| Season | 2020–21 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 12 September 2020 – 23 May 2021 |
| Champions | Manchester City 5th Premier League title 7th English title |
| Relegated | Fulham West Bromwich Albion Sheffield United |
| Champions League | Manchester City Manchester United Liverpool Chelsea |
| Europa League | Leicester City West Ham United |
| Europa Conference League | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Matches played | 380 |
| Goals scored | 1,024 (2.69 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Harry Kane (23 goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | Ederson (19 clean sheets) |
| Biggest home win | Manchester United 9–0 Southampton (2 February 2021) |
| Biggest away win | Crystal Palace 0–7 Liverpool (19 December 2020) |
| Highest scoring | Aston Villa 7–2 Liverpool (4 October 2020) Manchester United 9–0 Southampton (2 February 2021) |
| Longest winning run | 15 matches Manchester City |
| Longest unbeaten run | 19 matches Manchester City |
| Longest winless run | 17 matches Sheffield United |
| Longest losing run | 8 matches Sheffield United |
| Highest attendance | 10,000[1] 6 matches |
| Lowest attendance | 2,000[1] 16 matches |
| Total attendance | 180,601[1] |
| Average attendance | 5,160[1] (excluding matches played behind closed doors) |
← 2019–20 2021–22 → | |
The 2020–21 Premier League was the 29th season of the Premier 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 the postponement of the previous season's conclusion due to the COVID-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 was limited 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 in low-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 partners Sky Sports and BT Sport broadcast the vast majority of the matches between them, whilst Amazon Prime Video and the BBC 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 a pay-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 Minister Boris 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 the 2019–20 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 use VAR (Video Assistant Referee).[15]
The top of the table was tight for the first months of the season, with Arsenal, Leicester City, Everton, Liverpool, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur all having occupied first position by late November.[16] Liverpool, despite having suffered a 7-2 loss against Aston Villa in October, overtook Tottenham again in mid-December, following a meeting between the two clubs at Anfield which resulted in a 2–1 win to Liverpool.[17]
By Christmas, Liverpool had opened up a five-point gap following a 7–0 away win against Crystal 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 a 1–0 defeat to Burnley,[19] which began a run of six consecutive losses at Anfield, following losses to Brighton & Hove Albion, Manchester City, Everton, Chelsea and Fulham, 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 a 1–0 away win against Burnley,[21] but they were in turn replaced by Manchester City at the end of the month as a 5–0 Manchester City win over West Bromwich Albion was followed by a 2–1 home defeat for Manchester United against Sheffield 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 a 4–1 win against Wolverhampton 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]
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 both 2001-02 and their invincible season of 2003-04. 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 goalkeeper Alisson against West 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 under Frank Lampard, who was sacked in January with the club in 9th position and replaced by Thomas 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 since 1998–99.[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. Manager Jose Mourinho was sacked in April with the club in 7th place, with Ryan 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 the 2008–09 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 the 1994–95 season.
On 17 April 2021, Sheffield United were confirmed to be the first team to be relegated to the Championship following a 1–0 defeat away to Wolverhampton 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 a 3–1 defeat away to Arsenal, 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 against Burnley 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 since Ipswich Town (66 points) in 2000–01.[citation needed]
Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were Leeds United, West Bromwich Albion and Fulham, after respective top flight absences of sixteen, two and one year(s). They replaced Bournemouth, Watford (both teams relegated to the Championship after five years in the top flight), and Norwich City (relegated after a year back in the top flight).
