A Look Back at the Premier League's 2024-25 Season

A Look Back at the Premier League's 2024-25 Season originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

[Editor's note: This article comes from the 2025-26 Athlon Sports Premier League Preview magazine. Order your copy online today, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

A Premier League campaign brimming with surprise but not much suspense belonged to a vibrant Liverpool side that outpaced expectations as some of its sternest rivals tumbled to agonizing lows. First-year manager Arne Slot had the Reds, with Mohamed Salah reigning at one end and Virgil van Dijk at the other, atop the table for all but eight days from late September en route to their 20th top-tier English title. That equaled Manchester United’s record haul and produced an epic and then tragic Merseyside celebration.

Liverpool’s raucous fan base, denied festivities by COVID when the club last won the championship five years ago, produced actual 
temblors—1.74 on the Richter scale, technically an earthquake—
as its heroes secured the trophy in a 
late-April rout over Tottenham Hotspur. Hundreds of thousands gathered a month later for the victory parade, a fête muted when a minivan plowed through the crowd on Water Street, injuring dozens but thankfully taking no lives.

Liverpool came in stacked but something of an uncertainty following  iconic manager Jürgen Klopp’s abrupt retirement, but there was little opposition along its path. The Reds began pulling away in November, led by 16 points in March, and by 15 once the math failed Arsenal, its closest pursuer once the calendar turned to 2025. 

Almost as memorable for different reasons were the travails of Manchester City, expected to win a fifth straight league title and seventh in eight years under Pep Guardiola. 
A strong start hit disastrous straits after Rodri, the EPL’s most vital midfielder, went down with an early-season ACL tear. There was no major trophy for the first time in eight seasons. Europe didn’t go well, and neither did the FA Cup final, a surprise defeat to Crystal Palace, of all clubs. Guardiola summed it all up as “really poor,” a reasonable assessment of what it looked like. Yet, City still
finished third in the table and, on the season’s final day, claimed its 14th successive UEFA Champions League berth. Really poor is relative.

Just ask hated archrival Manchester United. The Red Devils, in meandering decline since Sir Alex Ferguson closed his career a dozen years ago and lately existing in its crosstown foes’ shadow, stumbled to 15th place in their worst campaign since a mid-1970s relegation. Then they failed their chance to rejoin the Champions League, losing in the final game of the Europa League. In that game, Man U lost to Tottenham, who plopped a sweet cherry atop their own trash heap of a league season with the win.

The struggle of these giants exemplified a shift in EPL dynamics, part of a middle-class incursion among the “Big Six” that have dominated the league for at least a generation. United finished 15th, Spurs 17th, and a taut fight well above them for European berths livened things up before most went to the usual powers. That chase, with Champions League assignments for the top five, supplied the primary drama after the battles at the top. With Leicester City, Ipswich Town, and Southampton making immediate returns to the second-tier Championship, the bottom of the table had been pretty much decided by winter’s end.

Another enticing storyline from ’24–25 followed surprising Nottingham Forest’s bid to return to the world’s most prestigious club competition for the first time in nearly a half-century. The Champions League was within Forest’s grasp from mid-December into May before slipping away in the final weeks. It was, instead, Newcastle United sliding in among Arsenal, runner-up three years running, and late-charging Chelsea to join Liverpool, Man City, and Spurs in the Champions League this coming season.

Aston Villa settled for a berth in the Europa League after a refereeing gaffe helped deprive it a bigger stage. And Forest, falling to seventh, headed to the Conference League, the least of Europe’s cups.

Left out was stirring, sometimes baffling Brighton & Hove Albion, its complicated path to a Conference slot disappearing with archrival Palace’s FA Cup crown and 
Chelsea’s last-day win at Forest. 

With the EPL trophy settled into its case and berths in Europe lined up, let’s take a trip through all 20 stories from last season.

Salah’s Liverpool Magic

Liverpool was the only consistently outstanding side in the competition, a marvel of innovative attack and lockdown defense behind Salah (who won every domestic honor available to him), van Dijk (possibly the best center back anywhere at the moment), and a superb midfield contingent. The Reds spent 212 of the season’s 283 days on top, never trailed after 
Nov. 2, clinched the title with four games to go, and might have eclipsed the top-tier margin-of-victory record had they not coasted to the finish.

