The 2024-2025 season has brought with it a sense of unpredictability that we haven't seen in the Premier League for years. Who would have thought in August that Man City would be struggling to stay afloat in the Champions League and on the edge of the top six by mid-season?
Man United are seven points clear of the relegation zone, Nottingham Forest look like the real deal in third place and Southampton are at risk of breaking Derby's unenviable record for the fewest points in a top-flight season (11).
At the top of the table, Arne Slot is well placed to become the fifth manager in Premier League history to win the title in his first season as manager.
Liverpool maintain a comfortable six-point margin over second-placed Arsenal with a game in hand as they bid to equal United's record for winning the most top-flight titles in history (20 ).
Here at Mail Sport we started our Premier League report cards by assessing Arsenal through to Ipswich Town. Unfortunately, fans of the other ten Premier League clubs have had to wait for the grade given to their team.
That wait is now over: here's the second set of midterm report cards for you to sink your teeth into.
Leicester City
Position: 19th Points: 14
Leicester City fans were quite pessimistic about their return to the Premier League. Their preparations for the new season can rightly be described as inadequate.
The Foxes failed to strengthen their squad sufficiently due to concerns over a possible points deduction. After gameweek 12, they were languishing in 16th place, just one point clear of the drop zone. Steve Cooper was promptly replaced by former Manchester United assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.
However, the tide has not yet turned for Leicester since the Dutchman's arrival, as they now feel the heat of a relegation battle even more and are languishing in 19th place.
Disorganized is how I would describe the Foxes' season. After topping the Championship in 2023-2024, their comeback to the top level was disappointing.
Grade: D-
Liverpool
Position: 1st Points: 45
Arne Slot has had a fairytale debut season on Merseyside, breaking a number of long-standing club and league records. His side won 14 of their first 16 league games, making him the most successful Premier League manager in history in that many games.
In addition, Liverpool won the first six away games of the season under the Dutchman, a first for any manager in the club's 133-year history. They have lost just one match in all competitions this season, a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
Liverpool have scored the most goals (45) and conceded the fewest (17) in the league; It has been a turbulent season for Slot's team.
With an almost fully fit squad and a six-point lead at the top (with a game in hand over second-placed Arsenal), the Reds are in pole position in the title race.
Grade: A+
Manchester city
Position: 6th Points: 31
After nine games I was ready for the usual script: a terribly close title race for most of the season, only for City to remind everyone who's boss come May. Pep Guardiola's side topped the table and led Liverpool by one point at the end of October.
Even after Rodri tore the cruciate ligament a month earlier, City won six of their next seven games, only losing points in a 1-1 draw against Newcastle. It was a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in the EFL Cup that sparked the slump; since then they have won just two of their last thirteen games.
The goals for Haaland have dried up and City are wide open at the back. The Norwegian has scored just three times in his last ten league games, while City have conceded 26 times in his thirteen games since the defeat at Spurs.
Now they find themselves on the fringes of the top six, just one point ahead of Bournemouth in seventh and four points ahead of Chelsea in fourth. Guardiola has never managed to reach the Champions League in his fifteen seasons as a manager.
He recently signed a two-year contract extension in Manchester; If City's results do not improve, he is staring at the prospect of facing Europa League challenges with Dynamo Kiev, AZ Alkmaar and the like in his penultimate season.
Grade: D+
Manchester United
Position: 14th Points: 22
If the rating system went to Z, I would put United there. The Red Devils are on track to surpass their worst points tally in a Premier League campaign.
After 19 games, United has achieved 22 points; at this rate, Ruben Amorim's fighters would finish on 44 points, blowing their previous low of 58 points in 2021-2022 out of the water.
They are rotting in the bottom half of the table – closer to the relegation zone (seven points) than the top four (13 points) – in the midst of a four-match losing streak. United have not won consecutive league games since May 2024.
There are many more stats that could be highlighted, but the bottom line is that this is a historically bad season for the 20-time champions. Admittedly, Erik ten Hag's disastrous start to the campaign did not help the proceedings.
However, since Amorim's arrival, United have dropped from thirteenth to fourteenth place and have scored just seven points in eight games. Their business has declined. The Red Devils receive the lowest possible rating on our report.
Grade: F
Newcastle United
Position: 5th Points: 32
After a disappointing third season under Eddie Howe, Newcastle have seemingly re-centred their course and are heading in the right direction this year. In 2023/24 they finished a disappointing seventh place, having qualified for the Champions League the year before.
