So that was the Premier League 2024-25.
Congratulations to the deserved champions Liverpool who were by far the most consistent team over the season and, while they were not challenged as they might have been at the summit, that is hardly their issue.
This SBOTOP scribe had cautiously tipped Arsenal for honours but, “always the bridesmaid, never the bride”, the Gunners had to settle for the runners-up spot for the third successive season.
Ultimately, a combination of crucial injuries in defence in the autumn and then a failure to strengthen in attack in January (if not earlier) cost them the chance to sustain a title charge as they drew too many games.
There can be no doubt they now know what they need to do to go one better: sign a top class striker.
If Arsenal were disappointing, multiply that many times by Manchester City who were unrecognisable from the side which has dominated the league for much of the past decade.
Defeated in last week’s FA Cup Final, the consolation of qualifying for the Champions League was the bare minimum they would have expected but it remained a possibility had they lost at Fulham on the final day and saw Newcastle, Chelsea and Aston Villa all win.
That never materialised as Ilkay Gundogan’s stunning overhead kick was added to by Erling Haaland early in the second half for a 2-0 win which meant City claimed third place.
The race for the final Champions League places were the only tangible scenarios remaining as fans sought their final dose of Premier League 2025 highlights.
Chelsea managed fourth with a narrow win at Nottingham Forest as Levi Colwill netted the only goal of the contest to end the home side’s hopes of reaching Europe’s top tier.
The bitter disappointment the boys from the Trent will feel at missing out on the Champions League should not linger for the fact they are heading to Europe (Europa Conference) for the first time in 30 years is nothing short of incredible.
Even more so when you consider their rivals for a top five finish were backed to the hilt on a scale not seen before in English football with the likes of City, Chelsea and Newcastle enjoying riches beyond their dreams.
Don’t get me wrong, Forest have not exactly been frugal since their Premier League return, but the level they operate at is a very different market and they have recruited astutely and effectively.
That result left fifth position up for grabs with Newcastle and Aston Villa vying for the lucrative spot.
Ultimately, both sides lost but the Geordies’ superior goal difference proved crucial and rounded off a campaign in which they ended 55 years of hurt in spectacular fashion with a memorable League Cup triumph in March.
If Newcastle’s defeat at home to Everton was a surprise, Villa, who have also had a splendid season, will wonder if they could have climbed a place had goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez not been sent-off in first half stoppage time at Old Trafford.
The contest was goalless at the time but Manchester United went onto win 2-0.
While the Premier League 2025 betting odds were largely accurate in their predictions at top and bottom – none of the three promoted sides ever looked remotely good enough to survive – special mention should go to Brighton.
The Seagulls have concluded the season in eighth spot after a 4-1 success at Europa League winners Spurs, although it still wasn’t quite enough to qualify for Europe.
Alongside Forest and Brighton, two other clubs surpassed expectations as far as I was concerned.
What Brentford achieved with the second-lowest wage bill in the Premier League was superb and, in Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, had a duo with 20 and 19 goals respectively.
For Bournemouth, a top-10 finish, a record points total and a best points tally against the big six, including a first ever double over Arsenal, is equally impressive and the stuff of dreams.
Fulham deserve credit for finishing above United and Spurs – although virtually everyone did – on a shoestring of their respective budgets.
Consistency was hard to come by, which is understandable given they have struggled to keep hold of their top men in successive summers, but they will be mindful that, had they retained even a fraction of the 28 points dropped from winning positions, their passports wouldn’t be gathering dust on the top shelf next season.
As for the fall guys of 2024-25, there really is no contest.
With players struggling to adapt to a new manager’s system and a keeper who made regular inexplicable mistakes, the end result was United’s worst campaign since the Premier League started. Ruben Amorim has backing; now is the time to show it is warranted.
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