The2020–21 Premier League was the 29th season of thePremier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992 and the 122nd season of top-flight English football overall. The season was initially scheduled to start on 8 August 2020 and end on 16 May 2021,[2] but this was delayed until 12 September as a consequence of thepostponement of the previous season's conclusion due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[3]Liverpool were the defending champions, having won their first Premier League and nineteenth English league title the previous season.
In a season largely played behind closed doors,Manchester City secured a fifth Premier League title and seventh English league title overall with three matches to spare; it was also the club's third title in the last four seasons.[4]
At the start of this season, as was the case at the end of the previous season, there waslimited or no attendance at matches besides each team's staff and personnel.[5] On 23 November 2020, it was announced that some fans would be allowed to return to stadiums inlow-risk areas at the end of the second national lockdown on 2 December 2020.[6] The announcement of a third national lockdown on 4 January 2021, though, signalled a return to matches being played behind closed doors.[7]
As fans initially were not allowed to attend matches, an agreement was made for all matches to be televised up until at least the October international break. The league's major broadcast partnersSky Sports andBT Sport broadcast the vast majority of the matches between them, whilstAmazon Prime Video and theBBC were also allotted additional live matches during the season. Following the October international break, Sky and BT trialled a revised format with the launch of apay-per-view service for matches not selected for live broadcast on their main channels.[8] Following strong opposition from fans, the format was discontinued after the November round of international matches and all matches were again shown across the league's four broadcast partners.[9] This continued for the remainder of the season, making this the first Premier League season in which all matches across the entire campaign were televised.
On 22 February 2021, Prime MinisterBoris Johnson announced as the third step of recovery from the lockdown imposed on 4 January, that subject to certain criteria being met on vaccines, infection rates and new coronavirus variants, large football stadiums would be allowed to reopen on 17 May with a maximum of 10,000 spectators or 25% capacity, whichever was higher.[10] This meant that the final round of fixtures scheduled for the 23 May would see spectators return to the stadium. To ensure all clubs played their final home game in front of fans, the penultimate round of fixtures were rearranged to take place on 18–19 May. No away fans were permitted for these matches.[11]
The 2020–21 season began on Saturday 12 September, just seven weeks after the conclusion of the2019–20 season.[12]Liverpool were the defending champions, having won their nineteenth league title the previous season and their first in the Premier League era.[2] As originally planned, the 2020–21 season was to be the second Premier League season with a mid-season break in February, whereby five games of a normal round of ten would be played on one weekend and the remaining five the following weekend.[13] However, due to the late start of the league and fixture congestion, the winter break was scrapped and instead the 18th round of matches in mid-January was split across two midweeks.[14] It was also the second Premier League season to useVAR (Video Assistant Referee).[15]
The top of the table was tight for the first months of the season, withArsenal,Leicester City,Everton, Liverpool,Southampton andTottenham Hotspur all having occupied first position by late November.[16] Liverpool, despite having suffered a 7-2 loss againstAston Villa in October, overtook Tottenham again in mid-December, following a meeting between the two clubs atAnfield which resulted in a2–1 win to Liverpool.[17]
Liverpool's title defence collapses and Manchester City become Champions
By Christmas, Liverpool had opened up a five-point gap following a7–0 away win againstCrystal Palace.[18] However, in the new year, they suffered from a significant slump in form. They suffered their first home defeat in 69 games with a1–0 defeat toBurnley,[19] which began a run of six consecutive losses at Anfield, following losses toBrighton & Hove Albion,Manchester City, Everton,Chelsea andFulham, dropping to eighth place by early March.[20]Manchester United, who were 15th at the beginning of November but sat behind them on goal difference at the start of January, overtook them at the top of the table later that month with a1–0 away win against Burnley,[21] but they were in turn replaced by Manchester City at the end of the month as a5–0 Manchester City win overWest Bromwich Albion was followed by a2–1 home defeat for Manchester United againstSheffield United.[22][23] This was to prove the final change of team at the top, as Manchester City, who were 13th in November, went on a 15-match winning streak which saw them 15 points clear of second-place Manchester United after a4–1 win againstWolverhampton Wanderers on 2 March.[24] They went on to secure the title on 12 May 2021 with three matches to spare, following a home defeat for Manchester United against Leicester. It was the club's fifth Premier League title and seventh English league title overall, as well as their third title in the past four seasons.[25]
UEFA Champions League qualification and Chelsea win Champions League
Despite missing out on the title, Manchester United finished 2nd whilst managing to go the season unbeaten away from home as they qualified for a second successive season, becoming only the second team in the Premier League era to do so after Arsenal in both2001-02 and their invincible season of2003-04.The remaining two slots for Champions League qualification were taken by Liverpool and Chelsea. Although Liverpool were 8th with ten games remaining, a run of eight wins from their final ten games, including a 95th-minute winner scored by goalkeeperAlisson againstWest Bromwich Albion, saw them recover their position to finish 3rd and qualify for a fifth straight season.[26] Chelsea endured a difficult start to the season underFrank Lampard, who was sacked in January with the club in 9th position and replaced byThomas Tuchel. The club's form improved under Tuchel to secure a second consecutive finish in 4th place, despite a final day defeat to Aston Villa.[27] They won in that season's Champions League final the next week, in the competition's third all-English final against champions Manchester City.
