Over 11 months after it started, the 2019/20 Premier League season has finally finished.
It’s been a season of real highs and lows for all sorts of sides, but how have your team fared in our final 2019/20 Premier League grades.
Here’s our final verdict, with Part 1 looking at Arsenal through to Liverpool…
Premier League Ratings – Season 2019/20 Grades
ARSENAL
Verdict An FA Cup victory would help draw the line under a mess of a season, but the green shoots of recovery look to slowly be appearing under Mikel Arteta. No European football could make it a tricky summer of dealing for the Spaniard. Whatever happens on Sunday, the Gunners still have a long road back to be genuine top four contenders any time soon.
Grade: C
ASTON VILLA
Verdict Pulled off a miracle escape, and given survival had to be the aim, Dean Smith deserves credit for dragging them over the line. However, they didn’t half make hard work of it given the messy summer outlay. Big summer now needed to avoid a repeat.
Grade: C-
BOURNEMOUTH
Verdict The music finally stopped for Eddie Howe and his beloved Bournemouth in the first season since they were promoted where few pundits tipped them to go down. Shipping 60+ goals per season ultimately proved self-destructive as the goals also dried up for the Cherries this campaign. Expect the auction to begin imminently for Bournemouth’s best assets.
Grade: D
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
Verdict Plenty of pundits questioned the wisdom of replacing the solid if unspectacular Chris Hughton with the untested Graham Potter last summer, but it’s a move that paid off handsomely as the Seagulls soared after the restart. With smart investment this summer, Albion now look like a team ready to move on from perennial relegation battles.
Grade: C+
BURNLEY
Verdict: Another top half finish, still very little fanfare. Sean Dyche has turned Burnley into one of the Premier League’s consistent performers and it’s a credit to him that nobody even raises an eyebrow now when the Clarets upset one of the big guns. Firming up their manager should be the club’s top priority this summer.
Grade: B
CHELSEA
Verdict It’s not all been plain sailing for Frank Lampard in his first full season as a Premier League manager, but the Blues boss deserves credit for securing a top four finish while finally giving some of the Blues’ academy stars a chance to shine. An FA Cup win would cap off a fine debut season for Lampard, but he can’t afford to relax with expectations likely to be raised in 2020/21 with a whole host of big-name stars set to arrive at Stamford Bridge this summer.
Grade: B
CRYSTAL PALACE
Verdict: Treading water is never a good idea for any Premier League side – as Bournemouth and Watford found to their cost this season. Roy Hodgson’s work pre-lockdown mean he still has some credit in the bank with Palace never seriously involved in the relegation equation, but their lethargic attitude post-restart means the warning light is flashing red for next season – particularly if, as expected, talisman Wilfried Zaha moves on.
Grade: C-
EVERTON
Verdict: Mid-table mediocrity for the Toffees, who must go down as one of the biggest pound-for-pound underachievers in the Premier League season, with even Carlo Ancelotti struggling to get a tune out of the Blues after his promising start to life in Merseyside. The Italian looked to be a man out of patience by the final day of the season. His phone could be busy this summer.
Grade: C-
LEICESTER CITY
Verdict: A fine season for the Foxes if taken in the round, but marks surely have to be taken off for the manner they collapsed after the restart. Brendan Rodgers may rue that near miss should some of his star men have their heads turned by the current top four this summer.
Grade: B
LIVERPOOL
Verdict: OK, so they didn’t quite hit the 100+ point mark, but that’s splitting hairs. Liverpool’s complete dominance of a league campaign from start to finish is unlikely to be beaten any time soon. If anything, they played better stuff last season as they agonisingly missed out on the title. However, it was their ruthless streak that most impressed this season – finding ways to win even when not playing well – with the late 2-1 away win at Aston Villa emblematic of a team that never say die.
Grade: A+
Part 2 – Man City to Wolves is coming soon.
Do you agree with our grades?
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