Honestly, if you weren't watching football a decade ago, you missed the absolute peak of English top-flight chaos. The Barclays Premier League table 2013 14 season wasn't just a list of numbers or a tally of wins and losses; it was a psychological thriller that broke hearts and defined legacies in ways we still talk about at the pub today. Most people remember "The Slip." You know the one. Steven Gerrard, Anfield, Chelsea, and a dream evaporating in real-time. But if you only focus on that one moment, you're missing the bigger picture of how that table actually functioned.
It was a year of transition. Sir Alex Ferguson had just walked away from Manchester United, leaving a vacuum that sucked the entire league into a state of flux. David Moyes was struggling to keep the defending champions afloat, while Jose Mourinho had returned to Chelsea as the "Happy One." Meanwhile, Manuel Pellegrini was quietly building a blue machine in Manchester, and Brendan Rodgers was playing a high-stakes game of "we’ll outscore you" with a rampant Luis Suarez. It was glorious.
The numbers behind the Barclays Premier League table 2013 14 season
When you look back at the final standings, Manchester City finished on top with 86 points. Liverpool had 84. Chelsea sat at 82. It looks close on paper, but the way those points were accumulated was erratic. City didn't lead the pack for most of the year. In fact, they only spent 15 days at the summit. Think about that for a second. Arsenal, led by a peak Aaron Ramsey before his injury, actually spent 128 days at the top of the table. If you looked at the standings in February, you would have bet your house on Arsene Wenger finally reclaiming the trophy.
But then the wheels came off for the Gunners. 5-1 at Anfield. 6-0 at Stamford Bridge. 3-0 at Goodison Park. They didn't just lose; they imploded. By the time the final whistle blew in May, they were lucky to keep their traditional fourth-place spot with 79 points. Everton, under Roberto Martinez, gave them a real scare, finishing fifth with a club-record 72 points. It was a season where the middle of the table was also surprisingly competent, with teams like Southampton and Newcastle putting in shifts that made every away day a potential disaster for the big boys.
Why Manchester City won the war of attrition
Manchester City’s victory was about squad depth and a weirdly calm clinical nature. They scored 102 goals. 102! Yaya Toure was basically a cheat code that year, netting 20 goals from midfield. I still haven't seen a central midfielder dominate the physical and technical aspects of the game like Toure did in 2014. Sergio Aguero was dealing with injuries but still found the net 17 times in just 23 appearances. Edin Dzeko? The most underrated striker in Premier League history. He scored crucial goals against Everton and Crystal Palace when the pressure was suffocating.
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Pellegrini’s side wasn't always the most "exciting" compared to Liverpool's heavy metal chaos, but they were efficient. While Liverpool were drawing 3-3 with Crystal Palace in what we now call "Crystanbul," City were methodically dismantling Aston Villa 4-0. They knew how to handle the "must-win" games without losing their heads. They finished with a goal difference of +65. That’s just absurd. It meant that even if they finished level on points with Liverpool, the trophy was staying in Manchester.
The Liverpool surge and the Suarez factor
You can't talk about the Barclays Premier League table 2013 14 season without mentioning Luis Suarez. He was arguably playing the best individual season any player has ever had in the history of the league. He missed the first five games because he bit Branislav Ivanovic the previous season—remember that?—and he still won the Golden Boot with 31 goals. No penalties. Every single goal was from open play or a free kick. He was a force of nature.
Liverpool’s run of 11 consecutive wins between February and April was the stuff of legend. They beat City 3-2 at Anfield, and it felt like destiny. Gerrard's "This does not slip" huddle happened right after that game. It was the peak of emotion. But the table is cruel. It rewards consistency over 38 games, not just the big wins. Liverpool’s defense was their Achilles' heel. They conceded 50 goals. To put that in perspective, every other team in the top five conceded significantly fewer. Chelsea, under Mourinho, only let in 27. You can't win a title by conceding 50 goals unless you’re scoring four every single weekend, and eventually, the goals dried up at the exact wrong moment.
The tragic fall of the defending champions
Manchester United’s collapse was the biggest shock to the system. They finished 7th. Seventh! They went from winning the league by 11 points under Ferguson to finishing behind Tottenham and Everton. David Moyes was sacked before the season even ended, with Ryan Giggs taking over as player-manager for the final few games.
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The table showed a 22-point drop-off from their title-winning campaign. It was the first time in the Premier League era they had finished outside the top three, let alone the top four. Old Trafford lost its aura. Teams like West Brom and Newcastle were going there and winning. It was a sobering reminder that the "Manager" matters just as much as the "Squad."
Survival and the bottom of the pile
At the other end of the spectrum, the relegation battle was equally frantic. Sunderland pulled off a "Great Escape" that defied logic. They were bottom of the table on Christmas Day. Historically, that was a death sentence. But Gus Poyet rallied them, and a win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge—Mourinho’s first-ever home league loss as Chelsea boss—sparked a miraculous run.
Norwich, Fulham, and Cardiff weren't so lucky. Cardiff’s season was a mess of internal politics between owner Vincent Tan and manager Malky Mackay. Fulham went through three managers: Martin Jol, Rene Meulensteen, and Felix Magath. Magath famously told Brede Hangeland to treat a thigh injury by rubbing a block of cheese on it. I’m not joking. That actually happened. When your medical advice involves dairy products, you’re probably going down.
Key Stats from the 2013-14 Final Table:
- Manchester City: 86 pts (Champions)
- Liverpool: 84 pts
- Chelsea: 82 pts
- Arsenal: 79 pts
- Everton: 72 pts
- Tottenham: 69 pts
- Manchester United: 64 pts
The gap between first and seventh was 22 points. Today, that gap is often much wider, showing just how competitive the top end of the league was back then. It was a season where anybody could beat anybody, and they frequently did.
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Legacy and what we learned
The 2013-14 season changed how teams approached the transfer market. It proved that having a world-class attack can get you close, but a leaky defense will always betray you in May. It also signaled the end of the "Big Four" era and the beginning of a much more volatile "Big Six" (though United and Spurs were in various stages of crisis).
Most importantly, it gave us the most dramatic narrative arc in modern sports. The veteran captain trying to win the one trophy that eluded him, only to be the one whose error costs it? You couldn't write that. It’s too cruel for fiction. But the table doesn't care about narratives. It only cares about results.
If you’re looking to settle a debate about which Premier League season was the most entertaining, this is your gold standard. It had the goals, the tactical shifts, the managerial meltdowns, and a title race that went down to the final afternoon.
To truly understand the impact of this season, you should look into the specific tactical shift Brendan Rodgers made with the "Diamond" midfield. It’s what allowed Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, and Suarez to flourish simultaneously. Alternatively, check out the defensive metrics of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea that year; they were statistically one of the best "spoiler" teams ever assembled, famously ruining Liverpool's party with a reserve lineup. Understanding these nuances helps you see that the final table wasn't just luck—it was a clash of diametrically opposed footballing philosophies.