having to compete with the likes of Brighton, Aston Villa, Newcastle and the rest of the Premier League’s established top six if they are to better their impressive top half of the table finish.
Brighton & Hove Albion: 6th, 62 points
Last season, it was Brighton that finished ninth with the impressive English manager Graham Potter leading them to their top half finish. An impressive start to this campaign saw the South Coast side win five matches out of six, before Potter jumped ship, leaving to join Chelsea.
Former Sassuolo manager and fiery Italian Roberto De Zerbi came in and only helped to continue and better Potter’s work, De Zerbi managed the South Coast side to their best Premier League finish and most importantly a sixth placed position which leaves them with a season of Europa League football to look forward to at the Amex.
The Brighton fans will have no qualms about their season, which has seen them score 72 goals, more than both Newcastle and Manchester United, as well as reaching an FA Cup semi-final.
Key performers have included Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma and Argentine world cup winner Alexis Mac Allister. Meanwhile, more experienced Brighton players such as Lewis Dunk and Pascal Gross had fantastic seasons.
Chelsea: 12th, 44 points
Abysmal is one of the more pleasant words to describe Chelsea’s season. The West London club have been far below the standards expected by fans and the standards set under the Roman Abramovich era.
Chelsea’s new owner, Todd Boehly, has already overseen four managers at the helm with Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor and Frank Lampard all managing the team this season. In addition, Boehly has also splashed the cash, with almost £600 million spent over the last two transfer windows.
Expensive additions included Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk, Kalidou Koulibaly and Enzo Fernandez. The vast majority of their signings have inflated the squad but added little in terms of quality, contributing to a points tally that is 30 less than what they had at the end of last season, leaving Chelsea in the bottom half of the Premier League table with 44 points.
The playing style under the successive Chelsea managers this season has shown relative defensive stability with Chelsea conceding fewer goals than Brighton and just four more than Manchester United and Arsenal. However, the Blues have struggled for goals all season with a startling lack of a goalscorer despite the heavy investment.
With Mauricio Pochettino taking over in the summer, the former Spurs boss will have his work cut out as he seeks to turn Chelsea’s underperforming stars into a competitive Premier League outfit.
Crystal Palace: 11th, 45 points
During the 2021/22 season, Palace had a successful season with largely exciting football being played under Arsenal legend Patrick Viera. However, coming towards the end of March 2023 the South London club had failed to win a game in any competition under Viera and with the bottom three coming ever closer, Chairman Steve Parish made the call to sack the Frenchman and bring in former manager Roy Hodgson.
While Hodgson had been very popular during his time at Palace, many fans saw it as a step back. However, the former England manager quickly won over his critics as he saw over three wins on the bounce to kickstart his tenure with a particularly impressive 5-1 win at Leeds.
With Premier League survival secured by the end of April, Palace closed in on a 12th placed finish with 45 points and it was clear to see that Parish’s faith in Hodgson was well placed. The league’s oldest manager got some of the league’s youngest stars playing their best football again, as Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi shone in the last few months of the season.
Looking ahead to the summer, a busy period awaits as Palace look to find a long-term successor to Viera and one that matches their fans desire for exciting football.
Everton: 17th, 36 points
In the past, two pitch invasions in two years for Everton would be likely to signal a major honour for the club that has won nine first division titles and five FA Cups. However, the recent history of Everton is far bleaker with both signalling narrow escapes from the brink of relegation.
Last season, Frank Lampard was the man to keep Everton up, securing their survival with a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace at a raucous Goodison Park. Unfortunately for Lampard, he was not given the chance to show whether he could keep up the Merseyside club again with the former Chelsea player and manager let go at the end of January.
As the club sat in 19th place in came Sean Dyche with four months to turn it around. While Dyche hardly led a transformation, he did create a more defensively solid team. The Toffees went on to secure valuable points against Arsenal, Leeds, Leicester, Brentford and a notable win against Brighton to ensure that the club kept their fate in their own hands.
However, it still went down to the wire with a 1-0 win against Bournemouth on the final day of the season ensuring that the Toffees remain in the Premier League.
