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The Premier League is considered to be the most competitive football league in the world. However, somehow, that does not seem to apply to Pep Guardiola's current 2017-18 Manchester City squad.
Brushing apart teams with equal ruthlessness as swag, (as of March 13, 2018), Manchester City are walking unobstructed towards their third Premier League title in their history. With eight games remaining to play, City look all set to wrap up their title victory as early as April 7.
With a victory over neighbors United at home on April 7, Manchester City would be inscribing their name on the Premier League trophy with five matches to go. But where does it rank amongst the earliest title victories in the history of Premier League?
#5 Chelsea (2014/15, three matches remaining)
Games remaining before title victory: Three
Matches won/lost: 26/3
26 April 2015 - Draw (Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea)
29 April 2015 - Win (Leicester City 1-3 Chelsea)
3 May 2015 - Win (Chelsea 1-0 Crystal Palace)*
10 May 2015 - Draw (Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool)
18 May 2015 - Lost (West Bromwich 3-0 Chelsea)
24 May 2015 - Win (Chelsea 3-1 Sunderland)
With just three defeats in the entire season, Chelsea wrapped up their title victory on May 3, 2015, with a 1-0 victory over fellow Londoners Crystal Palace, at Stamford Bridge.
An Eden Hazard goal sent the Blues 16 points clear at the top and that was more than enough to secure the fourth Premier League title in their history.
How did the season pan out?
Jose Mourinho's second season in charge of his return to Chelsea was indeed bountiful. To begin with, Chelsea signed the eccentric Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid and Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona, followed by the re-arrival of their legendary striker Didier Drogba.
At the end of the season, not only did Mourinho end up winning the Premier League Manager of the Season award, but his star player Eden Hazard also managed to scoop up the Premier League Player of the Season and the PFA Players' Player of the Season awards. Additionally, six of the 11 players in the PFA Team of the Year were Chelsea players.
In the end, Chelsea's closest competitors remained Manchester City who struggled to cut down the lead and eventually finished eight points behind Chelsea.
The Blues' spent 274 days at the top of the Premier League, a record high.
While Chelsea always managed to remain at the top at the end of every month, however, on the first day of the new year in 2015, Manchester City managed to equalised Chelsea's point tally (46) as the Blues succumbed to a rare defeat against Tottenham.
A draw and a loss to Everton and Arsenal respectively by Manchester City ensured Chelsea managed to end January as the league leaders and eventually hold on to that lead to win the title.
(* - Bold text indicates the match that sealed their title win)
#4 Manchester United (1999/00, four matches left)
Games remaining before title victory: Four
Matches won/lost: 28/3
15 April 2000 - Win (Manchester United 0-0 Sunderland)
22 April 2000 - Win (Southampton 1-3 Manchester United)
24 April 2000 - Win (Manchester United 3-2 Chelsea)
29 April 2000 - Win (Watford 2-3 Manchester United)
6 May 2000 - Win (Manchester United 3-1 Tottenham Hotspurs)
14 May 2000 - Win (Aston Villa 0-1 Manchester United)
A year after their historic treble, Manchester United managed to defend their Premier League title in 1999-2000 season.
With a 3-1 victory at St. Mary's, United secured their sixth Premier League title in eight seasons. They won in spectacular style with an 18-point margin over second-placed Arsenal at the end of the season and scored 97 goals.
With their stylish title-victory, United became the first team in the Premier League to win a title with four games to spare.
How did the season pan out?
The season had an interesting turn of events for the Red Devils. At the turn of the millennium, having played one match fewer than league leaders Leeds United, Manchester United found themselves chasing the former by a margin of one point on 29 December 1999.
However, by the end of the season, Leeds shockingly gave away their lead and finished 22 points adrift of eventual champions Manchester United at third place.
By the end of Gameweek 30 (8 April - 11 April 2000), United were runaway leaders with second-placed Liverpool 11 points adrift. Meanwhile, with three back-to-back losses, Leeds found themselves third with 60 points against the Red Devils' tally of 73.
Liverpool's momentary form fizzled out while Arsene Wenger's Arsenal finally picked up the pace and eventually finished the season as second, 18 points behind champions Manchester United.
