Honestly, if you try to script what happened during the EPL season 2013 14, a Hollywood producer would probably reject it for being too unrealistic. It was a fever dream. We had the greatest tactical mind in the history of the sport, Sir Alex Ferguson, finally stepping away from Manchester United, leaving a vacuum that sucked the entire league into a state of pure, unadulterated madness.
You remember it, right?
That was the year Luis Suárez decided he was going to play football like a glitch in a video game. It was the year Jose Mourinho returned to Chelsea calling himself the "Happy One," only to spend the next nine months making everyone else miserable. Most importantly, it was the year Liverpool came within a literal centimeter of ending a decades-long title drought, only for the universe to intervene in the cruelest way possible. It wasn't just about the football; it was about the sheer psychological collapse of several giant institutions all at the same time.
The Post-Fergie Power Vacuum
When David Moyes took over at Manchester United, everyone knew it would be tough. But nobody—not even the most cynical Liverpool or City fan—realized it would be a total nosedive. United went from champions to seventh place. Seventh.
They lost to West Brom at home for the first time since 1978. They were beaten at Old Trafford by Newcastle, Everton, and Swansea. It felt like the aura of the stadium just evaporated the second Ferguson walked out that door. Moyes was sacked before the season even ended, replaced by Ryan Giggs in a suit that looked slightly too big for him. It was the first time in the Premier League era that the "Red Devils" felt genuinely human, and the rest of the league smelled blood in the water.
Luis Suárez and the Liverpool Surge
If you look back at the stats, Suárez missed the first five games of the EPL season 2013 14 because he was still serving a ban for biting Branislav Ivanović the previous year. Think about that. He missed five games and still scored 31 goals in 33 appearances. None of them were penalties.
Brendan Rodgers had this Liverpool team playing some of the most suicidal, breathtaking attacking football we’ve ever seen. They didn’t care if they conceded three goals because they knew they could score five. Daniel Sturridge was in the form of his life, Raheem Sterling was a teenager terrorizing grown men, and Steven Gerrard was pulling the strings from a deeper role.
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The 5-1 demolition of Arsenal at Anfield in February was perhaps the peak of this era. Arsenal arrived at the top of the table and were 4-0 down within 20 minutes. It was predatory. At that point, it felt like destiny was finally on Liverpool's side.
The Slip and the "Crystanbul" Nightmare
We have to talk about it. You can't discuss the EPL season 2013 14 without mentioning the Chelsea game.
After beating Manchester City 3-2 at Anfield, Gerrard famously gathered his players and shouted, "This does not slip!" It is perhaps the most tragic piece of irony in sports history. A few weeks later, against a Chelsea side that Mourinho had rotated because he was focused on the Champions League, Gerrard slipped. Demba Ba ran through. Goal.
Liverpool lost 2-0.
But even then, they had a chance. They just needed to beat Crystal Palace and rack up some goals to close the goal difference gap with City. They were 3-0 up at Selhurst Park with 11 minutes to go. Then, the unthinkable happened. Damien Delaney scored. Then Dwight Gayle scored. Then Dwight Gayle scored again. 3-3.
I still remember the image of Luis Suárez pulling his shirt over his face to hide his tears as he walked off the pitch. That was the moment the title race actually ended. Manchester City, under Manuel Pellegrini, were the ultimate "stealth" champions that year. They weren't always the main talking point, but they were efficient, powerful, and they had Yaya Touré.
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Yaya Touré’s Mythical Season
People forget just how absurd Yaya Touré was during the EPL season 2013 14. A central midfielder scoring 20 goals in a single Premier League season is a statistic that doesn't make sense. He was a freight train with the touch of a ballet dancer.
City scored 102 goals that season. They had Sergio Agüero, Edin Džeko, and Álvaro Negredo, but Touré was the heartbeat. Whether it was a 30-yard free kick or a solo run where he shrugged off three defenders, he was inevitable. While Liverpool provided the drama, City provided the relentless quality required to actually lift the trophy.
The Relegation Dogfight and the "Great Escape"
Down at the bottom, things were just as weird. Sunderland were dead and buried. In mid-April, they were bottom of the league, seven points from safety. Then, they went on a run that defied logic. They drew at Manchester City, beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (ending Mourinho’s 77-game unbeaten home record), and beat Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Gus Poyet called it a "miracle," and honestly, he wasn't wrong.
Meanwhile, Tim Sherwood was busy providing endless entertainment at Tottenham with his gilet and his "proper football man" quotes, and Arsène Wenger was celebrating his 1,000th game in charge of Arsenal by losing 6-0 to Chelsea. It was a season where every weekend felt like it had a "you won't believe this" moment.
Tactically, what was happening?
The EPL season 2013 14 was a bridge between two eras. We were seeing the end of the traditional 4-4-2 as a dominant force and the rise of high-pressing, transition-based football.
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- Brendan Rodgers used a diamond midfield that liberated his strikers.
- Jose Mourinho perfected the "low block" to ruin the dreams of attacking teams.
- Roberto Martínez had Everton playing expansive football that actually had them challenging for the top four until the very end.
It was also the year that "Expected Goals" (xG) started to creep into the mainstream consciousness, though most fans still laughed at it back then. Looking back at the data, Liverpool were vastly overperforming their defensive metrics, which explains why the collapse felt so sudden but was actually statistically predictable. They were a glass cannon.
Why this season still matters today
When we talk about the greatest Premier League seasons, 2011-12 usually gets the nod because of the "Agüerooooo" moment. But for sheer sustained narrative tension from August to May, the EPL season 2013 14 is arguably superior.
It taught us that no lead is safe. It showed us that even the biggest clubs can crumble without the right leadership. It gave us the highest-scoring title race in history. Most importantly, it shaped the rivalries we see today. The modern friction between City and Liverpool really traces its roots back to this specific nine-month period of chaos.
What you should do to truly appreciate this era
If you want to understand why the Premier League is the commercial juggernaut it is today, you have to look at the 2013-14 archives.
- Watch the highlights of Liverpool vs. Manchester City (April 13, 2014). It is 90 minutes of the highest-intensity football ever played in England.
- Look up Yaya Touré's goal reel from that year. It’s a reminder of what a truly complete midfielder looks like.
- Read "The Quality of Madness" by Adam Crafton. It gives a brilliant behind-the-scenes look at the David Moyes era at United and why it failed so spectacularly.
- Check the stats on the "three-promoted-teams" rule. This was one of the rare years where all three promoted teams (Hull City, Crystal Palace, and Cardiff... wait, no, Cardiff went down) actually put up a massive fight, with Palace finishing 11th.
The EPL season 2013 14 wasn't just a sporting competition; it was a collective emotional breakdown for millions of fans. Whether you were a City fan basking in the clinical nature of your win, or a Liverpool fan wondering "what if," that season changed the way we look at English football forever. It proved that in the Premier League, the only thing you can actually expect is the unexpected.