With Connor Coady describing Everton’s latest survival success as a ‘line in the sand’, it is imperative that the club now push on to a position that is more worthy of their great history.
so much emotion in this video 💙 pic.twitter.com/QbQzOza3Yv
— Everton (@Everton) May 28, 2023
Fulham: 10th, 52 points
As Championship winners in the 2021/22 season, Marco Silva’s team have continued their fine work. They secured a top half of the table finish this season, with memorable results against Liverpool, Brentford and their West London rivals Chelsea, who they claimed four points off out of a possible six.
While Marco Silva’s side finished just out of the European places, the aim going into next season will be for his side to better this season’s impressive league table finish. Key performers throughout the season have been Andreas Pereira and João Palhinha, while Aleksandar Mitrovic has been the main source of goals with 14 goals in just 24 matches.
Leicester City: 18th, 34 points
For the Foxes, this Premier League season is their most disastrous. After having two seasons on the bounce finishing fifth and one finishing eighth, the idea was that Brendan Rodger’s team would continue to push up the table.
However, Leicester City became the team to have the most expensive squad relegated. Brendan Rodgers was dismissed after a run of six games without a win left them in the relegation zone. With just nine points won in the final eight games under Dean Smith, it signalled the end of the road for the team who just seven years ago won the Premier League in a fairytale story.
Ahead of Leicester is a crucial summer as player outgoings will be the norm with a number of internationals such as Youri Tielemans, Caglar Soyüncu, James Maddison and Harvey Barnes will all look to leave, with a new squad necessary to be able to compete in the competitive Championship.
Leeds United: 19th, 31 points
Leeds were another of the three Premier League teams to be relegated. The club worked their way through both Jesse March and Javia Gracia before deciding that Sam Allardyce was the man to keep them up with four games to spare.
The same issues plagued Leeds all season. They scored goals but conceded far too many. In April alone, the club conceded 23 goals, the most ever conceded in a single calendar month, with a total of 78 conceded throughout the season, the highest in the league.
The Leeds fans will be keen to see their side make a swift return to the Premier League and avoid the agonising 16-year wait they suffered last time to return to England’s top division.
Liverpool: 5th, 67 points
This time last season, Liverpool were competing for the quadruple and were narrowly denied the title after being one point short of Man City’s total of 93. However, this season the Merseyside club were not competing for the Premier League trophy but rather European football.
The Reds, after putting together an impressive nine game winning run, managed to secure fifth place and Europa League football. Jurgen Klopp will be disappointed his side could not reach Champions League football or defend their FA Cup and League Cup trophies from the season before.
This will largely be considered an off-season for Liverpool, with a summer of investment needed to ensure that Klopp’s team is given the tools to succeed and challenge Man City once more.
Manchester City: 1st, 89 points
The 2022/23 season signalled yet another year of fine Pep Guardiola football, with City winning their tenth trophy under Pep and their third title on the bounce. Erling Haaland and Kevin DeBruyne particularly impressed throughout the season, with the former scoring a record 36 goals in the Premier League in his debut season.
However, it is clear that Man City have hardly had their defining moment of the season as of yet, with the team still on for the treble with an FA Cup final to come against their staunch rivals, Manchester United, as well as the all-important Champions League final against Inter Milan, a competition which the club have never won.
Manchester United: 3rd, 75 points
Erik Ten Hag’s first season in the dugout at Old Trafford can largely be considered a success. The Dutch manager secured Champions League football for the Red Devils as well as winning the League Cup, with a FA Cup final also on the horizon.
Ten Hag still has a long way to go in seeing the consistency he should expect, with a 7-0 thrashing at Liverpool and a 4-0 loss to Brentford being particularly disappointing moments of the season. In addition, his side lost nine games, the most out of any side in the top four as well as finishing 14 points behind City and nine behind second-placed Arsenal.
However, it is clear that the foundations are there for Man United to make a push for the Premier League title if they make clever recruitments in the summer, most pressingly to the striker role with the club potentially interested in signing Harry Kane or Victor Osimhen to take some of the burden off Marcus Rashford.
Newcastle United: 4th, 71 points
After Eddie Howe comfortably secured Newcastle’s Premier League survival last season, it was clear the Magpies would improve but just by how much was unknown. Howe has helped to lead a stunning turnaround with Saudi Arabian investment enabling the club to quickly rise through the table.
