2023/24 Premier League season review

Manchester City won the 2023/24 Premier League with 91 points, two ahead of Arsenal, and became the first team in English top-flight history to win four titles in a row. It was a three-way race for most of the spring, with Liverpool in Jürgen Klopp's final season, and it was only settled on the last day.

Phil Foden was the Player of the Season, and Cole Palmer scored 22 league goals in his first season at Chelsea. In Fantasy Premier League, Palmer was the top scorer with 244 points, and Jonas Sand Låbakk won the game with 2,799.

You can replay the season here with a £100m squad picked from 359 players across all 20 clubs, or read on for how it unfolded.

Kane out, Rice in, and a summer of Saudi money

Premier League clubs spent a record £2.44bn in the summer of 2023. The biggest moves:

• Arsenal paid West Ham £105m for Declan Rice, a British transfer record, and added Kai Havertz and Jurriën Timber.
• Chelsea spent £434.5m, the most by any club in a single Premier League window. That included £115m for Moisés Caicedo from Brighton, the highest fee between two Premier League clubs, and £42.5m for Cole Palmer from Manchester City.
• Manchester City signed Joško Gvardiol, Jérémy Doku, Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovačić.
• Manchester United paid £60m for Mason Mount.
• Tottenham lost Harry Kane to Bayern Munich.

Money also flowed the other way. Saudi Pro League clubs signed a string of Premier League players, including Roberto Firmino, N'Golo Kanté, Riyad Mahrez, Kalidou Koulibaly, Aleksandar Mitrović and Aymeric Laporte, while Liverpool sold Fabinho and Jordan Henderson.

Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town came up from the Championship. It was Luton's first Premier League season. The league also brought in new stoppage-time rules, so that time lost to goal celebrations, injuries, cards and VAR checks was added on in full.

Three teams and a final-day finish

For most of 2023/24 the top of the table changed hands between three clubs. Tottenham, without Kane, led in October. Arsenal were top through late November and into December, and Liverpool took over at Christmas and stayed in front for much of the new year.

Liverpool's season had an extra edge. On 26 January Jürgen Klopp announced he would step down at the end of the season, and a month later, on 25 February, Virgil van Dijk headed a 118th-minute winner against Chelsea to win the League Cup. Liverpool were still top in early April, but fell away in the final weeks and finished third on 82 points.

That left Arsenal and Manchester City. Arsenal were top for most of late April and early May, but City had a game in hand. They won their last nine league games, and a win at Tottenham on 14 May put them back in first place for the rest of the season.

On the final day, 19 May, City beat West Ham 3-1 at home while Arsenal beat Everton 2-1, and City finished on 91 points to Arsenal's 89. Arsenal won 28 games and conceded the fewest goals in the league, 29, and their total was the third highest ever by a Premier League runner-up.

City became the first team in English top-flight history to win four titles in a row. Phil Foden, with 19 league goals, was named Player of the Season by both the Premier League and the PFA. Erling Haaland won his second straight Golden Boot with 27, and Pep Guardiola was Manager of the Season. City then lost the FA Cup final to Manchester United, which denied them a league and cup double.

Villa's return to the Champions League

Behind the top three, the rest of the European places shook out like this:

• Aston Villa finished fourth on 68 points under Unai Emery and qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 1983.
• Tottenham were fifth on 66 points after leading the table in October.
• Chelsea finished sixth on 63 points. That was enough for a Conference League place, because Liverpool, who beat them in the League Cup final, had already qualified for the Champions League.
• Newcastle were seventh.
• Manchester United finished eighth, their worst Premier League season. They lost 14 league games, their most in a Premier League season, and finished with a goal difference of minus one, but winning the FA Cup took them into the Europa League.

It was a season of goals. The 380 matches produced 1,246, an average of 3.28 a game, beating the Premier League record of 1,222 set in 1992/93.

Points deductions and the relegation fight

The bottom half was shaped as much by hearings as by results. Everton were docked ten points in November for breaching the league's profit and sustainability rules, cut to six on appeal in February, and then lost two more in April. Nottingham Forest were docked four points in March, and their appeal was rejected on 7 May. Both stayed up: Forest survived in 17th on 32 points.

The three promoted clubs all went straight back down:

• Sheffield United finished bottom and conceded 104 goals, the first Premier League side to let in 100 in a 38-game season and the most by any top-flight team since 1963/64. Chris Wilder returned to replace Paul Heckingbottom in December, but relegation was confirmed on 27 April after a 5-1 defeat at Newcastle.
• Burnley went down on 11 May after a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham.
• Luton Town, in their first Premier League season, were relegated on the final day after a 4-2 defeat by Fulham.

Surprises and disappointments

The season's breakout star was Cole Palmer, who joined Chelsea from Manchester City for £42.5m in the summer and scored 22 league goals, including four against Everton on 15 April. He was named Young Player of the Season by both the Premier League and the PFA.

Others who beat expectations:

• Ollie Watkins scored 19 league goals as Aston Villa reached the Champions League.
• Alexander Isak scored 21 for Newcastle, and Dominic Solanke 19 for Bournemouth.
• Nottingham Forest survived despite their four-point deduction, after replacing Steve Cooper with Nuno Espírito Santo in December.

And those who had seasons to forget:

• Manchester United finished eighth, with their worst Premier League record, rescued only by the FA Cup.
• Chelsea spent more than any club had in a single window and finished sixth.
• Sheffield United won three of 38 games and conceded more than any top-flight side in 60 years.

Several managers also moved on. Roy Hodgson stepped down at Crystal Palace in February and was replaced by Oliver Glasner, West Ham announced in May that David Moyes would leave, and Brighton and Roberto De Zerbi agreed to part on the eve of the final day.

2023/24 in Fantasy Premier League

About 10.9 million managers were playing Fantasy Premier League by the end of 2023/24. The winner was Jonas Sand Låbakk, a 20-year-old from Norway, whose team Onkel Blaa finished on 2,799 points, 51 ahead of second place. He was the first Norwegian to win the game.

His climb came late. He was 63rd in the world before Gameweek 25 and rose to 27th that week, reached third in Gameweek 33 and took the top spot in Gameweek 34. By the final day his nearest rival needed 46 points more than him to catch up.

Cole Palmer was the game's top scorer with 244 points, ahead of Phil Foden (230), Ollie Watkins (228), Bukayo Saka (226) and Erling Haaland (217). Haaland was still the most owned player in the game, in 73.6% of teams by May.

A few other numbers stand out:

• Arsenal's defence produced the three top-scoring defenders in the game: Ben White (182 points), William Saliba (164) and Gabriel (149).
• Jordan Pickford was the top-scoring goalkeeper with 153 points, while André Onana made the most saves, 149.
• The biggest single-gameweek score was Palmer's 26 points from four goals against Everton.

The PFA Team of the Year

The top two shared the players' own Team of the Year, with five Arsenal players and four from Manchester City.

The season's other awards:

2023/24 quick answers

Who won the Premier League in 2023/24? Manchester City, with 91 points, two ahead of Arsenal. It was their fourth title in a row, a first in English top-flight history.

Who was relegated in 2023/24? Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United, the three promoted clubs.

Who was the Premier League top scorer in 2023/24? Erling Haaland, with 27 league goals.

Who was PFA Player of the Year in 2023/24? Phil Foden. Cole Palmer was Young Player of the Year.

Why were Everton and Nottingham Forest docked points in 2023/24? Both breached the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules. Everton lost eight points in total and Forest four.

Who scored the most FPL points in 2023/24? Cole Palmer, with 244.

Who won Fantasy Premier League in 2023/24? Jonas Sand Låbakk, with 2,799 points.