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Bromwich Albion |  Slaven Bilić[84]
|
Sacked | 16 December 2020 | 19th |  Sam Allardyce[85]
|
16 December 2020 |
| Chelsea | Frank Lampard[86]
|
25 January 2021 | 9th |  Thomas Tuchel[87]
|
26 January 2021 | |
| Sheffield United | Chris Wilder[88]
|
13 March 2021 | 20th | Paul Heckingbottom (interim)[89]
|
13 March 2021 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur |  José Mourinho[90]
|
19 April 2021 | 7th | Ryan Mason (interim)[90][91]
|
19 April 2021 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City (C) | 38 | 27 | 5 | 6 | 83 | 32 | +51 | 86 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Manchester United | 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 73 | 44 | +29 | 74 | |
| 3 | Liverpool | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 68 | 42 | +26 | 69 | |
| 4 | Chelsea | 38 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 58 | 36 | +22 | 67 | |
| 5 | Leicester City | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 68 | 50 | +18 | 66 | Qualification for the Europa League group stage[a] |
| 6 | West Ham United | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 62 | 47 | +15 | 65 | |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 68 | 45 | +23 | 62 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-off round[b] |
| 8 | Arsenal | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 55 | 39 | +16 | 61 | |
| 9 | Leeds United | 38 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 62 | 54 | +8 | 59 | |
| 10 | Everton | 38 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 47 | 48 | −1 | 59 | |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 55 | 46 | +9 | 55 | |
| 12 | Newcastle United | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 46 | 62 | −16 | 45 | |
| 13 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 36 | 52 | −16 | 45 | |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 41 | 66 | −25 | 44 | |
| 15 | Southampton | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 47 | 68 | −21 | 43 | |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 41 | |
| 17 | Burnley | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 33 | 55 | −22 | 39 | |
| 18 | Fulham (R) | 38 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 27 | 53 | −26 | 28 | Relegation to EFL Championship |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion (R) | 38 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 35 | 76 | −41 | 26 | |
| 20 | Sheffield United (R) | 38 | 7 | 2 | 29 | 20 | 63 | −43 | 23 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[94] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harry Kane
|
Tottenham Hotspur | 23 |
| 2 |  Mohamed Salah
|
Liverpool | 22 |
| 3 | Bruno Fernandes
|
Manchester United | 18 |
| 4 | Patrick Bamford
|
Leeds United | 17 |
 Son Heung-min
|
Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| 6 | Dominic Calvert-Lewin
|
Everton | 16 |
| 7 | Jamie Vardy
|
Leicester City | 15 |
| 8 | Ollie Watkins
|
Aston Villa | 14 |
| 9 | İlkay Gündoğan
|
Manchester City | 13 |
 Alexandre Lacazette
|
Arsenal |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Salah |
Liverpool | Leeds United | 4–3 (H)[95] | 12 September 2020 |
| Dominic Calvert-Lewin |
Everton | West Bromwich Albion | 5–2 (H)[96] | 19 September 2020 |
| Son Heung-min4 |
Tottenham Hotspur | Southampton | 5–2 (A)[97] | 20 September 2020 |
| Jamie Vardy |
Leicester City | Manchester City | 5–2 (A)[98] | 27 September 2020 |
| Ollie Watkins |
Aston Villa | Liverpool | 7–2 (H)[99] | 4 October 2020 |
| Patrick Bamford |
Leeds United | Aston Villa | 3–0 (A)[100] | 23 October 2020 |
 Riyad Mahrez |
Manchester City | Burnley | 5–0 (H)[101] | 28 November 2020 |
 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang |
Arsenal | Leeds United | 4–2 (H)[102] | 14 February 2021 |
 Kelechi Iheanacho |
Leicester City | Sheffield United | 5–0 (H)[103] | 14 March 2021 |
 Chris Wood |
Burnley | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4–0 (A)[104] | 25 April 2021 |
 Gareth Bale |
Tottenham Hotspur | Sheffield United | 4–0 (H)[105] | 2 May 2021 |
 Ferran Torres |
Manchester City | Newcastle United | 4–3 (A)[106] | 14 May 2021 |
4 Player scored 4 goals
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team
.png)
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ederson
|
Manchester City | 19 |
| 2 |  Édouard Mendy
|
Chelsea | 16 |
| 3 |  Emiliano Martínez
|
Aston Villa | 15 |
| 4 | Hugo Lloris
|
Tottenham Hotspur | 12 |
| 5 | Bernd Leno
|
Arsenal | 11 |
| Illan Meslier
|
Leeds United | ||
| Nick Pope
|
Burnley | ||
 Kasper Schmeichel
|
Leicester City | ||
| 9 | Alisson
|
Liverpool | 10 |
 Łukasz Fabiański
|
West Ham United | ||
| Rui Patrício
|
Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||
| Jordan Pickford
|
Everton | ||
| Robert Sánchez
|
Brighton & Hove Albion |
John McGinn (Aston Villa) Lewis Dunk (Brighton & Hove Albion)| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Premier League Manager of the Season | Pep Guardiola[138]
|
Manchester City |
| Premier League Player of the Season | Rúben Dias[139]
|
Manchester City |
| Premier League Young Player of the Season | Phil Foden[140]
|
Manchester City |
| Premier League Goal of the Season | Erik Lamela[141]
|
Tottenham Hotspur |
| PFA Players' Player of the Year |  Kevin De Bruyne[142]
|
Manchester City |
| PFA Young Player of the Year | Phil Foden[142]
|
Manchester City |
| FWA Footballer of the Year | Rúben Dias[143]
|
Manchester City |
| PFA Fans' Player of the Year | Mohamed Salah[144]
|
Liverpool |
| PFA Team of the Year[145] | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Ederson (Manchester City)
| |||||||||||
| Defenders | João Cancelo (Manchester City)
|
Rúben Dias (Manchester City)
|
John Stones (Manchester City)
|
Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
| ||||||||
| Midfielders | Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
|
İlkay Gündoğan (Manchester City)
|
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
| |||||||||
| Forwards | Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
|
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
|
Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur)
| |||||||||
Brighton, Manchester City, Everton, Chelsea and now Fulham.
