The Season 2013/14: Manchester City surface first

(C) 1 MANCHESTER CITY (P38 W27 D5 L6 F102 A37 Pts 86) PL:WLWDWLWWLWLWWWDWWWWWWWWLDWWWWDWLDWWWWW
FA Cup: lost 1-2 v Wigan Athletic (H) in QF
League Cup: won 3-1 v Sunderland at Wembley in Final
Europe: lost 1-4 on agg v Barcelona (0-2h, 1-2a) in Last 16
Top scorer: Sergio Aguero (28)
Timed to perfection, Manchester City won their last five games to overhaul Liverpool and win a second Premier League title in three years. It has indeed been an exceptional first season at the Etihad for manager Manuel Pellegrini whose side overcame early troubles on the road to draw four times and lose just twice in 27 games from the end of November onwards. The second of those defeats, at Anfield, took the title out of City hands - but, while the Reds then slipped up, City stepped up and they finished the season on 102 league goals, just one short of Chelsea's record from 2009-10. For good measure, Man City also won the League Cup against Sunderland at Wembley meaning it is now four trophies in the last three years.

2 LIVERPOOL (P38 W26 D6 L6 F101 A50 Pts 84)
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FA Cup: lost 1-2 v Arsenal (A) in fifth round
League Cup: lost 0-1 v Manchester United (A) in third round
Top scorer: Luis Suarez (31)
The best attacking duo in the Premier League, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, gave Liverpool genuine belief of a first league title in 24 years - and that belief grew bigger as the Reds embarked on an amazing 11-match winning streak. But the defensive failings which had become evident throughout the season would ultimately come back to haunt them. For, Steven Gerrard - of all men - slipped up in the 2-0 home defeat to Chelsea - before a crazy 3-3 draw against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park effectively extinguished all hope. Exactly where Brendan Rodgers' men failed to win the title is not difficult to pinpoint - Liverpool had an attack which could blow away most of the league but the 50 goals conceded is actually the Reds' worst record since 1914-15. Clear at the top with three games left, one wonders if they will ever have a better chance.

3 CHELSEA (P38 W25 D7 L5 F71 A27 Pts 82)
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FA Cup: lost 0-2 v Manchester City (A) in fifth round
League Cup: lost 1-2 aet v Sunderland (A) in fifth round
Europe: lost 1-3 on agg v Atletico Madrid (0-0a, 1-3h) in SF
Top scorer: Eden Hazard (16)
Despite heavy investment in strikers in recent seasons, it was a lack of firepower that left Chelsea short in the final reckoning. Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto'o and Demba Ba scored only 17 goals between them - and, having completed doubles over their main rivals, Manchester City and Liverpool, it was instead at some of the lesser lights where Chelsea struggled. Away defeats came at Stoke City, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa - and, even at Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho's men were not exactly exemplary. A 0-0 draw against West Ham in January led to the Portuguese branding the Hammers' tactics as "19th century football". Then later, the 2-1 defeat to Sunderland - Mourinho's first home loss in the Premier League - prompted an astonishingly unsporting reaction on the final whistle.

4 ARSENAL (P38 W24 D7 L7 F68 A41 Pts 79)
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FA Cup: Final v Hull City at Wembley on 17-May
League Cup: lost 0-2 v Chelsea (H) in fourth round
Europe: lost 1-3 on agg v Bayern Munich (0-2h, 1-1a) in Last 16
Top scorer: Olivier Giroud (22)
Arsenal led the league for far more days than any other team this season but had dropped out of the title race by April after a run of just two wins in nine games. It was a sequence which included heavy defeats to Liverpool and Chelsea, the latter horror show actually coming on the occasion of Arsene Wenger's 1000th game. Nevertheless, the Gunners picked themselves back up to finish the campaign with five successive wins and a place in the Champions League for the 18th year in a row. Now, the next aim for Arsenal is for them to break their nine-year trophy drought on Saturday in the FA Cup Final against Hull City. Surely the North Londoners will do it this time, won't they?

5 EVERTON (P38 W21 D9 L8 F61 A39 Pts 72)
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FA Cup: lost 1-4 v Arsenal (A) in QF
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Fulham (A) in third round
Top scorer: Romelu Lukaku (16)
With a month of the season left, Everton went fourth and had an eye on a Champions League spot after beating their nearest rivals Arsenal 3-0 at Goodison Park. In the end, though, the Toffees' tougher run-in was the most telling factor. For, although a league double was completed over Manchester United and former manager David Moyes, defeats to Crystal Palace, Southampton, and Manchester City in the last five games, meant the Merseysiders were seven points short in the end. Nevertheless, this fifth-placed finish gives Roberto Martinez something to work on for next season which will feature European football at the club for the first time since 2010.

