How close were the Premier League title races, 2020/21 to 2022/23?
Version 1Published 14 Oct 2026Data cutoff 14 Oct 2026, 09:07 BST
Short answer
Manchester City finished first in all three seasons. The margin over second place was 12 points in 2020/21 (86 to Manchester United's 74), 1 point in 2021/22 (93 to Liverpool's 92) and 5 points in 2022/23 (89 to Arsenal's 84).
Research finding: a reproducible calculation from the data below. It describes what happened, not why.
Scope and definitions
Premier League final tables for 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23, as calculated by the archive from all 380 results in each season using 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw. The margin is first-place points minus second-place points.
Linked data:2020/212021/222022/23ArsenalLiverpoolManchester CityManchester United
Method
- Population
- Clubs finishing first and second
- Period
- 2020/21 to 2022/23
- Included
- Seasons whose calculated table is published.
- Excluded
- None.
Tables are calculated from full-time results and ordered by points, then goal difference, then goals scored. Before publishing each table, an editor recorded that no points adjustments apply to the season. The margin is the difference between the points of the clubs ranked first and second.
Findings
1. The same club finished first in each of the three seasons.
2. The 2021/22 race was decided by a single point; the 2020/21 margin was 12 points and the 2022/23 margin 5 points.
3. In none of the seasons were the top two level on points, so no tiebreaker was needed to separate them.
Charts and tables
Title margin by season
The 2021/22 title was decided by a single point.
Show the data
| Season | First | Points | Second | Points | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | Manchester City | 86 | Manchester United | 74 | 12 |
| 2021/22 | Manchester City | 93 | Liverpool | 92 | 1 |
| 2022/23 | Manchester City | 89 | Arsenal | 84 | 5 |
Data cutoff 14 Oct 2026, 09:07 BSTMetrics points, title margin
Limitations
A final-table margin says nothing about how close a race was during the season; the archive does not yet publish tables at intermediate dates.
Three seasons are not a basis for comparison with other eras.
These tables are the archive's own calculation from source results, not an official league publication.
Data and sources
- OpenFootball football.json — CC0 1.0 Universal. Season premier-league-2020-21: 2020-21/en.1.json (sha256 21ddf26b4846…, fetched 2026-10-14). Imported and normalised by this archive; standings calculated by the archive.Match results used for the study's tables and charts
- OpenFootball football.json — CC0 1.0 Universal. Season premier-league-2021-22: 2021-22/en.1.json (sha256 fbdfd426fa18…, fetched 2026-10-14). Imported and normalised by this archive; standings calculated by the archive.Match results used for the study's tables and charts
- OpenFootball football.json — CC0 1.0 Universal. Season premier-league-2022-23: 2022-23/en.1.json (sha256 8d09f0f98469…, fetched 2026-10-14). Imported and normalised by this archive; standings calculated by the archive.Match results used for the study's tables and charts
Revision history
- 14 Oct 2026First published
Last reviewed 14 Oct 2026. Published conclusions are never silently rewritten; changes appear here. Report an error.