Chelsea THIRTY points worse than last year, what about your team?
Chelsea finished 30 points worse off than last year, Newcastle and Aston Villa were big risers while a 19-point swing still wasn’t enough for Arsenal to dethrone Man City… but how did your team’s tally compare to 2021/22?
- Chelsea lost an eye-watering 16 games in a terrible season at Stamford Bridge
- Newcastle were the biggest overachievers with massive gains on last year
- Man United pip Arsenal with stellar debut season for Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford
Chelsea’s miserable Premier League campaign saw them earn a staggering 30 points fewer than they did during the 2021/22 season.
The west Londoners mustered a meagre 44 points in a campaign that consisted of four managers, hundreds-of-millions wasted and a humiliating 12th placed finish.
Incoming boss Mauricio Pochettino will certainly have his work cut out to make the Stamford Bridge outfit a coherent team again.
Fellow Premier League big boys Liverpool and Tottenham also saw huge regression in their output from last year, while Newcastle United, Brighton and Aston Villa were among the sides who showed the biggest uptick in form.
The league’s biggest improvers were Newcastle. Eddie Howe replaced Steve Bruce at St James’ Park in November 2021 and steered the club to safety before embarking on a scarcely believable run to the top-four this term.
Chelsea suffered 16 defeats in a horrific campaign that saw them finish in the bottom half of the Premier League table
Eddie Howe led Newcastle to a top-four finish in his first full season with the club
Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford combined for 25 goals in the league this season
Standout performers like Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimaraes and Nick Pope helped the Magpies amass an extra 22 points compared to last season.
Fellow top-four finishers Manchester United were the second-best team in terms of improvement. In Erik ten Hag’s first season with the club, the Dutchman has proved to be a shrewd operator, managing the fallout from the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo and steering the club into the Champions League.
While also winning the Carabao Cup ahead of a mouth-watering FA Cup final against Manchester City, United’s star man has unquestionably been Marcus Rashford, whose displays this term have been in stark contrast to 12 months ago.
On the other end of the spectrum is Liverpool, who are only saved from the ignominy of last place on this list by a truly historic Chelsea season.
Jurgen Klopp’s team fought for trophies on all four fronts last term, getting closer than any team had ever managed in pursuit of a quadruple.
Despite ultimately coming up short, expectations were high for a performance consistent with the 92 points they managed to accrue last year, but after early season defeats by Nottingham Forest and Leeds United it became clear that the Reds would not only fail to challenge for the title but may miss out on the Champions league altogether.
As it turned out, 25 fewer points for the Anfield club meant they could only muster a fifth-placed finish, five points ahead of Brighton, who thrilled under Roberto De Zerbi.
Liverpool were well short of their best for much of the campaign and failed to earn qualification for the Champions League
Aston Villa have been transformed into European football contenders since the arrival of Unai Emery in October
PREMIER LEAGUE TEAMS’ POINTS SWINGS FROM 2021-22 TO 2022-23
1. Newcastle +22
2. Man United +17
3. Aston Villa +16
4. Arsenal +15
5. Brentford +13
6. Brighton +11
7. Crystal Palace -3
8. Everton -3
9. Man City -4
10. Leeds -7
11. Wolves -10
12. Tottenham -11
13. Southampton -15
14. West Ham – 16
15. Leicester -18
16. Liverpool -25
17. Chelsea -30
– Three promoted teams do not feature
The Seagulls showed no sign of missing Graham Potter and sealed their highest-ever league finish and bettered their impressive tally of 2021/22 by 11 points.
Though that mark did see Brighton narrowly miss out on a top five spot in the list behind Brentford, who managed to gain 13 extra points, Arsenal, who picked up an additional 15, and Aston Villa, who grabbed 16 points more than they did this time last year.
Joining Chelsea and Liverpool in the bottom five were Leicester City, whose drop off in form led to a return to the Championship after a truly memorable nine-year stint in the top flight.
Dean Smith’s side were some 18 points worse off than the Brendan Rodgers-led effort of last term.
West Ham also suffered a worrying regression and amassed 16 points fewer than last year while Southampton finished rock-bottom of the Premier League on 25 points. 15 points fewer than they managed a year ago.
Source: Read Full Article