Slot, whose zen-like demeanor contrasts greatly with charismatic former leader Jürgen Klopp’s emotional intensity, built upon his predecessor’s foundation. His Reds played a game more measured than Klopp’s relentless “heavy metal” football, one built on possession, commanding tempo—midfield engine Alexis 
Mac Allister the chief figure in that—and the ability to strike at any time in any manner. They beat foes in myriad ways, going 26 league games without defeat from mid-September into April.

Salah, positioned wider on the right than under Klopp, was the centerpiece. The 32-year-old Egyptian magician won the EPL’s Golden Boot (29 goals) and Playmaker (18 assists) honors—the second time he’s done so; nobody else has ever won both the same year—en route to his second Player of the Season award. His totals in all games: 34 goals, 23 assists.

Left winger Luis Díaz and striker Cody Gakpo combined for another 23, and Real Madrid-bound right back Trent Alexander-Arnold ably ran the flank as Liverpool substantially led the league in chances created, or expected goals (83.49 xG) and finished (86). Van Dijk’s partnership in the middle with Ibrahima Konaté in front of Alisson Becker had much to do with a league-best 14 clean sheets and just 41 goals conceded, superior to everyone but Arsenal.

Among the other perennial powerhouses, Arsenal and Chelsea did enough to stay near the top without inspiring, and Manchester City’s whole turned out better than its parts.

It’s been 21 years since the Gunners, at season’s start Man City’s 
likeliest challenger, last won the 
Premier League—they’ve finished second or third nine times since—and whatever hopes they possessed this time were washed away by endless injuries. There were 36 in all, fourth-worst in the EPL, with 98 games lost across four competitions among pivotal attackers Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, and Martin Ødegaard, and defensive leaders Gabriel Magalhães and Ben White.

The impact was felt everywhere. Arsenal created fewer chances, scored fewer goals, conceded more of both, and surrendered 21 points from 
winning positions. And yet they spent more than half the campaign in second place and clinched their third successive Champions League spot with a game to go. They also reached the 2025 Champions League final four, falling to PSG.

Chelsea, fielding the youngest starting XI in EPL history (24 years, 36 days on average), came through at the close under first-year manager Enzo Maresca, winning five of its last six matches to secure its Champions League return after two years away. The Blues then finished with a Conference League triumph, their first trophy since the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup triumph.

Chelsea were top seven most of the way, spent much of December trailing only Liverpool, then needed to win the finale at Forest to make the top five after a two-month post-Christmas skid. Cole Palmer was a formidable star, scoring 15 goals (but just one after mid-January), after netting 22 the previous season and then engineering the second-half comeback against Spain’s Real Betis in the 
Conference final.

Man City did all right, looking at the numbers, even picking up a trophy (and against United, no less) in the FA Community Shield season kickoff. City were the best team in the league the final three months, finished with a 10-game 
unbeaten streak and almost caught Arsenal, but more wasn’t possible after a horrific stretch through most of the autumn. When Liverpool clinched, Guardiola lamented being “a thousand million points behind” the champs.

Losing Rodri, who was on crutches when he accepted the 2024 Ballon d’Or in October, was devastating—he’s the fulcrum around which all revolves. That was followed by month-and-longer injuries to Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, 
Rúben Dias, Ederson, and others. Phil Foden, the 2023–24 Premier League Player of the Season, and Jack Grealish took serious dips in form, and there was drama off the field, too, with word that captain/legend De Bruyne would be departing, and not by choice. 

Things started going wrong in 
early November, then snowballed. Nine games, just one win, and little of the celebrated flair. Critics pounced. City was “robotic.” Guardiola’s short-passing approach was “boring.” Not everyone agreed, and it got better, if not to standard.