Perhaps helped by the disastrous decline of Tottenham and City, the Magpies have seized their opportunity and are holding their weight in the top four battle. They are only three points behind Chelsea.
The standout player of the season for Newcastle has undoubtedly been Alexander Isak. Only Mohamed Salah (17) and Erling Haaland (14) scored more goals than the Swede.
The biggest improvement for Howe's side is their defense. They conceded a whopping 62 goals last season, compared to just 21 midway through the current season. At this rate, there's a good chance fans will see European football on Tyneside in September.
Quality: A-
Nottingham forest
Position: 3rd Points: 37
Nottingham Forest is my choice for the surprise of the season. I know City's decline after almost a decade of dominance has been a shock, but I turn to Winston Churchill for this. 'Building may have to be a slow and laborious task that takes years. Destruction can be the act of one day,” the former Prime Minister said.
Make of that what you will, but Forest going from last season's relegation battle to potentially qualifying for the Champions League this season is as big a shock as any.
Powered by Chris Wood's strong goalscoring run (11 goals) and the third-best defensive record in the league (17 goals conceded), Forest are in second place, just two points ahead of Arsenal.
Without Slot's dream debut season on Merseyside, Nuno Espirito Santo would certainly be my favorite for Premier League Manager of the Season so far – he could still be in May.
Grade: A+
Southampton
Position: 20th Points: 6
Southampton were bad. In fact, only one team in top history has ever been this bad – that bad. They risk eclipsing Derby's record of scoring the fewest points in a Premier League season.
Having won just six games from 19 games so far, the Saints need a serious restart to avoid being dragged into the conversation. Derby have the lowest number of points of the 646 teams to have completed top-flight seasons since 1992 – in 2007-08 they collected a paltry 11 points.
Russell Martin was sacked after Matchweek 16, but new manager Ivan Juric has not quite given Southampton the famous 'new manager bounce' that so many teams benefit from after a change at the helm.
The future looks bleak for Southampton. At this point, relegation is almost a certainty, and it would take a miracle to reverse that fact.
Grade: F
Tottenham Hotspur
Position: 11th Points: 24
It was a second slump for Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham side, who have gone backwards after narrowly missing out on Champions League football last season.
The goals are flowing when you turn on the TV to watch Spurs; Unfortunately, for their fans, they go both ways. Only Wolves (73) have seen more goals in their games than Tottenham (69). In nine of their nineteen games, both teams combined to score four or more goals. It is never boring when Postecoglou's team takes the field.
But entertaining football doesn't always correlate with results, as Spurs fans have found out the hard way. They scored the second most goals in the league (41), but are 11 points behind Chelsea in fourth place.
Postecoglou has stood his ground with his brave tactical approach, but may have to make some adjustments if he wants to qualify for Tottenham for the seventh Champions League competition in the club's history.
Grade: D
Westham United
Position: 13th Points: 23
The grass isn't always greener, I guess. Following the departure of David Moyes at the end of last season, there was a renewed sense of optimism in the East End. Julen Lopetegui stepped onto the pitch but his time at the London Stadium was disappointing.
So disappointing that at one point he was tipped by many as the first Premier League manager to be sacked this season, before Erik ten Hag's departure from United at the end of October.
Moyes guided West Ham to a strong ninth-place finish in 2023-24 and left the Hammers in contention for European qualification in the seasons before, barring a blip in 2022-23 when they finished 14th.
It's too early for me to turn my nose up at Lopetegui and be pessimistic about his future at West Ham, but all signs point to a mediocre mid-table finish in his debut season at West Ham.
Grade: C
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Position: 17th. Points: 16
Wolves enter just above the relegation zone and have been in a deep fight for survival all season. Losing Pedro Neto last summer didn't help their cause and despite Matheus Cunha's impressive goalscoring record, they have regressed since last season.
Gary O'Neil was given the boot after matchweek 16, following a 2-1 defeat to Ipswich. Vitor Pereira succeeded the Englishman and has made a flying start in the Black Country.
Wolves are unbeaten under their new manager, winning twice and drawing once, including a 2-0 home win against United and a 2-2 draw against Spurs last time out.
As much as I'd like to take into account my optimism about their future under Pereira, the fact is that Wolves have gone backwards. They went from a mid-table spot last season to a relegation battle this season. It's been a disappointing year for them so far.
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