The Premier League is easily the most popular league in the world and the exciting drama it provides is the biggest reason behind their popularity. A glance at the current league table will show how unpredictable this league can be.
Leicester are leading the table by 8 points with four games remaining and if the same were the case in any other top European league, there won’t be a lot of doubts about the eventual champions. However, the Premier League has taught us not to count our chickens before they’ve hatched because in this league, anything is possible and sometimes just one momentary lapse in concentration can change the momentum of the title race in the opposite direction.
In the history of the Premier League there have been many closely fought title races and some others in which the favourites run out of steam before crossing the finish line.
#5. Aston Villa (1992-93)
It was the first Premier League season and believe it or not, recently relegated team, Aston Villa, were title contenders during that season. The final Premier League table might suggest that Manchester United were runaway winners of the league, but that wasn’t the case.
There were 22 teams in the Premier League and each team had to play 42 games. Villa led the table for most part of the season and after 36 games, the top of the league table looked like this.
Position | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
1 | Aston Villa | 36 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 52 | 33 | 19 | 67 |
2 | Manchester United | 36 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 54 | 28 | 26 | 66 |
Aston Villa drew their next game against Coventry City, while United won their game against Sheffield Wednesday to take a one point lead over Villa. Both teams won their next two games and with three more games to go, Villa were still in touching distance of the title.
Position | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
1 | Manchester United | 39 | 21 | 12 | 6 | 60 | 29 | 31 | 75 |
2 | Aston Villa | 39 | 21 | 11 | 7 | 56 | 34 | 22 | 74 |
Villa’s mental strength was about to be tested and they crumbled. They lost their last three games of the season and in the end United went on to win the title by 10 points.
The first Premier League season was memorable for other reasons also. Norwich led the league table at Christmas with a negative goal difference. They also finished the season in third with such a goal difference. Newly promoted Blackburn Rovers finished in fourth and it was also the last season in charge for Brian Clough, as his Nottingham Forest side were relegated.
#4. Newcastle United (1995-96)
It was the fourth Premier League season and like in the previous three seasons, Manchester United were title contenders once again. Joining Ferguson’s side was Newcastle United, managed by the famous Kevin Keegan.
Newcastle emerged as the favourites to win the title earlier on and when they played Man Utd on December 27, they held a 10 point lead over their rivals. Man Utd went on to win the game 2-0 and cut down Newcastle’s lead to 7 points, but later on, they lost to Spurs and drew with Aston Villa, allowing Newcastle to establish a 12 point lead at the top of the table.
The Geordies were well on course to win the league title, but a defeat to West Ham and draw against Manchester City prior to their game against Manchester United mounted the tension. A goal from Eric Cantona helped Manchester United do a double over Newcastle and also reduced Newcastle’s lead to just one point.
Newcastle were unable to fully recover from their slump and went on to lose 3 out of their next five games, winning the other two. However, United’s draw against QPR and defeat to Southampton breathed new life into the title race going into the final game of the season with table looking in this manner.
Position | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
1 | Manchester United | 37 | 24 | 7 | 6 | 70 | 35 | 35 | 79 |
2 | Newcastle United | 37 | 24 | 5 | 8 | 65 | 36 | 29 | 77 |
#3. Arsenal (2002-03)
Arsenal were the defending champions coming into the 2002-03 Premier League season and it looked like Arsene Wenger would lead the Gunners to back to back league titles. They were in excellent form for most part of the season and after 29 game weeks, they were top of the table with 19 wins, 6 draws and only 4 defeats.
Manchester United were Arsenal’s only major rival for the league title, but Sir Alex Ferguson’s side had lost five games before New Year and were only in contention for the league title after showing some renewed form in the second half of the season. The league table on March 2nd following Arsenal’s win against Charlton Athletic looked like this.
Position | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
1 | Arsenal | 29 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 64 | 30 | 34 | 63 |
2 | Manchester United | 28 | 16 | 7 | 5 | 45 | 26 | 19 | 55 |
Although Manchester United had a game in hand at this point, Arsenal had opened up an eight-point lead over Man Utd after Ferguson’s side drew back to back games against Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers.
Manchester United won their game in hand to cut down Arsenal’s lead to five points and then went on to win four more games on the trot to take the lead thanks to Arsenal’s defeat to Blackburn and draw against Aston Villa. On April 16, the two teams played each other at Highbury and Arsenal had the chance to reclaim the top spot with a win. The table going into the game was this way.
Position | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
1 | Manchester United | 33 | 21 | 7 | 5 | 61 | 29 | 32 | 70 |
2 | Arsenal | 32 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 67 | 34 | 33 | 67 |
United took the lead in the game, but Arsenal fought back to equalise and then controversially took the lead through Henry. Replay clearly showed that Henry was offside when he received the pass that put him through on goal. United being United, reacted immediately and found their equaliser a minute after Henry’s goal.
Arsenal could only manage a draw against United in the crucial game and in their subsequent games, they drew to Bolton Wanderers and then lost to Leeds United at home with only two games remaining. Arsenal’s defeat to Leeds sent the league title to Manchester United and also saved Leeds from relegation.
While Arsenal let their huge lead at one point slip, Manchester United were unbeaten in the league since losing to Middlesbrough on December 26, 2002. In the 18 league games that followed, United picked up 48 out of the maximum possible 54 points.