Haaland missed six weeks but still scored 22 league goals and netted another eight in the club’s earliest Champions League exit in a dozen years. Winter transfer Omar 
Marmoush brought stability to the attack, and Josko Gvardiol’s move next to Dias at the back led to 10 clean sheets in the club’s last 14 matches. Most clubs would have been thrilled with City’s season; most City fans were not.

United, Spurs Tumble

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were atrocious, but at least Spurs got something out of it. Manager Ange Postecoglou bragged about how “I always win things in my second year,” and then did so, leading a fierce run through the Europa League—beating Man United at the finish—to claim the club’s first trophy in 17 years and its first European prize since the 1984 UEFA Cup. It wasn’t enough to save the passionate 
Australian’s job, however.

Spurs lost 22 EPL games, claimed just 19 points in 26 games after 
November and 21 at home all season, and might have faced relegation if the bottom three hadn’t been so awful. Key personnel were lost to 
injury without adequate depth, and by January, the nonleague games mattered most. A Carabao Cup run reached the semifinals, including a win over Liverpool in the first leg, and seven Europa wins paid big dividends. Top scorer Brennan Johnson (5 of his 18 goals coming in Europa League play) netted the lone (thus winning) goal in the title game.

That result kept United out of Europe for the first time in 11 years, which wasn’t as painful as the EPL debacle. The Red Devils started slowly, jettisoned Erik ten Hag 
before October was up, then brought in Ruben Amorim from Portugal’s Sporting CP and fared worse. They dropped nine home games—the most at Old Trafford since 1962-63—posted a losing record for the first time in 35 years, and managed just 44 goals, playmaker Bruno Fernandes scoring or assisting 18 of them. A rebuild is in order, and bringing in Wolves super-striker Matheus Cunha is a good start.

Newcastle United, on the other hand, figured to be in the fight after finishing fourth and seventh the previous two seasons under Eddie Howe, and the Magpies did not disappoint. They won their first trophy, the Carabao Cup, in 70 years and qualified for the UCL for the second time in three seasons. Star forward Alexander Isak watched his value rise to £120 million-plus ($162 million) as he netted 23 league goals, second to Salah. A six-game, midseason winning streak vaulted Newcastle from 12th to fifth and a five-game spree pushed them to third in mid-April. They held for fifth as Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa fell on the final day.

Forest’s brilliant campaign ended in disappointment. The club that twice survived relegation fights after returning to the EPL in 2022 after 23 years in lower divisions more than doubled their points behind a 30-goal-differential turnaround, jumping 10 spots from 17th. Leading the way was 20-goal scorer Chris Wood, rising playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White, and a solid defense backed by the masterful keeper Matz Sels. But managing only two wins in the final eight games cost them dearly.

Forest’s fall benefited Aston Villa, which topped 60 points and finished in the first seven for the third straight year under Unai Emery, made an FA Cup final-four run, and secured Champions League wins over PSG and Bayern Munich while reaching the quarterfinals. The Villans, feasting on Youri Tielemans’ two-way midfield work, Morgan Rogers’ playmaking skills and Ollie Watkins’ box expertise, were terrific at home—unbeaten at Villa Park after a second-week defeat to Arsenal—and were the league’s best side from mid-February. It ought to have produced another Champions League slate, with a minimum £15.7 million ($20 million) payoff, and would have with a victory in the finale at Manchester United. A blown and unreviewable call cost Villa a 1-0 lead in the 72nd minute, and it fell apart after that.

Crystal Palace joins Villa in the Europa League after a historic season under Oliver Glasner. The club’s FA Cup triumph—the club’s first major trophy since kicking off in 1905—was the big story of the season. They raced through their FA slate with five clean sheets in six victories, routing Fulham and Aston Villa to reach the title game. 
Eberechi Eze tallied in both of those clashes, then volleyed home the lone goal in a controversial 1-0 triumph over Manchester City at Wembley. The hero in that one: goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who could have been sent off after 23 minutes, then saved a penalty, and was confronted by Guardiola about time-wasting while celebrating at the end. “You got your 10 minutes [of stoppage],” he retorted.

