The league table never lies but that doesn't mean that it is consistent.
Whether it is a result of a devastating transfer window - in either sense of the word - a run of unusual fortune, good or bad, or simply a regression to the mean, there are invariably hefty swings in points hauls from one season to another.
At the merciful conclusion of the seemingly never-ending 2022/23 Premier League campaign, the difference for some clubs has been particularly dramatic.
Premier League points difference from 2021/22 to 2022/23 season
Chelsea hosted Newcastle on the final day of the campaign, battling back to a 1-1 draw that did little to salve the wounds opened up by a dire season. Both clubs have completed the first full season under extravagantly wealthy new ownership but each set of riches has brought dramatically different results.
Newcastle rose from 11th last term to a lofty fourth this year, gobbling up 22 more points in the process - more than any other club in the division.
Despite spending more on transfer fees this season than any side on the continent, Chelsea posted a pitiful 44 points - the club's lowest haul since they were relegated from the old First Division in 1988. This tally is a grand 30 fewer than Thomas Tuchel managed across the 2021/22 season.
In the history of the Premier League, only three clubs have ever recorded a larger drop-off in points from one season to the next - incidentally, Chelsea share the record after a dire 2015/16 campaign brought 37 fewer points than the year before.
Leicester recorded the exact same plummeting return in 2016/17. The modern iteration of the Foxes only collected 18 fewer points this season but it was enough to send them out of the trap door. No side in the history of English football has been relegated more than Leicester (12 times).
After recording more than 90 points in three of the previous four campaigns, Liverpool slumped to a meagre 67 this term. Had it not been for a run of seven consecutive victories between mid-April and May, the Reds would have been even further away from last season's haul of 92. As it turned out, Jurgen Klopp's side secured Europa League football despite the 25-point decline.
Manchester United managed to fend off Liverpool's late surge towards the top four over the last six weeks of the season. Erik ten Hag lauded the "huge progress" his side has made which can be crystallised into a 17-point improvement upon last season's poor return.
"Bring your passports," was the message John McGinn boomed out to the crowd at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon. Aston Villa secured European football with a 2-1 victory over Brighton on the final day, the club's tenth win from the final 15 league games of the season.
Unai Emery inherited a side outside the relegation zone on goal difference but inspired them to 61 points - 15 more than Steven Gerrard managed after arriving midway through last season. With a full season under the Basque coach to come, there may be room for further improvement.
At the midway point of the season, Arsenal boasted 50 points. The Gunners wobbled their way to a respectable 84 - the most the club have managed since going unbeaten throughout the 2003/04 campaign - which represents a 15-point jump from the 2021/22 vintage. However, it was not enough to hold off Manchester City's late charge - even if Pep Guardiola's side did finish with four points less than last year.
On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss all the latest transfer news. On the agenda: Tottenham's pursuit of Feyenoord manager Arne Slot, Bayern Munich's interest in Declan Rice, Joshua Kimmich, Neymar & more!
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
This article was originally published on 90min as Premier League points difference over last two seasons.
