This series of articles will look at how each team in the Premier League has compared to last season. (Please note Norwich, Swansea and QPR will not be included as they were in the Championship last season).

With Manchester City fighting Manchester United for the title. Arsenal, Spurs, Newcastle and Chelsea battling it out for third and fourth and Liverpool struggling in the league – we start by looking at these seven teams.

Manchester City

As you can see from the table above Man City have improved in pretty much every aspect of their game this season. They have conceded 0.14 less goals this season compared to last season, but kept 2 fewer clean sheets.

City have also completed 3.96% more of their passes this season, been 3% more accurate with their crosses and have created a chance every 6.38 minutes, which is 2.53 minutes more often than last season when they only created a chance every 9.31 minutes.

They have also scored 90 goals this season, which is 30 more goals than last season and scored a goal every 39 minutes, which is 21 minutes more often than last season

This is mainly because City have taken a shot 2 minutes more often this season and had 58 more shots on target this season. They have also created 27 more clear-cut chances this season and converted 12% more of these clear-cut chances.

City have also had 3% more of their passes in the attacking half of the pitch and made 10% more passes in the final third of the pitch this season.

Manchester United

United have conceded 0.08 less goals per game this season and kept 4 more clean sheets. They have also completed 3.63% more passes this season and created a chance 33 seconds more often than last season, although their crossing accuracy is down 2%. United have scored 88 goals this season, which is 10 more goals than last season and scored a goal every 40 minutes, which is 6 minutes more often than last season. They have converted 19% of their chance, which is a 2% improvement on last season but had 8 less shots.

They have taken a shot every 8 minutes in both seasons while having 24 more shots on target this season. They have also had 1% more passes in the attacking half and had 8% more passes in the final third of the pitch last season.

Man United have also created 74 clear-cut chances this season converting 44% of them, while last season they created 63 clear-cut chances but converted 48% of them. So, although they have created more clear-cut chances this season they have converted 4% less of them which may just be the difference between winning and losing the league.

Although, United have converted the same amount of clear-cut chances this season as City and converted 1% more of their overall chances. City also have scored 2 more goals than United this season and conceded 0.16 less goals per game than United however the real difference is going to be the two results between the sides as City won both matches which could effectively win them the title.

Arsenal

Arsenal have conceded 0.14 more goals per game this season but kept the same amount of clean sheets as last season.

They have also completed 1.02% more of their passes and found a teammate with one of their crosses 3% more often than last season. They have also created a chance every 7.1 minutes which is only 7.2 seconds worse than last season.

Although, there is not much difference in their goalscoring as they have only scored 1 less goal this season than last season and have scored a goal every 50 minutes in both seasons. However, Van Persie has scored 30 out of the 50 goals this season, which shows just how much Arsenal have relied on his goalscoring this season.

Arsenal have converted 1% less of their chances this season, although they have had 36 less shots and 4 less shots on target. They have also had a shot 1 minute more often this season.

They have created 6 less clear-cut chances this season and taken 2 minutes longer to create them, but converted 6% more of them. They have also completed 4% less passes in the attacking half of the pitch this season but completed 7% more in the final third.

Arsenal have converted 8% less clear-cut chances than both Man United and Man City this season and scored 17 less goals than United and 19 less goals than City. This along with the fact that they have conceded 0.38 more goals per game than United and 0.54 goals per game than City are the main reasons why Arsenal are not fighting for the title this season.

Tottenham

Spurs have conceded 0.10 less goals per game this season and kept 5 more clean sheets. They have also completed 4.92% more passes this season and been 2% more accurate with their crosses.

They have also created a chance 0.76 minutes more often this season and scored 8 more goals. It has taken them 12 less minutes to score a goal and converted 1% more of their chances. They have had 22 more shots this season and had 29 more shots on target.

Spurs have created 13 more clear-cut chances this season and converted 11% more of them this season. They have also made 8% more passes in the final third but made 2% less passes in the attacking half of the pitch.

The main reasons why Spurs are fighting for third this season are that they have created and converted more clear-cut chances this season and have scored more goals. They have also kept more clean sheets and conceded fewer goals per match.

Although, they still have to improve if they want to be above Arsenal next season as Arsenal have converted 2% more of their chances, scored 8 more goals and created 25 more clear-cut chances. However, Spurs have a better defensive record than Arsenal this season, as they have conceded 0.16 fewer goals per game this season and kept the same amount of clean sheets.

Next Page: Newcastle, Chelsea and Liverpool stats comparisons are on Page 2 (click top right or bottom right to find page numbers).

Newcastle

Newcastle have shown a big improvement in league position this season but their stats have not been that different apart from a few key areas.

They have kept 6 more clean sheets this season and conceded 0.22 fewer goals per game this season. They have also only completed 1.20% more passes this season and had found a teammate with their crosses 1% less of the time.

Newcastle have also scored 1 less goal than last season but scored a goal every 62 minutes, which is 2 minutes shorted than last season. They have also converted 1% more of their chances and had 41 fewer shots.

They have created a staggering 30 less clear-cut chances this season, and it has taken them 52 minutes longer to create a clear-cut chance. Although, they have converted 10% more of their clear-cut chances, which just goes to show what Ba and Cisse have bought to the table this season.

Therefore, if Newcastle want to compete for the Champions League places next season they will need to create more clear-cut chances for their strikers, so a creative midfielder may be high on their shopping list this summer.

Chelsea

It’s fair to say that Chelsea have struggled at times this season and find themselves out of the Champions League Places and there are some clear reasons in the statistics to show why.

Chelsea have conceded 0.27 more goals per game this season and kept 5 less clean sheets. They have also been 2% less accurate with their crosses but improved their passing accuracy by 1.19% this season.

It has taken Chelsea 0.75 minutes longer to create a chance this season and 3 minutes longer to score a goal. Although, they have converted 1% more of their chances.

The big difference this season is the amount of clear-cut chances Chelsea have created, as they have created 36 less clear-cut chances this season. This may have been one of the main reasons why they wanted to sign Luka Modric this summer who has created 8 clear-cut chances this season which is 19% of the amount of clear-cut chances Chelsea have created this season. Although, Chelsea have converted 10% more of the clear-cut chances that have been created this season.

Therefore, if Chelsea want to improve next season they need an attacking midfielder or a winger to help Mata supply Drogba and Torres with some more clear-cut chances. Also, if they can keep up their high clear-cut chance conversion rate next season they will be in with a chance of the top 4.

Liverpool

Liverpool have struggled in the league season, especially at home with their main problem being converting chances as you can see from the table to the right.

They have only converted 9% of their chances this season, which is 5% worse than last season and converted 15% less of the clear-cut chances that have been created this season. These statistics show just why Liverpool have only scored 43 goals this season compared to the 59 goals that they scored last season. The fact that Liverpool have had 44 more shots this season and 9 less shots on target go to show why they have struggled.

On the other hand, Liverpool have conceded 0.10 less goals per game this season, completed 3.53% of their passes and been 1% more accurate with their crosses.

Therefore, the only thing that Liverpool need to do to get back among the top 4 is take their chances as this is the only thing holding them back. So, if Carroll gets back to his goalscoring form at Newcastle and Suarez continues to score goals then Liverpool may have a much better year next season.