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EPL Review: A tale of two tables, Part 1

By on May 20, 2015

No matter the performances on the pitch, at the end of the season the table doesn’t lie. As such, below is Football Every Day’s version of the story this year’s table tells, one for each Premier League club. We start this week with the top ten teams in the first installment of our two-part feature.

Chelsea

Highest position (after five-game weeks): 1st
Lowest position: 1st
Final standing: 1st

Chelsea might play “boring” football at times, especially when digging deep for results in the latter stages of the season — employing an infamously defense-minded style — but in the table, they always sat prettiest. From their season-opening win against Burnley right the way through to Christmas, they never dropped from first place (they haven’t in the second half of the season, either) and having won the title with two games to spare, it won’t be any different on the final day of the season.

Manchester City

Highest position: 2nd
Lowest position: 4th
Final standing: 2nd

Many things went awry for Manchester City this season — injuries, for one — all of which snowballed into one problem: inconsistency. Perhaps nothing better than the Premier League table represents this. During one stretch midseason they went twelve matches unbeaten, but after multiple poor runs, namely early on (in which they dropped to sixth at their nadir) and then again in the months of December through March, have were left in the dust by Chelsea’s ruthlessness. They most certainly met their end with losses against West Ham United, Stoke City, Crystal Palace, and Burnley sprinkled problematically throughout their campaign.

Arsenal

Highest position: 2nd
Lowest position: 8th
Final standing: 3rd

Oh, Arsenal. Time and again, season after season, it’s the same story: mediocrity when on the brink of greatness. They hardly strayed from the beaten path this season; Arsene Wenger’s men struggled early on (winning just four of their first ten matches) and after dropping as low as eighth on two occasions, they’ve only managed to dig out a third placed finish after a revival around Christmas. From game week twenty-three to twenty-six, they jumped from sixth to third, but only briefly occupied second before ending the season on a low point, winless in their last three matches.

Manchester United

Highest position: 3rd
Lowest position: 10th
Final standing: 4th

In hindsight, it was no surprise that Manchester United fans were worried that Louis van Gaal would be another disappointment: after a 3-3-4 opening to the season, they sat tenth after ten games. As the season played out, however, it seemed as if Van Gaal oddly foretold the future by requesting only to be judged after three months on the job, as since November 2nd the club haven’t dropped out of the two four. Certainly, if Van Gaal can pick up on the form he has carried throughout the second half of the season, United will be title challengers next year, having dropped seventeen points — more than they currently trail league-winners Chelsea — in the first ten matches.

Liverpool

Highest position: 5th
Lowest position: 12th
Final standing: 5th-7th

As much as Raheem Sterling’s Liverpool saga has become about Premier League footballers’ wages, Liverpool did little to enhance their standing over the course of the season, not once entering a Champions League top four position since the opening day. They’ve recovered from a hectic, inconsistent start to the season (on only one occasion did The Reds remain in the same position two weeks in a row during the first half of the season), and in the end a fifth place finish seems fair, as Brendan Rodgers’ men turned the ship around with a thirteen-match unbeaten streak and have sat fifth for the past eleven game weeks.

Tottenham Hotspur

Highest position: 5th
Lowest position: 12th
Final standing: 5th-7th

The Premier League table illustrates the fact that Tottenham Hotspur’s season never fully got going. After losing five of their first eleven matches, the Londoners dipped as low as twelfth and have never been able to string more than three consecutive wins together; first drifting below expectations and then somewhere around that, Tottenham have drifted out to a comfortable sixth. They could achieve Europa League qualification or potentially drop out depending on the results this weekend.

Southampton

Highest position: 2nd
Lowest position: 7th
Final standing: 5th-7th

Beyond impressing with their incredible start to the season (sitting second twelve matches in), Southampton astonished critics by managing to stay in the top four for so long. Their last date in a Champions League spot was in February, but perhaps the season ultimately has panned out as expected, with the club having slowly lulled into a less extraordinary seventh. Facing Manchester City at the weekend with three wins in their last thirteen matches, their final standing is unlikely to change.

Swansea City

Highest position: 5th
Lowest position: 9th
Final standing: 8th

Swansea City’s season has been good, but never great. After their impressive start petered out, they’ve been on course for an eighth place finish for a good while, not moving higher than eighth or lower than ninth in the entirety of the second half of the season.

Stoke City

Highest position: 8th
Lowest position: 13th
Final standing: 9th

Mark Hughes came in at Stoke City offering a “prettier” style of possession-based football, and the results have followed: Stoke are on track for their highest ever Premier League finish of ninth. With a four-point cushion above Everton, Stoke’s hopes have only gone up since the opening day of the season, steadily climbing from thirteenth in early December. Although they’ve only sat above ninth on one occasion this season, it’s undoubtedly a well-deserved standing following a very consistent season.

Everton

Highest position: 9th
Lowest position: 14th
Final standing: 10th-13th

Everton were reportedly on the brink of sacking Roberto Martinez not too long ago after an atrocious mid-season run of one win in twelve matches, but having fought back lately, their league standing has mirrored their recent run of form. The Toffees’ fall from grace was illustrated by only once improving their league position over a period of twenty matches at one point; however, in the period of nine game-weeks have climbed from fourteenth to a respectable tenth, losing just twice. They play Spurs at the weekend giving them a chance to wrap up tenth place with a win — but as the table animates, falling to eleventh may actually paint a broader picture of their dissapointing season.

Homepage photo credit: @cfcunofficial on Flickr

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.