Back in 2020, during the first few months of the pandemic, I ranked every Premier League season because ... well, what else was I going to do? Rated by a number of factors, like the quality of the title race and the overall uncertainty from week to week, the 1997-98 season came out first.
That year saw Arsenal make up a 13-point midseason gap to surpass Manchester United and win the league. Three huge clubs, Everton, Newcastle and Tottenham, all seriously flirted with relegation, while the end-of-season gap between first place and the first relegation place was just 38 points. Last year, that same gap was 58 points. Heck, the gap between first and eighth was 41 points. The point being: back in 1998, anything could happen on any given weekend.
Fast-forward 25 years, and that might be true once again. The balance in the title race seemingly shifts with every goal scored by or against Manchester City and Arsenal. The top-four race is the biggest and most unpredictable one in recent memory; 7-0, anyone? And nearly half of the league is within six points of the bottom of the table. Flip on the TV on Saturday or Sunday and chances are you'll find a game with massive implications for the title, top-four, or relegation race -- if not all of the above.
With the chaos likely to continue all the way through the end of the season, let's take a look at all of the teams involved across the Premier League's various battles and try to provide some context. Using FiveThirtyEight's probabilities, I've ranked all 16 teams by the likelihood that they'll achieve their goals, and I've included only the teams with at least a 5% chance of doing whatever it is they want to do. So, apologies to Fulham, Brentford, Chelsea and Aston Villa; enjoy watching everyone else lose their minds!
