The 2020–21 Premier League was the 29th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992 and the 122nd season of top-flight English football overall. The season was initially scheduled to start on 8 August 2020 and end on 16 May 2021, but this was delayed until 12 September as a consequence of the postponement of the previous season's conclusion due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Liverpool were the defending champions, having won their first Premier League and nineteenth English league title the previous season. 

In a season largely played behind closed doors, Manchester City secured a fifth Premier League title and seventh English league title overall with three matches to spare; it was also the club's third title in the last four seasons.

Summary

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic 
At the start of this season, as was the case at the end of the previous season, there was limited or no attendance at matches besides each team's staff and personnel. On 23 November 2020, it was announced that some fans would be allowed to return to stadiums in low-risk areas at the end of the second national lockdown on 2 December 2020. The announcement of a third national lockdown on 4 January 2021, though, signalled a return to matches being played behind closed doors. 

As fans initially were not allowed to attend matches, an agreement was made for all matches to be televised up until at least the October international break. The league's major broadcast partners Sky Sports and BT Sport broadcast the vast majority of the matches between them, whilst Amazon Prime Video and the BBC were also allotted additional live matches during the season. Following the October international break, Sky and BT trialled a revised format with the launch of a pay-per-view service for matches not selected for live broadcast on their main channels. Following strong opposition from fans, the format was discontinued after the November round of international matches and all matches were again shown across the league's four broadcast partners. This continued for the remainder of the season, making this the first Premier League season in which all matches across the entire campaign were televised.

On 22 February 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced as the third step of recovery from the lockdown imposed on 4 January, that subject to certain criteria being met on vaccines, infection rates and new coronavirus variants, large football stadiums would be allowed to reopen on 17 May with a maximum of 10,000 spectators or 25% capacity, whichever was higher. This meant that the final round of fixtures scheduled for the 23 May would see spectators return to the stadium. To ensure all clubs played their final home game in front of fans, the penultimate round of fixtures were rearranged to take place on 18–19 May. No away fans were permitted for these matches.

Season summary 
The 2020–21 season began on Saturday 12 September, just seven weeks after the conclusion of the 2019–20 season. Liverpool were the defending champions, having won their nineteenth league title the previous season, their first in the Premier League era. As originally planned, the 2020–21 season was to be the second Premier League season with a mid-season break in February, whereby five games of a normal round of ten would be played on one weekend and the remaining five the following weekend. However, due to the late start of the league and fixture congestion, the winter break was scrapped. It is also the second Premier League season to use VAR (Video Assistant Referee).

The race for first place 
The top of the table was tight for the first months of the season, with Arsenal, Leicester City, Everton, Liverpool, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur all having occupied first position by late November. The top six were separated by only five points at that stage.  Liverpool overtook Tottenham again in mid-December, following a meeting between the two clubs at Anfield which resulted in a  win to Liverpool. By Christmas, Liverpool had opened up a five-point gap following a  away win against Crystal Palace.

Liverpool title defence collapses 
In the new year, Liverpool suffered from a significant slump in form. They suffered their first home defeat in 69 games with a  defeat to Burnley, which began a run of six consecutive losses at Anfield, following losses to Brighton & Hove Albion, Manchester City, Everton, Chelsea and Fulham, dropping to eighth place by early March. Manchester United took the lead at the top of the table in mid-January with a  away win against Burnley, but they were in turn replaced by Manchester City at the end of the month as a  Manchester City win over West Bromwich Albion was followed by a  home defeat for Manchester United against Sheffield United.

Manchester City become the champions 
This was to prove the final change of team at the top, as Manchester City went on a 15-match winning streak which saw them 15 points clear of second-place Manchester United after a  win against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 2 March. They went on to secure the title on 12 May 2021 with three matches to spare, following a home defeat for Manchester United against Leicester. It was the club's fifth Premier League title and seventh English league title overall, as well as their third title in the past four seasons.

UEFA Champions League qualification 
The remaining two slots for Champions League qualification were taken by Liverpool and Chelsea. Although Liverpool were 8th with ten games remaining, a run of eight wins from their final ten games, including a 95th-minute winner scored by goalkeeper Alisson against West Bromwich Albion, saw them recover their position to finish 3rd and qualify for a fifth straight season. Chelsea endured a difficult start to the season under Frank Lampard, who was sacked in January with the club in 9th position and replaced by Thomas Tuchel. The club's form improved under Tuchel to secure a second consecutive finish in 4th place, despite a final day defeat to Aston Villa. They won in that season's Champions League final the next week, in the competition's third all-English final against champions Manchester City.

UEFA Europa League qualification 
Leicester enjoyed a successful season, spending more time in the top four places than any other club; however, three defeats in their final four games, including a home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on the final day, saw them narrowly finish in 5th for a second consecutive season. Having narrowly avoiding relegation the previous season, West Ham United surprised many by finishing 6th, their highest finish since 1998–99. Both these clubs earned qualification to the Europa League for the following season.