6 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (P38 W21 D6 L11 F55 A51 Pts 69)
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FA Cup: lost 0-2 v Arsenal (A) in third round
League Cup: lost 1-2 v West Ham United (H) in fifth round
Europe: lost 3-5 on agg v Benfica (1-3h, 2-2a) in Last 16 Europa League
Top scorer: Emmanuel Adebayor (14)
Tim Sherwood is expected to leave Tottenham Hotspur despite the North London club finishing just three points short of their total from last year and level on points with their ill-fated fourth place finish in 2011-12. The reason seems to be Sherwood's inability to break through the glass ceiling above Spurs with heavy defeats against Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool in the second half of the season simply repeating what had happened earlier under Andre Villas-Boas. The loss of Gareth Bale was pretty telling and a few of the players brought in using the money received for the Welshman endured difficult introductions to English football, Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela in particular.

7 MANCHESTER UNITED (P38 W19 D7 L12 F64 A43 Pts 64)
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FA Cup: lost 1-2 v Swansea City (H) in third round
League Cup: lost 1-2 on pens after 3-3 agg v Sunderland (1-2a, 2-1h) in semi final
Europe: lost 2-4 on agg v Bayern Munich (1-1h, 1-3a) in QF
Top scorer: Wayne Rooney (19)
Fallible to the last, Manchester United finished in their lowest league position since placing 13th in 1990. Manchester City, Liverpool and Everton completed league doubles while the likes of Newcastle United, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion have all ended long winless runs. The cups were no better with Swansea City recording a first ever win at Old Trafford in the FA Cup and Sunderland winning on penalties in the semi finals of the League Cup. Indeed, it had been so poor that, ultimately, Moyes' sacking after defeat on his return to Goodison did not come as much of a surprise. Club legend Ryan Giggs provided a lift as caretaker with Norwich dispatched 4-0 - but Sunderland, in their great escape bid, doled out one last sobering defeat. The next man, expected to be Dutch coach Louis van Gaal, had better hit the ground running for there is much work to be done.

8 SOUTHAMPTON (P38 W15 D11 L12 F54 A46 Pts 56)
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FA Cup: lost 0-1 v Sunderland (A) in fifth round
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Sunderland (A) in fourth round
Top scorer: Jay Rodriguez (17)
Set to become victims of their own success, Southampton's stylish team could be torn apart if the big boys have their way. Luke Shaw, the 18-year-old left back called up to the England World Cup squad, has already been reportedly subject to a £27m bid from Manchester United - while Adam Lallana is being pursued by Liverpool. Even coach Mauricio Pochettino could be off, possibly to Tottenham Hotspur, if he gets the impression he has taken the Saints as far as he can. And the Argentine may well be right if the south coast club begins to sell the starlets who have taken them to their highest points total in the Premier League era.

9 STOKE CITY (P38 W13 D11 L14 F45 A52 Pts 50)
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FA Cup: lost 0-1 v Chelsea (A) in fourth round
League Cup: lost 0-2 v Manchester United (H) in fifth round
Top scorer: Peter Crouch (10)
Stoke City reached a half-century of points for the first time in their six-year Premier League stay and, in fact, enjoyed their best top flight finish since 1975. Manager Mark Hughes has recovered really well from an uncertain start to build on the foundations laid by previous boss Tony Pulis. Of course, things didn't look so good at the end of January when defeat at Sunderland dropped the Potters as low as 16th - but, following their first win over Manchester United since 1984, City then won seven of their last 11 games and lost just twice - to Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur - in a thoroughly encouraging campaign.

10 NEWCASTLE UNITED (P38 W15 D4 L19 F43 A59 Pts 49)
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FA Cup: lost 1-2 v Cardiff City (H) in third round
League Cup: lost 0-2 aet v Manchester City (H) in fourth round
Top scorer: Loïc Remy (13)
Never mind a game of two halves, Newcastle United had a season of two halves with an encouraging first part of the campaign completely undermined by a disastrous second. Sitting sixth on Boxing Day after beating Stoke City 5-1, having already beaten Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, the Magpies then lost 14 of their last 20 league games, and seven of their last eight. Newcastle also failed to score in 13 of those last 20 and, across the season as a whole, lost by three goals or more on nine separate occasions, including against Sunderland at home - again. Manager Alan Pardew added to his own woes by getting banned for a ridiculous headbutt in the win at Hull - and now many fans, in open revolt, are hoping for Pardew's absence to be made rather more permanent. There are no signs of any movement from owner Mike Ashley yet, though.

