Didier Drogba, the Golden Boot winner, led Chelsea to their third Premier League championship during a high-scoring campaign for the Stamford Bridge team.

Prior to the start of Manchester United's defense of their Premier League championship in August 2009, a lot had changed. The team was aiming for a historic fourth straight championship.

Carlos Tevez left Real Madrid for rival Manchester City, who also acquired Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from Arsenal, Joleon Lescott from Everton, and Gareth Barry from Aston Villa. Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid for a record-breaking sum.

With the acquisitions of Wigan Athletic winger Antonio Valencia and former Liverpool forward Michael Owen, United strengthened their attacking lineup. Yuri Zhirkov's transfer to Chelsea and Peter Crouch and Niko Kranjcar's acquisition by Tottenham Hotspur from Portsmouth were two other significant transfers.

Looking back at Chelsea’s win, it can be said that, Chelsea, led by newly recruited ex-AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti, set the early pace, winning their first six games. Arsenal destroyed Everton 6-1 on the opening day, while Man City and Spurs also opened the season with four straight victories.

On September 20, Manchester United defeated Man City in a thrilling contest that was selected as the finest in league history by the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards. At Old Trafford, Owen, a summer acquisition, scored in the last seconds to secure a 4-3 victory.

Man City lost that game, and shortly after, they drew seven games in a row. This caused them to lose the championship race. In order to catch Harry Redknapp's Spurs and Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa, who defeated United at Old Trafford to cap an outstanding start to the season, they replaced manager Mark Hughes with Roberto Mancini in December.