Premier League 22/23 Season Review

Now that the Premier League 22/23 season is over, we can look back and see how the teams performed relative to expectations.

I’ll be looking at each team from worst to best, mostly looking at their league performance but other competitions will be taken into account.

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Leicester City

Grade: F

It’d be crazy to think that Leicester City, 2016 Premier League champions and 2021 FA Cup victors, would finish in the bottom half of the table. It’s ludicrous to suggest that they’d be relegated.

Their form was extremely shaky near the start of the season, but most assumed that they’d tighten their defence and pull through. They did not. Their relegation is a modern footballing tragedy, and we all hope they can get back to where they belong soon.

Southampton

Grade: E

Southampton have shown signs of weakness over the past couple of seasons, and in all honesty relegation was definitely on the cards.

What I wasn’t expecting, however, was for them to do so badly. They finished bottom of the league, and by quite a comfortable margin. A season to forget for the Saints.

Chelsea

Grade: E+

Chelsea were the laughing stock of the 22/23 season.

Finishing 12th considering money spent is abysmal, and they could’ve been relegated if not for Tuchel’s few games in charge at the start of the season.

Leeds United

Grade: D-

Leeds got relegated. In other news, water is wet.

Maybe that’s a bit harsh – Leeds have been known to escape relegation at the eleventh hour, but I think people expected them to go down sooner rather than later.

Tottenham Hotspur

Grade: D+

Tottenham were so close to a decent season, but they fumbled a few games near the end to spoil the whole thing.

Champions League was on the cards at some point, then Europa, but they couldn’t even get Conference league after that laughable Liverpool loss. Absolute bottle jobs.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Grade: C-

Wolverhampton Wanderers have been decent mid-table fodder in recent years, but they were threatening relegation at the start of the season.

Their form improved slightly and they finished in a comfortable position, but it was an underwhelming team performance on the whole.

Everton

Grade: C-

Everton found themselves in yet another relegation battle this season – a far cry from the top-half contenders they used to be.

That 5-1 victory against Brighton in the last few games came as such a shock, therefore, and the 1-0 against Bournemouth salvaged what could have been an atrocious season for the Toffees.

Liverpool

Grade: C-

Liverpool had the most chaotic season of all.

They started terribly, but big wins over Bournemouth / Man United / Spurs and a 5th place finish to qualify for Europa League isn’t too bad in the grand scheme of things. Disappointing, sure, but it could’ve been far worse.

Nottingham Forest

Grade: C

Nottingham Forest didn’t get relegated, which is probably more than they expected.

They didn’t exactly set the league alight, but at least they’ll still be playing Premier League football next season.

Bournemouth

Grade: C

Losing 9-0 to Liverpool near the start of the season seemed a bad omen, but Bournemouth have been relatively solid since.

They were never going to amount to anything special, but at least they kept a comfortable distance from the relegation battle.

Crystal Palace

Grade: C+

Crystal Palace must be such a boring team to support.

They were never threatening relegation. They never came close to European football. They didn’t do anything in cup competitions. All in all, a bog-standard season.

Fulham

Grade: C+

Same as with Crystal Palace, Fulham were comfortably mid-table for the majority of the season.

They had some good performances here and there, but otherwise it wasn’t anything to write home about.

Brentford

Grade: B-

Brentford almost reached European football this year, but narrowly missed out. That’s got to hurt.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though – a league double over champions Man City and historic wins over Man United and Spurs cemented this as a season to remember.

Manchester United

Grade: B

As a Man United fan, a 3rd place finish is more than I could’ve hoped for when the season began. It was the results we picked up along the way that still haunt me.

Heavy defeats to Brentford, Man City and especially Liverpool still hurt, and though we won the Carabao Cup we lost the FA Cup final to rivals Man City. Not a bad season, but some low points to forget.

West Ham United

Grade: B

In terms of league performance, West Ham were quite disappointing. Though they didn’t get relegated, they came dangerously close at points.

It was their European form that makes their season stand out – winning the Conference League is an incredible achievement, and West Ham fans should be proud for decades to come.

Aston Villa

Grade: B+

Aston Villa reaching 7th and qualifying for the Conference League is nothing short of astounding.

Unai Emery has done an unbelievable job as manager, and got them some great results against the big boys. I’ll be excited to see how they fare next season.

Arsenal

Grade: B+

It’s incredible how quickly Arsenal’s season went from incredible to bang average.

Even though they got dumped out of every cup competition, they still seemed likely to lift the Premier League trophy … until it all came crashing down. It’ll hurt, but a 2nd place finish with their young team is nothing to scoff at.

Newcastle United

Grade: A-

The only drawback to Newcastle’s 22/23 season is that they lost the Carabao Cup final, as otherwise they’ve been in scintillating form from the get go.

Eddie Howe has done a quite frankly miraculous job of getting them a Champions League spot next year, and they’ve been defensively outstanding throughout.

Manchester City

Grade: A

With their star-studded squad and a striker banging in a goal a game, I would’ve been shocked if Man City didn’t win the treble.

It’ll be interesting to see who beats them next season – no other team came close really, and Haaland’s goals will be sure to scrape a few extra points on top of their mountain of wins.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Grade: A+

I tossed back and forth between Man City and Brighton having the “best” season, but I think relative to expectations it has to be the Seagulls.

Nobody expected much from them, but they tussled with the big boys on multiple occasions and played incredible football while doing it. They bagged a Europa League spot, and it’s been thoroughly deserved.

Aaaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: