By oldest 
So this morning I was flipping through last night’s Premier League highlights with my toast when a thought hit me: how have Villa and Liverpool really stacked up these past five seasons? Grabbed my laptop right there at the kitchen counter – coffee still steaming – ready to dig. No fancy tools, just me and Google Sheets.
The Hunt for Raw Numbers
First step: track down where each team finished. Went straight to Premier League archives, season by season. Typed “Premier League table 2018/19” and scrolled… and scrolled… Man, why do football sites bury the actual tables under a mountain of ads? Found ’em eventually – screenshotted Liverpool perched way up top that year. Did this for each season: 2018/19 to 2022/23. Tedious? You bet. Dropped toast crumbs all over my keyboard.
Dumping Data into Spreadsheet Chaos
Opened a fresh Google Sheet. Made two columns: Aston Villa, Liverpool. Rows for each season. Started punching in numbers. Immediately messed up – confused Villa’s 2020/19 Championship position with their 2020/21 Prem one. Rookie error! Had to wipe that season clean and redo it. Season names matter folks:
- 2018/19: Liverpool 2nd (97 pts! Madness!), Villa Championship Playoffs? Wait no…
- 2019/20: Liverpool champs! Villa barely escaped relegation (17th, phew!)
- 2020/21: Liverpool scrambling back into 3rd, Villa climbing to 11th
- 2021/22: Almost a title! Reds 2nd again (92 pts!), Villa steady at 14th
- 2022/23: Ouch. Liverpool’s shocker finishing 5th, while Villa soared to 7th under Emery
Seeing those numbers side-by-side? Wild. Liverpool mostly lived in the clouds while Villa fought the drop… then suddenly flipped the script last season. My spreadsheet looked like a battlefield – merged cells everywhere, colors swapped for clarity.
The Frustration Peak
Tried making a simple line chart to show the positions changing yearly. Google Sheets decided to revolt. Set Liverpool’s 2nd place as “higher” than 1st? Gah! Deleted it, took a deep breath, ate cold toast. Tried again – flipped the axis manually. Boom. There it was: Liverpool’s line mostly hugging the top with one big dip last season, Villa’s starting at the bottom clawing its way up crossing Liverpool’s dive. That visual told the whole rollercoaster story. Saved it as “Villa vs LFC Grind”.
Why Bother? Because Stats Lie Less
You hear chatter about Villa’s “rise” or Liverpool’s “struggle”. Seeing five years laid bare? Different game. Shows the brutal grind for clubs like Villa against giants like Liverpool. One bad season for the Reds is an off year. One bad season for Villa? Might be the Championship. Gut feeling confirmed with cold, hard numbers. And honestly? It’s satisfying to see the climb and falls yourself instead of taking some pundit’s word for it. Proof is in the spreadsheet pudding.