11 CRYSTAL PALACE (P38 W13 D6 L19 F33 A48 Pts 45) PL:LLWLLLLLLLDWLWWLLWLDLWWLWLDLDLWWWWWLDD
FA Cup: lost 1-2 v Wigan Athletic (A) in fourth round
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Bristol City (A) in second round
Top scorer: Dwight Gayle (8)
If the season had started when Tony Pulis was appointed Crystal Palace manager on 23 November, the Eagles would have finished eighth. As it is, a dreadful start under previous boss Ian Holloway meant that Pulis's side have spent most of the campaign still battling against the drop. It is a battle which has been won handsomely however, a fine achievement capped by five consecutive wins which took the south Londoners into the safety of mid-table . It also means that, for the first time since the Premier League began in 1992, Palace will play two successive top-flight seasons.

12 SWANSEA CITY (P38 W11 D9 L18 F54 A54 Pts 42) PL:LLWDWLLWDLDWLWDDLLDLLLWLWDLDLLDWLLWWLW
FA Cup: lost 1-3 v Everton (A) on fifth round
League Cup: lost 1-3 v Birmingham City (A) in third round
Europe: lost 1-3 on agg v Napoli (0-0h, 1-3a) in Last 32 Europa League
Top scorer: Wilfried Bony (22)
Europa League exertions and squad unrest threatened to derail Swansea City's Premier League project as the Welsh side endured a run of just two league wins in 17 attempts in a winter of discontent. Manager Michael Laudrup had been dumped during that period but, with Michu absent through injury for most of the season, the Swans nevertheless always looked to have enough firepower through Wilfried Bony to stay up under new boss Garry Monk. So it proved with Swansea finishing the season on a high after winning three of the last four.

13 WEST HAM UNITED (P38 W11 D7 L20 F40 A51 Pts 40) 
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FA Cup: lost 0-5 v Nottingham Forest (A) in third round
League Cup: lost 0-9 agg v Manchester City (0-6a, 0-3h) in semi final
Top scorer: Kevin Nolan (7)
West Ham United failed to act as party-poopers at the Etihad where Manchester City won the Premier League on the final day. There is no shame in that, of course - but defeat in Manchester was the Hammers' 20th of a league campaign which was only saved from complete disaster by a stunning run of four successive wins in February. That sequence won Sam Allardyce a Manager of the Month award - but discontent with the boss remains high at the Boleyn Ground, and even a win over Hull City was greeted with jeers, coming as it did courtesy of an own-goal against 10 men. Since then, West Ham have won two and lost five and made it to 40 points - but no more.

14 SUNDERLAND (P38 W10 D8 L20 F41 A60 Pts 38)
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FA Cup: lost 0-3 v Hull City (A) on QF
League Cup: lost 1-3 v Manchester City at Wembley in Final
Top scorers: Fabio Borini/Adam Johnson (10)
A stunning season on Wearside, and certainly one which was not for the faint-hearted. A dreadful start had left the Black Cats bottom on Christmas Day with Gus Poyet taking over from dumped fascist Paulo di Canio. And, while the Uruguayan manager inspired a first Wembley Cup final appearance since 1992 and a first double over Newcastle United since 1967, league form remained stubbornly poor. Well, at least it did until April when a stunning point at Manchester City and victory at Chelsea inspired a run of 13 points out of 15 which also included a first win at Old Trafford since 1968. The 3-1 home defeat to Swansea City on the final day was disappointing but largely irrelevant in the wider context of needing to keep Poyet at the Stadium of Light. 

15 ASTON VILLA (P38 W10 D8 L20 F39 A61 Pts 38)
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FA Cup: lost 1-2 v Sheffield United (H) in third round
League Cup: lost 0-4 v Tottenham Hotspur (H) in third round
Top scorer: Christian Benteke (11)
Aston Villa finished this season in exactly the same position as last year - and actually with three points fewer, having taken just four points out of the last eight games. Indeed, the campaign finished in appropriate style with Villa slumping to a meek 3-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur as the fans sang "We want our Villa back". At least the prospect of real change is on the horizon, though - disenchanted owner Randy Lerner has put the club up for sale - and if the American does depart, manager Paul Lambert will surely not be far behind.