However, much credit has to go to the players and manager who have had a season beyond the wildest expectations of the most optimistic fans. The club has secured Champions League football for the first time in almost 20 years, while also reaching the League Cup Final.
For Newcastle, everything is positive at the moment and fans will hardly be able to contain their excitement over the summer as they look forward to the Champions League anthem being played at St James’ Park.
Nottingham Forest: 16th, 38 points
With Premier League survival secured with a points tally of 38, I’m sure Steve Cooper will be hoping for a quieter summer than the last. This time last year Nottingham Forest were in the process of signing thirty new additions after winning the playoff final.
With a number so high, many thought it would be a curse rather than a blessing. However, under the excellent management of Cooper, who restored the faith put in him from the Forest hierarchy, the manager quickly found his preferred match-day squad and got his side performing.
A key player for Forest in the final phase of the season was one of the new additions, Taiwo Awoniyi who chipped in with 10 goals through the season, scoring 6 goals in the final four games to ensure that Forest stayed in the league.
Southampton: 20th, 25 points
The 2022/23 season saw the end of Southampton’s latest Premier League chapter. The South Coast side have become a regular feature of the Premier League since 2013 with nine seasons in the English top flight.
However, a season in which the squad lacked experienced players and a Premier League know-how came back to bite them. The side lost 25 of their 38 Premier League games winning just six, as they saw themselves placed in the bottom three all the way from the start of November to the end of the season.
Southampton will aim to make a swift return, but it is clear that it will be far from easy in a Championship which has never been so competitive.
Tottenham Hotspur: 8th, 60 points
After Tottenham pipped Arsenal to fourth spot in the 2021/22 season, the consensus was that they would push on to start challenging at the top of the table under serial winner Antonio Conte. In addition, a busy summer where the club signed Yves Bissouma, Ivan Perisic, Richarlison and Clemente Lenglet only added to this view.
However, inconsistency plagued the early part of Spurs’ season, in March after a 3-3 draw to Southampton, Antonio Conte exploded with criticism directed towards the players for their mentality and to the ownership for their poor track record on player recruitment and investment. Conte booked his Ryanair flight home and with that he was gone, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.
Cristian Stellini took over the sinking ship but could do little to placate Spurs fans and following a 6-1 thrashing at Newcastle, it was Ryan Mason’s turn to have a go. Spurs limped on in the final six games of the season, with two wins under Mason’s stewardship.
It ended a more than disappointing season for the North London Club, who finished in 8th place outside of the European places for the first time since 2009. As usual, Harry Kane was the exception for Tottenham, with 30 goals in the league alone seeing him shoot over Wayne Rooney to become the league’s second-highest goalscorer as well as becoming Spurs' all-time record goalscorer.
A busy summer awaits as the Lilywhites look to sign a manager, hire a director of football and have a much-needed revamp of the playing squad.
West Ham United: 14th, 40 points
While West Ham’s 14th-placed league finish is a far cry from their 7th-placed league finish in 2021/22, their form in Europe has been sublime. The Hammers are unbeaten in Europe, winning all bar a draw at Gent.
David Moyes will now lead West Ham into their first European final since 1976, and give them their first chance of silverware since they won the 1965 Cup Winners Cup.
With their European form allowing Moyes a breather from their poor Premier League form, it is likely that he will remain in post for another season. However, the future of midfielder Declan Rice is more uncertain with Arsenal rumoured to be taking a strong interest in signing the player.
Wolverhampton Wanderers: 13th, 41 points
A poor run of form under Bruno Lage left Wolves in the bottom three by early October, resulting in the dismissal of the manager. Wolves took their time to appoint a successor, with former Real Madrid and Spain manager Julian Lopetegui eventually being appointed as the Premier League went on its Winter World Cup break.
With Lopetegui at the helm, the fortunes of the club quickly started to change with an eventual 13th-placed finish, meaning the Midlands club can enjoy another season in the Premier League. They became the first club to survive the drop after being bottom at Christmas. However, with the cloud of Financial Fair play hanging over them it is unclear whether Lopetegui will be able to remain in post, putting a dampener on the end of season celebrations at Wolves.
In addition, work is needed to find a long-term number nine with the side struggling for goals throughout the season, scoring just 31, the lowest in the league.