Having also been in the title race at Christmas, Chelsea only secured a top-four spot in the closing week of the campaign, whilst also finishing the season empty-handed, including a third FA Cup final loss in three years (also losing the League Cup final to Liverpool), as their season quickly unravelled amid off-field troubles caused by sanctions being placed against owner Roman Abramovich in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, forcing Abramovich to put the club up for sale.

Newcastle United had what proved to be an eventful season both on and off the pitch, a very poor start to the season being offset by the takeover of the club by the Public Investment Fund after years of protest and anger against controversial owner Mike Ashley – and whilst the threat of relegation still lingered over the Magpies in the New Year, the appointment of new head coach Eddie Howe and a number of shrewd January signings helped the club rocket up the table and comfortably into mid-table.

[citation needed] Despite picking up fewer wins than the previous year and seeing a number of first-team players depart in the summer, Crystal Palace had an impressive first season under the management of Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira, the Eagles hitting the ground running with a more attacking style of football and with the end results being quite successful, the club never once looking like being in a relegation battle on top of reaching the FA Cup semi-finals, finishing with a positive goal difference and taking four points off Manchester City in the league.

[citation needed] Having won automatic promotion the previous season, both Norwich City and Watford endured an immediate return to the Championship – the tone for the Canaries' season being set by an opening run of six straight losses, with even the surprise decision to replace promotion-winning manager Daniel Farke with Dean Smith after eleven games failing to give the Norfolk club much in terms of inspiration; likewise for Watford, despite a reasonable start that included a 4–1 home victory over Manchester United in November, the Hornets simply never got to grips with the fast pace of the top-flight, making it through three different managers across the season and breaking a number of unwanted records for their form at Vicarage Road, including consecutive home losses and number of home losses as well as failing to keep a clean sheet until May.

Leeds United finished just above them, the equally controversial decision to sack promotion-winning manager Marcelo Bielsa in favour of Jesse Marsch proving to give the Yorkshire club just enough to avoid the drop, in spite of an atrocious defensive record - whilst Everton overcame one of their worst league seasons, including securing their joint-worst points tally for a league campaign in their history and recording just three wins in 23 between the start of October and early April, to finish in 16th.

At the bottom of the table, owing to a points deduction being imposed on Reading for breaching financial rules, the Royals ended up enduring yet another relegation battle, albeit one that they managed to win at the expense of Barnsley, Derby County and Peterborough United – Barnsley enduring a horrendous opening half of the season and falling back into League One after three years, with even their usual late rally proving to be not enough to stave off the drop as the Tykes never quite recovered from the loss of manager Valérien Ismaël to West Bromwich Albion before the season started.

The battle to finish in the top six ended up going to the last day of the season, owing to a big drop in form for frontrunners Rotherham United and the teams in and around the play-off places picking up points – but Wigan Athletic ultimately emerged as champions, putting the uncertainties of the previous year behind them and securing their third promotion to the Championship since 2016.

Taking the final place in a tightly contested battle were Gillingham, who looked like having turned a corner following the sacking of manager Steve Evans, only for the teams above them to pick up form in the closing weeks and send the Gills down for the first time in nine years; escaping the drop as a result were Fleetwood and Morecambe, who overcame the worst defensive record in the season to ensure a successful first campaign in League One.