Almost as impressive as the Cup run was Forest’s solid regular season, a 
12-10-5 league run from November 23, with just two defeats across 17 matches from Christmas to mid-April and an eight-match unbeaten run at the end. Eze finished with 14 goals and 11 assists, and Jean-Philippe Mateta had 14. 

Brighton & Hove Albion just missed out on Europe with an eighth-place finish, losing a Conference League slot with archrival Palace’s FA Cup triumph and then when a convoluted set of results didn’t fall its way on the season’s final day. It was a fine if inconsistent campaign, the Seagulls’ second top-eight, 60-plus-point showing in three seasons. Kaoru Mitoma, João Pedro, and 34-year-old Danny Welbeck combined for 30 goals. But it was a season that ultimately disappointed, mostly in response to the worst injury situation in the EPL. Fourteen players missed a month or longer, possibly aggravated by new manager Fabian Hürzeler’s exceedingly intense approach to training and games. An eight-game winless stretch from late November into January didn’t help, and neither did home draws with the three relegated sides and lowly Wolves.

Bournemouth, too, flirted with Europe, an 11-match unbeaten run fueling a three-month residence among the top seven and igniting dreams of Champions League glory, four years ahead of American owner Bill Foley’s long-term plan. The Cherries couldn’t keep it up, not at the pace Spanish manager Andoni Iraola’s intense high press demands, and they fatigued as winter waned. They could manage only three wins in their last 13 games.

The hopes of Brentford lasted a little longer, mathematically until the final day, behind a direct and often thrilling attack that hit the net more often than everyone except Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal, and Newcastle. Mikkel Damsgaard pulled the strings as Yoane Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo, and Kevin Schade combined for 50 goals, and the Bees finished strong, doubling their win and point totals in the last four months. A second top-half finish in three years was very satisfying.

Fulham has found mid-table stability under Portuguese manager Marco Silva, and nearly more: They were fighting for a top-eight spot into May. Mexican forward Raúl Jiménez scored a dozen goals and England-born American left back Antonee Robinson assisted on 10—a total bested only by Salah, Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy, and Forest’s Anthony Elanga—while evolving into one of the EPL’s finest fullbacks.

Everton closed a storied era in May, taking the field at iconic Goodison Park for the 2,791st and final time since 1892. Modernity has arrived with the magnificent Hill Dickinson Stadium on the banks of the Mersey, and none too soon. The new home provides the Toffees with economic opportunities that have handicapped them for at least a generation. Ambitious American investment firm the Friedkin Group’s December takeover offers more promise. David 
Moyes’ return in January after 12 years away made things work on the field: They were 8-7-4 the latter half of the season, rising to 13th.

Things weren’t so swell for West Ham United, which entered the campaign with high expectations as Julen Lopetegui, former Spain/Real Madrid boss late of Wolverhampton, took the reins from Moyes. He lasted 22 games. The 
Hammers became stingier under replacement Graham Potter but found no 
better success, and home form suffered—its 20 points there were worst in club EPL history. Good things did come again from Jarrod Bowen, who had 21 goal contributions in his first campaign as captain.

Wolves spent the first half of the year with relegation lurking, more than a month at the bottom of the table, but finished strong after Vitor Pereira relieved Gary O’Neil and immediately succeeded. They had 16 points at the end of 
January and 41 three months later after a six-win run. Midfielder 
André was the key, but the attention went to Cunha, who had 15 goals before leaving for Man United.

The bottom three—Leicester City, Ipswich Town, and Southampton—finished far behind. Two-win Southampton narrowly avoided the worst points total in EPL history, earning a point on the final day to avoid that ignominy. Its 30 losses did set a record, though. For this season, welcome Leeds United (back after two years) and Burnley (after one), plus playoff winner Sunderland, last here in 2017.

Leicester City suffered its second EPL relegation since its unimaginable 2015–16 championship and bid farewell to hero Jamie Vardy, maybe their greatest figure. He scored his 200th club goal in his 500th and final appearance. 

Farewell to 2024–25, too. Let the chase of Liverpool begin.

Scott French has been covering soccer in the U.S. since the 1970s, from the NASL to the entire history of MLS, plus six World Cups.

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 30, 2025, where it first appeared.