#2. Manchester United (2011-12)
It was a season during which the Manchester clubs were a cut above the rest of the teams in the league. The two teams were the only title contenders for most part of the season, but the title wasn’t decided till the very last game of the season.
The Citizens got off to a terrific start by winning 12 of their opening 14 games and drawing the other two. During this unbeaten run, they had an emphatic 6-1 win over Man Utd at Old Trafford. However, City’s league season started to crumble in March and early April when they picked up only 5 points from as many games.
United capitalised on City’s poor form and established an eight-point lead over their neighbours. With six games remaining, the top of the table was this way and United were clear favourites to lift the league title once again.
Position | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
1 | Manchester United | 32 | 25 | 4 | 3 | 78 | 27 | 51 | 79 |
2 | Manchester City | 32 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 75 | 26 | 49 | 71 |
Both teams were due to play each other on match day 36 and Man City went on to win their three games prior to that by scoring 12 goals and conceding just 1 in the process. Man Utd on the other hand, had a terrible run. They lost to relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic before winning against Aston Villa. However their title challenge and confidence took a massive hit when they threw away a 3-1 lead against Everton and ended up drawing 4-4 through a late equaliser from Pienaar.
The result left the league table in this manner.
Position | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
1 | Manchester United | 35 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 86 | 32 | 54 | 83 |
2 | Manchester City | 35 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 87 | 27 | 60 | 80 |
Position | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
1 | Manchester City | 36 | 26 | 5 | 5 | 88 | 27 | 61 | 83 |
2 | Manchester United | 36 | 26 | 5 | 5 | 86 | 33 | 53 | 83 |
Man Utd won their next game against Swansea and Man City won theirs against Newcastle. Table-toppers City were hosting relegation-threatened QPR while United were visiting Sunderland for the final game of the season.
Both teams took a first half lead in their respective games, but only Man Utd were able took keep the score in the same manner till the end of the game. In City’s game, QPR dealt a huge blow by scoring two second half goals and taking the lead. The game went to the added time of the second half and City equalised through Dzeko and soon scored again through Aguero to snatch the title from Manchester United’s clutches in the very last minute.
Not only did United blow an eight-point lead, they also went through a heartbreak after being denied the title in the very last minute of the season.
#1. Liverpool (2013-14)
Liverpool’s long wait for a league title extended for over two decades and after missing out on Champions League football for four seasons straight, the major objective for the 2013/14 season was securing Champions League football once again. However, the Merseyside club punched above their weight and mounted an unlikely title challenge which was propelled by goals from Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.
The Reds were top of the table at Christmas after four straight impressive wins against Norwich City, West Ham, Spurs and Cardiff City. But the club slipped to fifth by the New Year after back to back away defeats against fellow title contenders Manchester City and Chelsea.
Liverpool bounced back from this by going on a 16 game unbeaten streak during which they picked up 44 out of the maximum possible 48. This included a crucial win against Manchester City which ensured that Liverpool’s chances winning the title depended only on their performance.
On April 27, 2014, Liverpool were hosting Chelsea. Chelsea’s chances of winning the title was slim at this point and were trouble with injuries to Terry and Cech among others. The Blues had better chances of winning the Champions League and had a crucial semi-final against Atletico Madrid a few days later. Keeping this in mind, Mourinho rested many of the regulars and started some fringe players like Schwarzer, Cole, Ba and Salah. Also among the starters was debutant Tomas Kalas.
At this point, the league table looked like this.
Position | Team | Games Played | Wins | Draws | Defeats | Goals difference | Points |
1 | Liverpool | 35 | 25 | 5 | 5 | 52 | 80 |
2 | Chelsea | 35 | 23 | 6 | 6 | 41 | 75 |
3 | Manchester City | 34 | 23 | 5 | 6 | 56 | 74 |
Although City had a game in hand, Liverpool could afford to draw one game out of their remaining three, but if Liverpool lost a game, then City could go ahead if they won their remaining games due to a superior goal difference.
During the game against Chelsea, disaster struck in the added time of the first half. Steven Gerrard of all people, slipped while receiving a pass from Mamadou Sakho. Demba Ba capitalised on Gerrard’s mistake and found himself through on goal. Ba finished the chance that was gifted to him and put a question mark on Liverpool’s title chances.
Chelsea spent the remaining game trying to waste time and defended deep in their half to hold on to their lead. In the added time of the second half they scored again as Liverpool committed bodies forward.
The table looked like this at the end of the game week.
Position | Team | Games Played | Wins | Draws | Defeats | Goals difference | Points |
1 | Liverpool | 36 | 25 | 5 | 6 | 50 | 80 |
2 | Chelsea | 36 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 43 | 78 |
3 | Manchester City | 35 | 24 | 5 | 6 | 58 | 77 |
Liverpool’s penultimate game of the season was away to Crystal Palace and the Reds took a 3-0 lead in the game. With goal difference being the separator if City won all their games, Liverpool attempted to score more goals at the Selhurst Park. However, the reds ended up conceding three more and dropped two vital points which gave the title to Manchester City on a platter.
Manchester City held their nerves to win their last three games against Everton, Aston Villa and West Ham to lift the title which was Liverpool’s to win at one point.