Despite leading the table in November, Tottenham suffered a string of poor results from December onwards. Manager Jose Mourinho was sacked in April with the club in 7th place, with Ryan Mason taking over as interim manager for the rest of the season. Mason was unable to improve the club's position and they finished 7th, their lowest finish since the 2008–09 season, but still good enough to qualify for the brand new third tier Europa Conference League competition. Meanwhile, their traditional North London rivals Arsenal endured an even worse campaign; eight defeats in their first 14 games left them in 15th just before Christmas and seemingly in danger of being sucked into a relegation battle. Whilst they would pick up enough points thereafter to pull away from the bottom half of the table, the Gunners could only finish 8th for a second successive season; they failed to qualify for European competition for the first time since the 1994–95 season.

Relegation 
On 17 April 2021, Sheffield United were confirmed to be the first team to be relegated to the Championship following a  defeat away to Wolverhampton Wanderers with six games remaining, ending their two-year top flight tenure.  On 9 May 2021, West Bromwich Albion became the second team to be relegated following a  defeat away to Arsenal, with three games remaining, immediately returning to the Championship after a season's presence in the top flight. On 10 May 2021, Fulham were the third and final team to be relegated following a 2–0 defeat at home against Burnley with three games remaining, also immediately returning to the Championship after a season's presence in the top flight. This also marked the first time in the Premier League era that all three teams have been relegated with more than two games to spare, all three teams didn't reach the 30 point mark in the season. In contrast, the final promoted team, Leeds United, finished in 9th with 59 points, the highest points tally for a newly promoted side since Ipswich Town in 2000–01 (66 points).

Teams 
Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were Leeds United, West Bromwich Albion and Fulham, after respective top flight absences of sixteen, two and one year(s). They replaced Bournemouth, Watford (both teams relegated to the Championship after five years in the top flight), and Norwich City (relegated after a year back in the top flight).

Stadiums and locations 

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Hat-tricks 

Notes
4 Player scored 4 goals(H) – Home team(A) – Away team

Clean sheets

Discipline

Player 

 Most yellow cards: 12
 John McGinn (Aston Villa)

 Most red cards: 2
 Lewis Dunk (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Club 

 Most yellow cards: 73
Sheffield United

 Most red cards: 6
Brighton & Hove Albion

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

References

External links 

 Official website

 
Premier League seasons
England
1
프리미어리그 2020-21은 1992년 설립된 잉글랜드의 최상위 프로 축구 리그인 프리미어리그의 29번째 시즌이다. 2020-21 시즌은 코로나-19 범유행 영향으로 이전 시즌(2019-20 시즌)이 늦게 끝나고 UEFA 챔피언스리그와 유로파리그가 2020년 8월 23일에 끝나서 이번 시즌은 2020년 9월 12일에 시즌이 늦게 시작할 것이다.

이번 시즌도 VAR를 프리미어리그 시즌에 사용하고 시즌 중간에 윈터 브레이크(겨울 시즌 리그 일시 중단)를 시행한다.

EFL 챔피언십 2019-20에서 승격할 리즈 유나이티드와 웨스트브로미치 앨비언과 풀럼(승격PO 승자)이 참여할 것이고, 프리미어리그 2019-20 시즌에는 노리치 시티와 왓퍼드, 본머스가 강등되었다.

참가팀

경기장과 위치 
프리미어리그 2019-20 상위 17개팀들과 EFL 챔피언십 2019-20에서 승격된 상위 2팀과 EFL 챔피언십 2019-20 승격 플레이오프 최종승자 1팀이 프리미어리그 2020-21 시즌에 참가했다.

승격팀과 강등팀 

프리미어리그에서 총 20팀이 참가한다. 프리미어리그 2019-20시즌에서 상위 17개팀이 이번 시즌에 잔류하고, EFL 챔피언십리그 2019-20시즌에서 우승팀과 2위팀이 승격 직행하고, EFL 챔피언십리그 2019-20시즌 3, 4, 5, 6위팀 4팀 중 승격 플레이오프에서 최종 승자 1팀이 프리미어리그 2020-21 시즌으로 승격하여 참가했다.