16 HULL CITY (P38 W10 D7 L21 F38 A53 Pts 37) 
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FA Cup: Final v Arsenal at Wembley on 17 May
League Cup: lost 7-8 on pens (after 2-2 aet) v Tottenham Hotspur (A) in fourth round
Top scorers: Matty Fryatt/Nikica Jelavic (6)
Hull City gladly got almost all of their 37 league points on the board by early April to avoid the drop quite comfortably despite an eventual finishing position of 16th. Of course, late-season collapses in the league are nothing new in Steve Bruce's management career - but at least the Tigers' boss has had the ready-made excuse of having been thoroughly distracted by the Humber club's first ever FA Cup Final appearance at Wembley on Saturday. Second favourites at odds of 7/1 in places, and beaten by the Gunners 3-0 in the run-in, it is fair to say, nevertheless, that surely all Hull fans would have taken this at the start of the season.

17 WEST BROMWICH ALBION (P38 W7 D15 L16 F43 A59 Pts 36)
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FA Cup: lost 0-2 v Crystal Palace (H) in third round
League Cup: lost 3-4 on pens (after 1-1 aet) v Arsenal (H) in third round
Top scorer: Saido Berahino (9)
West Bromwich Albion scrambled over the line of a wretched season, as a 1-0 home win over West Ham United proved to be enough to finish on the right side of the safety line - just. That victory at the Hawthorns was one of only seven league wins all season - and the Baggies lost the other four of their last five games to finish on only 36 points. Spanish coach Pepe Mel had failed to impress since his arrival in January and his end-of-season meeting with chairman Jeremy Peace simply signalled the end of his brief sojourn in the Midlands.

(R) 18 NORWICH CITY (P38 W8 D9 L21 F28 A62 Pts 33)
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FA Cup: lost 0-3 v Fulham (A) in third round replay, following 1-1
League Cup: lost 0-4 v Manchester United (A) in fourth round
Top scorer: Gary Hooper (8)
Norwich City ran out of the winnable games well before the finish line with those tough final four fixtures - against Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea - unsurprisingly producing just a single point. Yes, the Canaries' fate was effectively sealed having gone into that run still only on 32 points having acted too late on replacing the forlorn Chris Hughton with youth coach Neil Adams as caretaker. A total of just 28 league goals, the lowest in the division, tells its own story and £8.5m signing Ricky van Wolfswinkel should feel particularly guilty. The Dutchman netted just once all season - and that was on the opening day.

(R) 19 FULHAM (P38 W9 D5 L24 F40 A85 Pts 32)
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FA Cup: lost 0-1 aet v Sheffield United (H) in fourth round replay
League Cup: lost 3-4 v Leicester City (A) in fourth round
Top scorer: Steve Sidwell (8)
A disastrous campaign brought to an end a 13-year Cottagers stay in the top flight, the club's longest streak in its history. There were three managers and an amazing 39 different players - but it was the same story all season long as the Premier League's leakiest defence conceded an eye-watering 85 goals, and lost 24 out of 38 games. Consecutive wins in April against Aston Villa and Norwich City had offered some hope - but only two points from the last 12 extinguished it almost as quickly, and relegation was confirmed in a 4-1 collapse at Stoke City.

(R) 20 CARDIFF CITY (P38 W7 D9 L22 F32 A74 Pts 30)
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FA Cup: lost 1-2 v Wigan Athletic (H) in fifth round
League Cup: lost 2-3 v West Ham United (A) in third round
Top scorer: Fraizer Campbell (9)
Having spent years trying to make it into the Premier League, including three successive failed playoff bids, the red-shirted Bluebirds were relegated after just one season in the top flight, and deservedly finished bottom after only seven league successes. Incredibly, one of those was an amazing 3-2 opening home victory over eventual champions Manchester City - and, indeed, Malky Mackay was doing a respectable job in the Welsh capital until controversial Malaysian owner Vincent Tan started to meddle. Form fell away badly over Christmas and the New Year - but Tan's answer, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, fared even worse overall as Cardiff ultimately limped out of the league on the back of three successive defeats.

EARLIER 2013/14 BLOGS
17.08 Preview: All change at the top
23.09 Mackems ditch Di Canio
05.11 Arsenal stride five points clear
04.02 Arsenal lead a three-horse race
14.04 Title tilts towards Anfield