This season of the English Premier League has officially come to an end, and what a season it has been. In the immediate aftermath of England’s World Cup heroics, there were a lot of question marks as to whether or not the Premier League campaign could capitalise on it. It’s pretty safe to say that they accomplished that goal pretty remarkably, because we wound up with one of the most exciting seasons in the history of the top flight. There were some bumps along the way, but for the most part, things were pretty entertaining from the start to the finish.

We’re going to be taking a look today at some of the biggest and most important races from throughout the course of the season, as well as how they were won. Some were more exciting than others, but the fact that there’s so much up for grabs is what we quite enjoy about the Premier League. Nobody ever really knows what is going to happen or what direction things are going to go in, and we honestly believe that to be the case from week to week. Of course, as you’d imagine, we can’t wait for it all to start up again.

Title Race

Manchester City and Liverpool were the only two horses in this race, and what a race it was. The two sides were just beating every single team in their path, and it was phenomenal to watch. The Reds looked like they had it under control for a long time especially heading into the start of 2019, but then, it fell apart a little bit. Well, we say it fell apart, but they never really collapsed in the kind of way you’d expect a team at the top of the table to do.

City, though, are just one of the best clubs in the history of English football and that’s just a fact. Their title win was a part of a remarkable domestic treble, although it took them until the final day of the campaign to get the job done. They had to come from behind against Brighton to get things in gear, but either way, Pep Guardiola has been able to put together a truly elite squad. There are probably going to be one or two more contenders next season, but for now, it’s time to give credit where credit is due.

Top Four

Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur. Those were the four teams battling it out for a place in the Champions League, and for a while, it seemed like a pretty entertaining race. However, as time went on, it became less so. Why? Because nobody seemed to be all too interested in getting the job done. They were all slipping up and making mistakes in every single way imaginable, to the point where Wolverhampton Wanderers looked like the only ones who actually deserved the right to fight for fourth. Oh, and did we mention that they were nowhere near the race?

Chelsea and Tottenham wound up finishing in the top four, whereas Manchester United were left to deal with the reality of a season in the Europa League. Arsenal are the only team left waiting to see what their eventual fate will be, as they prepare for the Europa League final. They’ll be going head to head with Chelsea in Baku, knowing that a win will take them into the Champions League. If they lose then they’re going to be joining Manchester United in the Europa League for another season, and it’s safe to say that nobody wants that to happen (in the club).

Battle for Seventh

It sounds a little bit silly to call the battle for seventh something that teams would care about all too much, but this year, it did actually wind up leading to a European spot for the victor. Wolves, Leicester, West Ham, Watford and Everton were the main clubs involved in the hunt, which didn’t actually begin until later on in the season. Every team had their ups and naturally had their downs as a result, but along the way, they all realised that seventh would only lead them to the Europa League if Manchester City (or another club in the top six) won the FA Cup.

That’s exactly what happened as City tore though Watford, scoring six goals in the process. Wolverhampton Wanderers were able to get seventh place secured, and now, they’ll play in Europe for the first time in 39 years. Nuno Espirito Santo has built a team that is more than capable of pushing the big boys all the way, and we mean that in the most sincere way possible. This seems to be only the beginning for the Midlands club, who have an outstanding squad and a set of owners that are determined to bring success to the city.

Relegation Scrap

A parade of clubs were involved in the race to avoid the drop back down into the Championship, which kind of tells you all that you need to know regarding the quality of the teams in the bottom half of the Premier League table. Huddersfield Town were pretty much down by the time 2019 came around, and that’s no exaggeration. Fulham were the next ones to go and that was a bit of a surprise, as they spent a lot of money last summer. In the end, though, all of the money in the world can’t help you sometimes.

As the season wore on it seemed like Burnley, Southampton and Cardiff City would be the ones to battle it out in order to avoid filling that relegation slot. Burnley and the Saints were gradually able to piece some nice results together, though, with Brighton replacing them. Cardiff proved a lot of people wrong by staying in the hunt until the end of the season, but even Neil Warnock wasn’t able to guide them away from the drop zone. Still, they can take comfort in knowing that they’ll be one of the favourites for promotion next season.

As we look back on what has been, we also want to look forward to the future. It should be a pretty exciting future for English football fans both domestically and in Europe, regardless of who you support. Nobody really knows which direction it’s going to go in, and we like it that way. Serie A, Bundesliga and La Liga have long since been viewed as the more superior leagues and it’s not exactly hard to see or understand why, but that was in recent years. It’s time for the era of England to reign supreme once more.

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