Leicester enjoyed a successful season, spending more time in the top four places than any other club as well as winning that season's FA Cup against Chelsea; however, three defeats in their final four games, including a home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on the final day, saw them narrowly finish in 5th for a second consecutive season.[28] Having narrowly avoiding relegation the previous season,West Ham United surprised many by finishing 6th, their highest finish since1998–99.[29] Both these clubs earned qualification to the Europa League for the following season.
Despite leading the table in November, Tottenham suffered a string of poor results in the new year. ManagerJose Mourinho was sacked in April with the club in 7th place, withRyan Mason taking over as interim manager for the rest of the season. Mason was unable to improve the club's position and they finished 7th, their lowest finish since the2008–09 season, but still good enough to qualify for the brand new third tier Europa Conference League competition.[citation needed] Meanwhile, their traditional North London rivals Arsenal endured an even worse campaign; despite leading the table in September, eight defeats in their first 14 games left them in 15th just before Christmas and seemingly in danger of being sucked into a relegation battle. Whilst they would pick up enough points thereafter to pull away from the bottom half of the table, the Gunners could only finish 8th for a second successive season as they failed to qualify for European competition for the first time since the1994–95 season.
On 17 April 2021,Sheffield United were confirmed to be the first team to be relegated to theChampionship following a1–0 defeat away toWolverhampton Wanderers with six games remaining, ending their two-year top flight tenure.[30] On 9 May 2021,West Bromwich Albion became the second team to be relegated following a3–1 defeat away toArsenal, with three games remaining, immediately returning to the Championship after a season's presence in the top flight.[31] On 10 May 2021,Fulham were the third and final team to be relegated following a 2–0 defeat at home againstBurnley with three games remaining, also immediately returning to the Championship after a season's presence in the top flight. This also marked the first time in the Premier League era that all three teams have been relegated with more than two games to spare and that all three teams didn't reach the 30 point mark in the season.[32] In contrast, the final promoted team,Leeds United, finished in 9th with 59 points, the highest points tally for a newly promoted side sinceIpswich Town (66 points) in2000–01.[citation needed]
Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from theChampionship. The promoted teams wereLeeds United,West Bromwich Albion andFulham, after respective top flight absences of sixteen, two and one year(s). They replacedBournemouth,Watford (both teams relegated to theChampionship after five years in the top flight), andNorwich City (relegated after a year back in the top flight).
Source:Premier League Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) If the champions, relegated teams or qualified teams for UEFA competitions cannot be determined by rules 1 to 3, rules 4.1 to 4.3 are applied – 4.1) Points gained in head-to-head record between such teams; 4.2) Away goals scored in head-to-head record between such teams; 4.3) Play-offs[92] (C) Champions;(R) Relegated Notes:
^Since the winners of the2020–21 FA Cup, Leicester City, also qualified for the Europa League based on league position, the second Europa League group stage berth allocated to England was transferred to the sixth-placed team.
^Since the winners of the2020–21 EFL Cup, Manchester City, qualified for European competition based on league position, the Europa Conference League berth awarded to the EFL Cup winners was transferred to the highest-placed Premier League team not already qualified for European competition, the seventh-placed team.
Source:Premier League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.