Premier League winner and top 4 decided by Football Manager 2022

As we enter the busy winter period on the football calendar, there's already been plenty of drama in the 2021/22 Premier League season so far.

Five teams have already made a change in the dugout, with Xisco Munoz, Steve Bruce, Nuno Espirito Santo, Dean Smith and Daniel Farke all sacked by their respective clubs, as the Premier League welcomed back Claudio Ranieri at Watford, Antonio Conte at Spurs and Eddie Howe at Newcastle, whilst Steven Gerrard has been handed his first managerial gig in the Premier League with Aston Villa.

Chelsea currently lead the way at the top of the league, but West Ham have been the surprise of the season so far, with the Hammers sitting in third - level on points with Man City in second - after an impressive 3-1 win over Liverpool.

At the other end of the table, Norwich and Newcastle United currently sit joint-bottom with five points each after the Canaries picked up their first win of the season last weekend, and Burnley currently occupy the last of the relegation spots with 10 points.

So, how will the 2021/22 season finish? Who will win the Premier League and who will be relegated?

We simulated the remainder of the 2021/22 season using Football Manager 2022 to see what could happen.

The 2021/22 Premier League season simulated by FM22

Let's start off with the top scorers and assisters in the 2021/22 Premier League campaign.

Mohamed Salah finished the 2021/22 season as the Premier League top scorer, winning his third golden boot in five years, beating the likes of Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Romelu Lukaku.

Man City's Kevin De Bruyne registered the most assists in the league with 21 in 38 games, breaking the Premier League record of 20 assists held by Thierry Henry which the Belgian equalled in the 2019/20 season.

De Bruyne's assist tally was better than Portuguese playmakers Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva, whilst Arsenal's summer signing Martin Odegaard registered 11 assists with fellow teammate Bukayo Saka registering nine in the Premier League.

In terms of clean sheets, Liverpool's Alisson recorded 18 clean sheets to win the golden glove, beating fellow Brazilian Ederson who recorded 15 clean sheets for champions City.

Leicester's Kasper Schmeichel kept 13 clean sheets in the Premier League despite the Foxes finishing in a disappointing 11th place.

Which players had the worst discipline in the league in the 2021/22 season?

Wolves defensive duo Nelson Semedo and Conor Coady picked up the most yellow cards in the Premier League, finishing with 12 and 11 yellow cards respectively.

As for red cards, Cheikhou Kouyate, Granit Xhaka, Kieran Tierney, Juraj Kucka and Diego Llorente all picked up two red cards each in the 2021/22 Premier League season.

This is how the final Premier League table looked at the end of the 2021/22 season in our simulation.

Manchester City finished 14 points clear at the top, winning their fourth title in five years, as Chelsea, Liverpool and Man United completed the top four.

Arsenal and Spurs were able to achieve European football qualification next season as the Gunners pipped their north London rivals to finish fifth.

West Ham's good run of form dropped off as they finished 7th, ahead of Everton, Aston Villa and Newcastle, with the latter two appointing new managers during the November international break in Steven Gerrard at Villa and Eddie Howe at Newcastle.

Two of the newly-promoted sides, Brentford and Watford, were relegated back to the Championship along with Southampton, as Norwich survived after parting with Daniel Farke as manager.

How do you think the Premier League 21/22 season will finish? Let us know in the comments!