How Manchester City won the Premier League

Manchester City became champions of England once again after a thrilling comeback victory against Aston Villa on Sunday. Now it is confirmed, let's look at what exactly they made themselves the best in the Premier League.

What a final day to the Premier League season! 

Down 2-0 to Aston Villa, it looked like everything Manchester City had worked at all through the season was going to waste.

Then suddenly, it was like they remembered who they were, they kicked it into gear and in six minutes, they were once again champions of England.

It was dramatic, just how they like it. Some will say it rivals their victory 10 years ago. Either way, it was incredible.

Last week we looked at who is more deserving to be champion; Manchester City or Liverpool. With the result on Sunday, I think it's pretty clear now.

City had been phenomenal all season, and the stats prove it. Let's take a look at a few of them that display exactly what made them champions once more.

 

1st for goals scored (99)

Man City end the season as the top scorer, not just in England, but in Europe. Yes, that is from Europe's 'Big Five' leagues, but even if you through in other top leagues like the Dutch Eredivisie and the Portuguese Primeira Liga, City still come out on top for goals.

Liverpool were close behind with 94 after leading for so long, but City's scoring flurry towards the end of the campaign put them over.

This total makes it the fifth most in Premier League history. Amazingly, it also means that they now occupy the fifth, third and top spot for most goals in a Premier League season.

And what's more, they did it without having that one standout goal scorer who netted 20+. Kevin De Bruyne was their top scorer with 15, then it was Raheem Sterling with 13, and Riyad Mahrez rounded out the podium with 11.

It's scary to think that next season they will be adding Erling Haaland, a true natural goal scorer, to their ranks.

 

1st for goals per 90 minutes (2.53)

99 goals this season comes at a rate of 2.53 goals per 90 minutes, which is ludicrous. 

It's not number one in Europe, as Bayern Munich takes that spot. But mind you, they only play 34 games in their season, 

They scored less than two goals on 11 occasions this season, and scored more than two goals 16 times.

 

1st for goal difference (+73)

Man City already had the record for biggest goal difference with +79, and while it was too difficult to find the full list, this amount should be up in the top three.

 

 

1st for average possession (68.5%)

The Citizens absolutely dominated possession in almost every game they played. Not once this season did they have a game where they lost the possession battle. 

In fact, they had more games with more than 75% possession (6) than they did games with less than 60% possession (5).

Liverpool were second, but were some ways off with 63.3%.

It's no surprise they topped so many stats this season when they controlled the play as much as they did.

 

1st for pass completion (88.1%)

With all that possession they held, City scored a lot of goals. But they also made a whole lot of passes.

They're not just number one for pass completion, they are also number one for; passes attempted (27,275), passes completed (24,032), and total distance (456,456 yards).

It doesn't really stop there, those are just the conventional passing one's. Let's also throw in number one for switch of plays (730), crosses (610) and corners (315).

 

=1st for least goals conceded (26)

Liverpool tie City for least goals conceded this season. 26 goals allowed is a crazy impressive feat that comes out to 0.68 goals allowed per 90 minutes.

Both sides have arguably the best defenses in the world, and each player in their back lines made their money during the campaign.

It's not the record for least amount conceded in a season - in fact, it doesn't even make the top five.

But 26 goals allowed in a season is still a huge achievement and a sign of a legendary year.

 

=1st for most clean sheets (21)

The goalkeeper's for both sides are two of the very best in world football. Ederson for City and Alisson for Liverpool have shown time and time again that they are elite level shot stoppers, and that's why they share the golden glove award this season.

Both come away with 21 clean sheets, which equates to a 55.3% clean sheet percentage. 

Although if you want the answer to who is better out of the two, the stats do point to Alisson, since he had a higher save percentage; 75.3% to Ederson's 69.9%.