Honestly, if you look back at the 2016 17 epl table, it feels like a fever dream compared to the Manchester City dominance we see now. This wasn't just another season. It was the year of the tactical epiphany. It was the year Antonio Conte walked into Stamford Bridge, looked at a demoralized squad that had finished 10th the year before, and decided to tear up the rulebook.
Chelsea won the league with 93 points. Seven points clear of Tottenham.
But those numbers don't actually tell the story. To understand what really happened, you have to remember September 2016. Arsenal hammered Chelsea 3-0 at the Emirates. It looked like Conte was a dead man walking. He was literally the bookmakers' favorite to be sacked next. Then, in the 55th minute of that game, he switched to a 3-4-3 formation. Everything changed. Chelsea went on a 13-game winning streak, and the rest of the Premier League spent the next nine months frantically trying to figure out how to play against three at the back.
The Top Four: A Tale of Two London Rivals
The final 2016 17 epl table shows Chelsea at the peak, but Tottenham Hotspur in second place was perhaps the most "Spurs" thing to ever happen. They were arguably the best team in the country for large stretches. Mauricio Pochettino had Dele Alli, Harry Kane, and Christian Eriksen playing some of the most fluid football the division had seen in decades. They finished with 86 points—a total that would have won the title in many other years—and boasted the best defense (only 26 goals conceded) and the best goal difference (+60). Yet, they couldn't catch the Chelsea machine.
Manchester City finished third in what was Pep Guardiola’s first-ever season in England. People forget how much Pep struggled initially. He was mocked for saying he "doesn't train tackles" after a loss to Leicester. He was still trying to force Claudio Bravo to work as a sweeper-keeper while the rest of the league just lobbed balls over his head. It was a transitional year, a messy 78-point finish that laid the groundwork for the 100-point season that followed.
Liverpool rounded out the top four with 76 points. This was the birth of the "Heavy Metal Football" era under Jürgen Klopp. Sadio Mane was the catalyst, but the team was still defensively fragile. They barely scraped past Arsenal, who finished fifth with 75 points.
The Death of the Arsenal Top Four Streak
For twenty years, Arsène Wenger had a literal mortgage on the Champions League spots. 2016-17 was the year that streak finally snapped.
Arsenal’s 5th place finish was a cultural reset for the club. Despite winning the FA Cup that year, the "Wenger Out" protests reached a deafening pitch. Fans were flying planes over stadiums. It was chaotic. They finished with 75 points, which is usually enough for top four, but the league had become too top-heavy. The "Big Six" were starting to pull away from the pack in terms of financial muscle and tactical sophistication.
Manchester United and the Europa League Pivot
Look at sixth place on the 2016 17 epl table and you’ll find Manchester United. Jose Mourinho’s first season. 69 points.
On paper, it looks mediocre. They drew 15 games—more than anyone else in the top half. They couldn't score to save their lives at Old Trafford, despite having Zlatan Ibrahimović leading the line. However, Mourinho, being the pragmatist he is, realized midway through the season that he wasn't going to make the top four. He famously "gave up" on the league to focus entirely on the Europa League. It worked. They won the trophy, got the Champions League spot anyway, and left the league table looking like a secondary concern.
The Relegation Scrap: The End of an Era for Sunderland
At the bottom of the pile, things were grim. Sunderland finally ran out of lives. David Moyes oversaw a dismal campaign that saw the Black Cats finish 20th with a measly 24 points. They had survived by the skin of their teeth for years, but the luck evaporated.
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Middlesbrough went down in 19th, mostly because they simply refused to score goals. They only managed 27 all season. Hull City took the final relegation spot in 18th. They had a brief resurgence under Marco Silva, playing some brave, attacking football, but a 4-0 loss to Crystal Palace in the penultimate week sealed their fate.
Key Player Stats That Defined the Season
- The Golden Boot: Harry Kane bagged 29 goals in just 30 appearances. He scored seven goals in the final two games of the season (against Leicester and Hull) to overtake Romelu Lukaku.
- The Playmaker: Kevin De Bruyne notched 18 assists, signaling his intent to dominate the league for the next decade.
- The Workhorse: N'Golo Kanté. He became the first player to win back-to-back Premier League titles with two different clubs (Leicester then Chelsea). He was the undisputed heartbeat of that Chelsea side.
Why this season was a tactical turning point
Before the 2016-17 season, playing three at the back in the Premier League was seen as "foreign" or "defensive." Conte proved that with the right wing-backs—Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso—it was actually the most aggressive way to play. By the end of the season, almost every team, including Arsenal and even Southgate's England, was experimenting with a back three.
It was also the season where the "Super Coach" era truly arrived. Klopp, Guardiola, Conte, Mourinho, Pochettino, and Wenger were all in the dugout at the same time. The level of tactical scrutiny reached an all-time high.
Actionable Insights for Football Historians and Analysts
If you are analyzing the 2016 17 epl table for betting patterns, scouting, or historical research, keep these factors in mind:
- The Home/Away Divide: Chelsea and Spurs were nearly invincible at home. Spurs actually went the entire season unbeaten at White Hart Lane (the old stadium's final year), winning 17 and drawing 2.
- The 80-Point Threshold: This season proved that the "standard" 70 points for Champions League qualification was dead. The league had become stratified. To be a serious contender now, you effectively need to aim for 90+.
- Wing-back Value: Look at the market value of full-backs before and after this season. After Moses and Alonso dominated, the "flying wing-back" became the most sought-after profile in recruitment.
To truly understand the modern Premier League, you have to study the 2016-17 season as the moment the league moved away from the traditional 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 and into a more fluid, three-at-the-back era.
Check the specific match results from Chelsea's October 2016 run to see the most efficient defensive stretch in the competition's history. You'll find that they didn't just win; they strangled the life out of games, conceding zero goals in six consecutive matches. That is the blueprint of a championship-winning defense.