sport news Premier League report card: Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton and Leeds assessed trends now

A dramatic Premier League season reached its conclusion on Sunday with Manchester City just pipping Liverpool to the title, Tottenham snatching fourth spot and Burnley consigned to relegation as Leeds survived.

Now that the dust has settled, Sportsmail assesses all 20 teams on their performances this season and what needs to be improved ahead of the next campaign.

Part One of our end-of-term report card runs from Arsenal through to Leicester City. 

ARSENAL

Final position: 5th (Qualification for Europa League)

A strange one to assess because it's so clear that Mikel Arteta has taken Arsenal forward this season, crafting a young, exciting and very watchable team.

Without the distraction of European football, Arteta has enjoyed plenty of time to impart his ideas and his players have clearly bought into them.

But the final reward - of returning to the Champions League with a top four finish - somehow slipped through their fingers. Even worse, it was their rivals Tottenham that beat them to it.

When Arsenal beat Leicester 2-0 on March 13, moving back into fourth, they were a point ahead of Manchester United in fifth but with three games in hand.

But somehow they have since lost as many matches as they have won to totally blow such a position of strength. This has included unacceptable defeats to the likes of Brighton, Southampton and Newcastle.

The final outcome - a sixth consecutive season without Champions League football - has overshadowed all the positives.

The resilience of Bukayo Saka to recover from his penalty miss in the Euro final to enjoy an outstanding season, the natural brilliance of another Englishman in Emile Smith Rowe and the scoring of Eddie Nketiah.

Arteta has also continued to root out players who didn't see eye-to-eye with him, such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, to reinforce his own authority. But did losing his goals ultimately cost them?

He'll have plenty of time to ponder that as they trek around continental outposts in next season's Europa League.

Grade: C 

ASTON VILLA

Final position: 14th 

At no stage have Aston Villa been in any relegation trouble and they've finished adequately in mid-table. But this season should have delivered more.

The hope back in August was that Dean Smith's team could push on towards European qualification despite the sale of Jack Grealish but the reality proved very different.

A run of five straight defeats in the autumn led to Smith's sacking after expensive summer buys - Emiliano Buendia for £33m, Leon Bailey for £30m and Danny Ings for £25m - took time to bed in.

The appointment of Steven Gerrard, who'd done so well at Rangers, fired up the fans again but he hasn't been able to achieve the necessary consistency to get them above their current position.

Philippe Coutinho, loaned from Barcelona in January, has looked good in glimpses but the goals of England forward Ollie Watkins have been most valuable.

Gerrard also hasn't yet raised Villa to the level where they bloody the nose of the biggest teams, with pretty much all their wins coming against sides in the bottom half.

They have the makings of being a solid enough side both at the back and going forward but Gerrard will need this summer to properly stamp his mark on the team.

With that in mind, it's too early to judge his tenure. They haven't kicked on this time but next season should be better.

Grade: C

BRENTFORD

Final position: 13th 

Given Brentford's Danish contingent, we might be tempted to say: 'If Carlsberg did debut Premier League campaigns...'

Tipped by many for little more than an entertaining cameo in the top-flight before going straight back down, the Bees have exceeded all expectations and then some.

Thomas Frank's side signalled they weren't just going to make up the numbers with a stirring win over Arsenal on the opening night of the season.

And though there was a worrying wobble just after the New Year, they found a second wind, inspired by Christian Eriksen, to finish comfortably in mid-table.

What's more, for the most part, Brentford have remained true to themselves and Frank's brand of high intensity football that served them so well in the Championship.

The pulsating 3-3 draw at home to Liverpool and that gobsmacking 4-1 win at Chelsea will naturally be the highlights of a memorable season.

Their main creative and scoring forces Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbuemo have impressed all season and the likes of Christian Norgaard, Pontus Jansson and Vitaly Janelt have done really well. Yoane Wissa has been a snip at £8.5m.

Who knows, Frank could convince Eriksen to stay on - though he admitted he does want Champions League football again.

The second season in the Premier League can be notoriously tricky and Brentford must fortify themselves. But, for now, everyone concerned can really enjoy their summer.

Grade: A

BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION

Final position: 9th 

After four seasons of 'surviving' in the Premier League, we can now say that Brighton are 'thriving.'

No relegation jitters this time around but their best points tally in the competition and highest placing. Graham Potter has worked wonders, even if the team was booed off after a goalless home draw with Leeds back in November.

In fairness to those dissenters, it hasn't been great watching them at the Amex Stadium - they failed to find the net in nine of their 19 games there - and often Brighton have been more exciting as underdogs on the road.

Potter started talking about history lessons after that Leeds game and the fact Brighton have just marked 25 years since their escape from relegation out of the Football League and almost certain extinction should supply context.

They've just thrashed Manchester United 4-0 - and it could have been seven - while the season has also seen them win at Arsenal and Tottenham plus take a point from Anfield.

It hasn't been this good for Brighton in decades and Potter is quickly attracting admirers from better resourced clubs and is being viewed as a future England manager.

In that aforementioned game, they were everything Man United were not - a collective who understood precisely what they were doing and with the confidence to play in their own way.

Short of somehow winning one of the cup competitions or qualifying for Europe next season, it's hard to see how life gets any better for this club than this.

The lyrics of Norman 'Fatboy Slim' Cook, one of their most high-profile fans, in his hit Praise You have never been so apt.

'We've come a long, long way together/Through the hard times and the good/I have to celebrate you, baby/I have to praise you like I should.'

Grade: A

BURNLEY

Final position: 18th (relegated)

Burnley thought their gamble had paid off but in the end they could defy gravity in the Premier League no longer.

The decision to sack long-serving manager Sean Dyche in mid-April, when they sat 18th and four points from safety, looks a dreadful one with hindsight.

But nobody was saying that when caretaker Michael Jackson won three of his first four games in charge to offer hope. He just wasn't able to sustain it and three losses from Burnley's last four did for them.

Sunday's 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle brings down the curtain on six seasons in the top-flight on one of the lowest budgets in the division.

Dyche took them to the lofty heights of seventh in 2017-18, getting them into Europe for the first time since 1967, and they finished 10th in 2019-20.

But there was always a vulnerability about Burnley despite having a very impressive defensive record for their level, stemming from insufficient ability to put

read more from dailymail.....