We simulated 2023/24 Premier League season – and both Man Utd and Arsenal flop
The 2023/24 Premier League season kicks off this Friday when newly-promoted Burnley host Champions Manchester City, but how could the final league table look come May?
After trailing behind Arsenal for the majority of the 2022/23 season, City eventually overtook Mikel Arteta's side to win the Premier League for the third consecutive year. It was a fantastic season for Pep Guardiola's side as they completed the Treble, but the 2023/24 season could be a tougher test, with some of last season's underperforming teams looking to return to the top of the table.
Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton Town are the three new additions to the league in the 2023/24 season, whilst new rules also mean fifth place in the table will qualify for the Champions League in the 2024/25 campaign. A big summer transfer window has also seen some major signings and departures in England, but at the end of the season, who could emerge victorious?
The 2023/24 Premier League season predicted
To set up this simulation, we used Football Manager 2023 to update the Premier League with the latest transfers and teams before simulating the 2023/24 season, as of August 9, 2023. This is what happened.
As expected, Man City shot to the top of the table early on, with Pep Guardiola's side winning all of their opening 10 games of the season. Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle closely followed, whilst Chelsea and Manchester United both started slowly. Everton and Wolves were two big surprises as they sat around the top half of the table for the majority of the season, and after an impressive transfer window, Aston Villa were amongst the top six until the end.
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The league started to really take shape with a few games remaining as two of the three relegated teams and the five Champions League spots were decided with three games to go. But, the title race went all the way to the final day of the season, and this is how the final Premier League table looked after 38 games.
The Premier League table predicted for 2023/24 (Football Manager 23)If Liverpool picked up three points on the final day of the season, Man City had to also win, otherwise, the title would go down to goal difference. Liverpool picked up a 1-0 victory, but City won 3-0, meaning Guardiola's side won the Premier League again with 89 points.
Arsenal finished third on 82 points whilst Chelsea's rebuild led them to a fourth-placed finish, and the fifth and final Champions League spot went to Newcastle, with the Magpies beating Aston Villa to fifth place by eight points. Villa claimed the Europa League spot in sixth whilst Spurs qualified for the Conference League in seventh.
Manchester United won the FA Cup meaning they qualified for the Europa League, but they were poor in the Premier League, finishing eighth. Three points separated Fulham in ninth and Crystal Palace in 13th, whilst Sheffield United, Luton Town and Bournemouth were all relegated, with Brentford, Nottingham Forest and surprise flops Brighton all escaping the drop in the final few weeks of the season.
At the end of the 2023/24 season, Football Manager 2023 put together an overall best Premier League XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what it looked like:
The 2023/24 Premier League Team of the Season predicted (Football Manager 23)
It looks set to be another good season for Pep Guardiola (AFP via Getty Images)Full Premier League best XI: (4-4-2): Alisson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Gvardiol; Salah, De Bruyne, Silva, Diaby; Nunez, Haaland.
Liverpool and Man City dominated the Team of the Season, with Aston Villa's Moussa Diaby the only player to feature in the squad not from the two sides. Seven players from City made the best XI including all four defenders, whilst the Reds' Alisson, Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez made up the rest of the squad.
These were all the award winners from the 2023/24 Premier League season:
- Golden Boot: Mohamed Salah (17)
- Golden Glove: Alisson (22)
- Most assists: Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Martin Odegaard (12)
- Player of the Season: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- Young Player of the Season: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
- Manager of the Season: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
Salah ended the season as the Premier League player of the Season, with the Egyptian ending the campaign as the league's top scorer and the highest average rating per game (7.76). His teammate Alisson kept the most clean sheets to pick up the Golden Glove, whilst Arsenal's Bukayo Saka won the Young Player of the Season award after grabbing 12 goals and 11 assists.
Overall, FM23 predicts that the 2023/24 Premier League season will once again produce a fantastic title race between Liverpool and Manchester City, with the latter emerging victorious on the final day. Manchester United, Brighton and Hove Albion and Brentford were disappointing whilst Aston Villa, Everton and Chelsea impressed, and it was Luton, Sheffield United and Bournemouth who were relegated to the Championship
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Who do you think will win the 2023/24 Premier League? Let us know in the comments below
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