감독 변화

순위

리그 순위 

틀:프리미어리그 2020-21 순위

라운드별 순위 

연기된 경기들은 나중에 그 경기들이 시행되어 끝날때까지 빈 칸으로 남겨져야 한다. 연기된 경기가 끝나면 당시 날짜 기준 순위를 기록한다.
*맨체스터 시티와 맨체스터 유나이티드는 2019-20 UEFA 챔피언스리그 또는 유로파리그의 2020년 8월 경기에서 8강전 이상 진출 때문에, 선수단의 최소휴식기간 보장을 위해 맨체스터 2팀들은 제1라운드 경기를 뛰지 않았다.
*제1라운드 중 번리 대 맨체스터 유나이티드는 2021년 1월 12일에, 맨체스터 시티 대 애스턴 빌라는 1월 20일에 시행될 것이다.
*울버햄프턴 원더러스는 2019-20 유로파리그 8월 경기에서 8강전까지 진출했으므로, 프리미어리그 2020-21 시즌이 2020년 9월 12일에 개막했을 때 첫 경기를 월요일(9월 14일)에 시작하였다.
*제11라운드 중 뉴캐슬 유나이티드 대 애스턴 빌라 경기는 코로나 19 확진자가 다수발생으로 인한 무기한 연기되었다. 뉴캐슬 유나이티드 대 애스턴 빌라 경기는 2021년 1월 23일에 시행될 것이다.
*제16라운드 중 에버튼 대 맨체스터 시티 경기, 토트넘 홋스퍼 대 풀럼 경기는 둘 다 원정팀 맨체스터 시티 선수단과 풀럼 선수단에서 코로나 19 확진자가 다수발생으로 인한 무기한 연기되었다. 토트넘 홋스퍼 대 풀럼 경기는 2021년 1월 13일에, 에버튼 대 맨체스터 시티 경기는 2021년 2월 17일에 시행될 것이다.
*제17라운드 중 번리 대 풀럼 경기는 원정팀 풀럼 선수단에서 코로나 19 확진자가 다수발생으로 인한 무기한 연기되었다. 이후 2021년 2월 17일로 연기되었다.
*제18라운드 중 애스턴 빌라 대 토트넘 홋스퍼 경기는 홈팀 애스턴 빌라 선수단에서 코로나 19 확진자가 다수발생으로 인한 2021년 3월 21일로 연기되었다
*제18라운드 중 리즈 유나이티드 대 사우스샘프턴 경기는 사우샘프턴의 FA컵 3라운드 경기 슈루즈베리 타운과의 경기로 인하여 2021년 2월 23일로 연기되었다.
*제19라운드 중 애스턴 빌라 대 에버튼 경기는 홈팀 애스턴 빌라 선수단에서 코로나 19 확진자가 다수발생으로 인해 2021년 5월 13일로 연기되었다.
*제29라운드 중 6경기들은 잉글랜드 FA컵 8강전이 2021년 3월 20~21일에 개최되어서 날짜 겹쳐서 3월 2~4일로 앞당겨져서 시행되었다. 3월 2일(맨체스터 시티 대 울버햄튼), 3월 3일(번리 대 레스터 시티, 셰필드 유나이티드 대 애스턴 빌라, 크리스털 팰리스 대 맨체스터 유나이티드), 3월 4일(웨스트브로미치 대 에버튼, 리버풀 대 첼시).  토트넘 홋스퍼 대 사우샘프턴 경기는 2021년 4월 21일로 연기되었다.
*제32라운드 중 다음 3경기들은 4월 17일과 18일에 잉글랜드 FA컵 준결승전 일정과 겹쳐서, 첼시 대 브라이턴 경기는 2021년 4월 20일로, 애스턴 빌라 대 맨체스터 시티 경기는 4월 21일로, 레스터 시티 대 웨스트브로미치 앨비언 경기는 4월 22일로 연기되었다. 사우샘프턴 대 크리스털 팰리스 경기는 5월 11일로 연기되었다.
*제33라운드 중 풀럼 대 토트넘 홋스퍼 경기는 3월 4일로, 맨체스터 시티 대 사우샘프턴 경기는 3월 10일로 카라바오 컵(리그컵) 결승전 때문에 앞당겨져 시행될 것이다.
*제34라운드 중 맨체스터 유나이티드 대 리버풀 경기는 경기 시작 1시간 전부터 경기장 내 소요 사태 때문에 2021년 5월 13일로 연기되었다.
*제36라운드 중 맨체스터 유나이티드 대 레스터 시티 경기는 2021년 5월 11일로, 첼시 대 아스널 경기는 5월 12일로 잉글랜드 FA컵 결승전(첼시 대 레스터 시티) 때문에 예정대로 앞당겨져서 시행될 것이고, 나머지 경기들은 5월 14일~16일로 연기되어서 시행될 것이다.
*제37라운드 전경기들은 2021년 5월 18일과 19일로 분산 시행될 것이다.

리그 경기 결과

시즌 기록

선수별 득점 기록

도움 기록

해트트릭 

참고
4: 4골 기록

무실점 기록

각주

외부 링크 
  공식 웹사이트 

2020-21
2020년 축구
2021년 축구
2020-21 축구 리그
코로나19 범유행으로 연기된 스포츠 행사