The 2021/22 Premier League campaign ranked as one of the most thrilling in recent memory.
After Manchester City won 3-1 at Watford on December 4, 2021, a satisfied Pep Guardiola observed that it was "better to be at the top", and warned that his side would drop points in the title race in the gruelling months ahead.
City, by and large, were better than everyone after that result. Guardiola's expectation was inevitably correct, but not often — and his hope that City's rivals at the time would drop enough points to give his team the slightest of breathing space proved founded.
Liverpool were far more accomplished last season than they had been in slipping well out of contention in 2020/21, and Manchester United never threatened to return to the functional form that had earned them second spot that season.
Had City not been near-perfect, their most familiar rivals of the past four years would have won the title. Here's a look at how the 2021/22 Premier League race ran:
Premier League 2021/22: Chelsea, Liverpool start fast
City gave their title rivals a head start by losing 1-0 at Tottenham on the first day of the 2021/22 season, turning murmurs into hard questions about the reigning champions deciding not to sign a striker over the pre-season period.
Guardiola had reacted somewhat spikily to suggestions that he would have been wiser to add an out-and-out forward to his options, insisting that there was nothing he wanted to change about his squad before they struggled to find a cutting edge in their opener at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
In their first full term under the impressive Thomas Tuchel, UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea continued their momentum of the previous season, setting the early pace. The only league game of their first five in which Liverpool dropped points was at home to Chelsea, when Mohamed Salah earned them a 1-1 draw after Kai Havertz had put the visitors ahead.
City were five points behind Chelsea and two shy of Liverpool after a shock 2-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace on October 30, having twice recovered from being behind in a 2-2 draw at Anfield on October 3.
Premier League 2021/22: Decisive December for City
Any Premier League manager worth putting in front of a microphone will gladly offer assurances that nothing is decided prematurely in the title race. City's win at Vicarage Road, though, sent them top for the first time as part of a run of 12 consecutive wins that was pivotal in retrospect.
Chelsea twice blew the lead to lose 3-2 at West Ham on the same day and drew with Everton, Wolves and Brighton during the remainder of the month, while Liverpool went winless in three over the new-year period, drawing at Tottenham and Chelsea and losing at Leicester City.
City's menacing form included a 7-0 thrashing of Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium, a 4-0 win at Newcastle United and a 6-3 victory when Leicester visited. "We're lucky... we scored a fifth and sixth or there would have been problems to the end," Guardiola reflected, his botched attempt to sign Harry Kane from Spurs long-forgotten as his attacking players flourished.
Premier League 2021/22: Reds hopes flicker in February
Kane did cause City problems more directly: the England captain struck twice as Spurs won a remarkable game against the leaders on February 19, 2022 — including a 95th-minute winner after Riyad Mahrez had made it 2-2 from the penalty spot three minutes earlier.
Chelsea had all but been knocked out of the title race courtesy of a superb 70th-minute goal by Kevin De Bruyne that condemned them to defeat at the Etihad on January 15, but Liverpool had kept in touch with City during a 10-game winning run from January 16.
City's defeat at Spurs meant Liverpool were six points off the top with a two-goal inferior difference — meaning the Reds would take the lead if they won their game in hand, did not drop any more points than City and won the meeting between the two on April 10.
Premier League 2021/22: April classic at the Etihad
The pattern of scoring when the top two met in Manchester was the reverse of the first fixture between them earlier in the campaign, City twice going ahead through De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus.
Diogo Jota scored Liverpool's first equaliser in the first half, then Sadio Mane sealed a second 2-2 draw of the season between the heavyweights when he found the net on his 30th birthday to earn Liverpool a point a minute after half-time.
City remained top by a point but Liverpool might have felt some relief after Raheem Sterling had a goal disallowed and Mahrez spurned an opportunity to win the match late on.
That heralded a run-in reminiscent of the 2018/19 season, when City won the league by a point.
Premier League 2021/22: Final-day drama
Liverpool's surprise 1-1 draw at home to a resurgent Spurs on May 7, 2022 was expected by many to hand City the title, only for another plot twist to develop.
City had mauled Newcastle 5-0 and won 5-1 at Wolves, so their trip to a tricky West Ham side was not expected to be unduly troublesome.
England newcomer Jarrod Bowen's first-half brace stunned everyone who had thought the title race was over, only for Jack Grealish's goal to launch a comeback after the interval that would have earned City victory but for Lukasz Fabianski saving Mahrez's late penalty.
Still, it was no major setback for the leaders. Liverpool went to struggling Southampton knowing that, even with a win, they would still be a point behind with a game remaining.
MORE: How will Erling Haaland fit in at Man City? Will he be Pep Guardiola's top earner?
Saints threatened to gift City the title by taking the lead in that game, but Liverpool hit back to win 2-1 and take the race to the 38th and last game of the season for both sides.
In 2018/19, the prospect of an upset on the final day had been over almost as soon as it emerged, City equalising a minute after going behind at Brighton and then taking the lead 10 minutes later as they swept to a 4-1 win and the trophy.
When Liverpool fell behind to a third-minute Wolves goal at Anfield in their final game of 2021/22, it was seen by many as the first nail in their coffin on an afternoon when City entertained an Aston Villa side with little to play for.
There was no repeat of City's stroll two seasons earlier. Perhaps Villa manager Steven Gerrard's influence as a former Liverpool captain had spurred his team on as they took the lead after 37 minutes.
Liverpool's record outgoing transfer, Philippe Coutinho, made it 2-0 to Villa with little more than 20 minutes remaining, by which time Liverpool had been pressing to go ahead against Wolves for almost 25 minutes following Sadio Mane's first-half equaliser.
The team who had spent so long chasing City knew the title was within their grasp if they scored again. That was until City gave a spectacular response that belied their uncharacteristic performance for almost all of the game, netting three times in six minutes as Ilkay Gundogan scored either side of Rodri's 78th-minute goal.
Salah and Andrew Robertson also scored within six minutes of each other as Liverpool eventually beat Wolves 3-1, meaning the teams netted five times within the final 15 minutes of their seasons.
Liverpool had gone unbeaten since the start of the calendar year and must have felt that they could have done little more, those two goals proving academic as City overpowered Villa.
Ultimately, City's relief was evident, as Guardiola and his players celebrated on the pitch at the end of an unexpectedly enthralling end to their title defence.
A fourth triumph in five attempts was theirs, earned through Gundogan's second with nine minutes of the entire season to play — capping what truly was a season to remember.
Premier League 2022/23 TV channels, live streams
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | |
| TV channel | Sky Sports, BT Sport | USA Network, Telemundo, Universo | — | — |
| Streaming | NOW TV, Sky Go, Amazon Prime | fuboTV, Peacock | fuboTV | Optus Sport |
UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and BT Sport streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.
USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on fuboTV. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.
Canada: Every Premier League game streams live and on demand exclusively via fuboTV.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream matches live and on demand on Optus Sport.
