So let’s have a look at the key stats for the season, to try and determine where it went right or wrong, for the various teams.
Where was the season won and lost?
Looking at the race for the title, I think we can clearly see that Man Utd lost the title in the last quarter. The 1st three quarters of the season Man Utd were either 1st or 2nd and averaging 2.3, 2.44 and 2.5 points per game. However, in the last quarter of the season that dropped to 2.11 points per game. This is actually quite surprising, as Man Utd are normally very strong at the end of the season. Man City had a poor 2nd quarter, averaging only 1.89 points per game, but their great start to the season and the last two quarter’s ensured they just piped Man Utd to the title.
Looking at the other teams challenging for the title and the top four, we can clearly see that Spurs fell out of contention for the title in the 3rd and 4th quarters. At one point Spurs were 8 points ahead of Arsenal in 3rd place. Arsenal had a terrible start to the season and recovered well in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. They also lost 3rd place in the last quarter of the season, but managed to recover and hold on, mainly due to a poor Spurs side.
Newcastle have done very well this season, and not many people gave them a chance of challenging for the top four. As can be seen above, a poor 2nd quarter, were they only won 3 matches ultimately cost them 4th spot.
Chelsea and Liverpool were the two underachievers in the league this season. Chelsea were consistently around the 6th place mark, and looking at the table above, there was no single quarter which cost Chelsea a top four spot, overall for the season they were average.
Liverpool did quite well in the 1st two quarters of the season. However, relegation form in quarter 3 and 4, which saw them only win 5 matches from 19 matches, put an end to hopes of a top 4 spot. Indeed, Liverpool only averaged 0.89 and 1.0 point per game in the 3rd and 4th quarters of the season.
Looking at the bottom teams, we can see that the writing was on the wall from the start for Wolves. They never averaged more than 1 point per game in any quarter of the season.
Blackburn had one good quarter, the 3rd quarter, which saw them average 1.4 points per game. However, like Wolves they averaged less than 1 point per game in the other 3 quarters of the season, resulting in their inevitable relegation
One team at the bottom that stands out is Wigan. What a fantastic final quarter of the season they had, beating a plethora of the top teams. The 1st 3 quarters of the season, they averaged 1 point per game or less. Astonishingly, the last quarter of the season they averaged 2.33 points per game, which would have put them top of the league, crazy!!!
As for the mid-table teams, we can see that some teams started the season well, like stoke, and then fell away, but had enough points in the bag. Other teams, like Sunderland, started poorly, but then had a good middle section of the season.
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