The 2023/24 Premier League season has been one of the most exciting of all-time and as we head into "The Final Day", here are some standout numbers from the campaign that demonstrate this.
Goals galore!
An incredible 1,209 goals have been scored in the Premier League so far this season, breaking the record set in 2022/23 for a 380-match season of 1,084.
The all-time record stands at 1,222 goals - scored over 462 matches in 1992/93. Going into the final day of the 2023/24 Premier League season, only 14 more goals are required to beat that record.
For the first time in Premier League history, the average number of goals per match has exceeded three. It is currently 3.27 goals per match.
There have been more high-scoring matches than any other Premier League season, with 22 per cent of matches ending with five goals scored or more, beating the previous record of 17 per cent in 2021/22.
To back this up further, analysts have found that the average non-penalty Expected Goals (xG) per match is at 3.2. So on average, 3.2 goals are expected to be scored from each match in open play, a 14 per cent rise on last season and 23 pre cent higher than the average for the past seven seasons.
But while goals provide entertainment, it is scoring goals at both ends that adds to that and this season, fans have been treated to thrilling turnarounds galore in the 2023/24.
We have seen 62 wins from teams who were losing, accounting for 6.8 per cent of all matches, more than any other Premier League campaign. This is the highest percentage of matches across the data of the last 16 seasons, since 2008/09.
There have also been 223 equalising goals, which is the second-most in the Premier League era and the most since 1993/94, when there were 237.
Passing accuracy is a simple but significant metric when it comes to gauging quality of play. Some 83 per cent of passes have been accurate this season, across data over the last 16 seasons, since 2008/09. This is the highest ever accuracy percentage.
Aston Villa have become the eighth different Premier League team to qualify for the UEFA Champions League over the last three seasons.
Thrilling title race
For the third time in the last six seasons, the Premier League title race has gone down to the final day, and the 10th time overall.
This title race is the closest in Premier League history. The average points gap between first and second has been 1.51 points across the season. Since 1992/93, no other season has had a smaller average gap between the top two.
What does the data tell us about the Premier League title race this season relative to others? 📉 pic.twitter.com/nSoUJOQvrz
— Aurel Nazmiu (@AurelNz) May 16, 2024
Seven different teams have led the Premier League this season.
Most days at the top of the table 23/24
Club | Days at the top* |
---|---|
Liverpool | 87 |
Arsenal | 76 |
Man City | 76 |
Spurs | 26 |
Brighton | 7 |
Newcastle | 7 |
West Ham | 2 |
Home-grown stars shining
It isn't just foreign stars who making the competition so exciting. The 61 home-grown players who have made their Premier League debut this season is the third-highest total in the last decade.
Also the 359 goals have been scored by English players is the highest such total since 2001/02 – with six English players inside the top 10 scorers in the league.
Players from 68 countries have been represented across the first-team squads of all 20 clubs this season. Since the formation of the Premier League in 1992, 123 nationalities have been represented.
The average player age this season is 26 years 169 days – the lowest since 2008/09 and fourth-lowest in the Premier League era.
Popularity among fans
Stadiums have been 98.7 per cent full at Premier League matches in 2023/24, which equals the record utilisation figure that was set last season. Of the 20 clubs, 18 have stadium utilisation of over 97 per cent.
There have been 10 live matches with a TV audience over 3million in the UK this season, the highest amount on record - one more than was recorded in 2019/20.
In total, 35.7m individuals have watched live matches and the BBC’s Match of the Day highlights, equivalent to 59 per cent of the total UK TV audience.
International reach
The Premier League has become one of the UK’s biggest and most-popular global exports. It is broadcast to 189 countries out of 193 UN member states, with 900m homes across the world able to watch Premier League football.
An incredible 1.87bn people follow the Premier League worldwide, interacting at least weekly through the media. Thirty-four per cent of Premier League followers have become interested in the past four years.
The Manchester City v Arsenal match on 31 March became the most-watched Premier League match in United States history, with 2.12m viewers across NBC’s platforms. Five of the six most-watched Premier League matches in U.S. history have aired this season.