#3 Arsenal (2003/04; Four matches remaining)
Games remaining before title victory: Four
Matches won/lost: 26/0
16 April 2004 - Win (Arsenal 5-0 Leeds United)
25 April 2004 - Draw (Tottenham Hotspurs 2-2 Arsenal)
1 May 2004 - Draw (Arsenal 0-0 Birmingham City)
4 May 2004 - Draw (Portsmouth 1-1 Arsenal)
9 May 2004 - Win (Fulham 0-1 Arsenal)
15 May 2004 - Win (Arsenal 2-1 Leicester City)
Winning titles is one thing, but winning it without losing even once in the entire season calls for mammoth celebrations. To make it even sweeter, the Arsenal Invincibles secured the title at the home of their biggest city rivals - Tottenham Hotspurs.
They finished the season with 90 points - an 11-point margin over second-placed Chelsea. The season was a record-breaking one for the Gunners who not only collected the third Premier League trophy in their history but also finished the season unbeaten - a record of 26 wins and 12 draws.
How did the season pan out?
Halfway through the 2003-04 season with 19 matches played, defending champions Manchester United found themselves at the top of the table with 49 points, while second-placed Arsenal was three points adrift with 46 points.
However, one draw and two defeats (including a dramatic 2-3 loss at home to Middlesbrough), the Red Devils had conceded their lead to Arsenal which was now five points above the defending champions.
A poor run of form saw Ferguson's side lose further ground on their rivals while Arsenal went from strength to strength. By April 2004, Arsenal was now being chased by Claudio Ranieri's Chelsea.
A 2-1 defeat at Newcastle on 25 April 2004, finally made it mathematically impossible for Chelsea to overtake their London rivals and Arsenal ended the season as unbeatable champions!
#2 Manchester United (2012/13, Four matches remaining)
Games remaining before title victory: Four
Matches won/lost: 28/5
17 April 2013 - Draw (West Ham United 2-2 Manchester United)
22 April 2013 - Win (Manchester United 3-0 Aston Villa)
28 April 2013 - Draw (Arsenal 1-1 Manchester United)
5 May 2013 - Lost (Manchester United 0-1 Chelsea)
12 May 2013 - Win (Manchester United 2-1 Swansea)
19 May 2013 - Draw (West Brom 5-5 Manchester United)
To win the Premier League is a big feat, to win it 13 times is genius and that's precisely why Ferguson is regarded as the most successful manager in the Premier League.
United wrapped up their title victory in some style as a Robin van Persie hat-trick sank Aston Villa to give Ferguson the perfect farewell.
The season ended with United notching 89 points (11 points more than second-placed Manchester City).
The season's last match was perhaps the most entertaining one. Leading 5-2 in Ferguson's 1500th game for Manchester United, United conceded three goals in the space of five minutes (all from substitute Romelu Lukaku) to settle the final score as 5-5.
How did the season pan out?
The 2012-13 was a classic Ferguson season (unfortunately it was his last one before retirement). Throughout the season, United left it very late to come back from a goal(s) down to either finish the match as winners or walk away with a point.
United's closest competitors for the throne were defending champions Manchester City who had won their first Premier League title the previous season in dramatic fashion (a last-minute goal by Sergio Aguero in the last match of the season against QPR).
In order to shut their Noisy Neighbours up, Sir Alex was prompted to secure the signature of Robin van Persie from arch-rivals Arsenal.
Although United lost the first match of the season to Everton, the Red Devils soared through the rest of the season with some classic goals by their stunning front-line of Van Persie, Wayne Rooney, and Javier Hernandez.
As early as Gameweek 17, United had already amassed a nine-point lead over their neighbors.
While the difference kept fluctuating, on 22 April 2013, a brilliant hat-trick by the former Arsenal man Van Persie made it mathematically impossible for City to chase down their neighbors and United went on to seal a memorable title victory.
#1 Manchester United (2000/01, Five matches remaining)
Games remaining before title victory: Five
Matches won/lost: 24/6
14 April 2001 - Win(Manchester United 4-2 Coventry City)
21 April 2001 - Draw (Manchester United 1-1 Manchester City)
28 April 2001 - Win (Middlesbrough 0-2 Manchester United)
5 May 2001 - Lost (Manchester United 0-1 Derby County)
13 May 2001 - Lost (Southampton 2-1 Manchester United)
19 May 2001 - Lost (Tottenham Hotspurs 3-1 Manchester United)
Pumping 4 goals against Coventry City, United secured their third successive and seventh Premier League title overall since 1992. But this victory was made even better, as Manchester United became the first and as of March 2018, the only team in 25 years of Premier League to win the title with five games to spare.
United grabbed a total of 80 points (10 points over second-placed Arsenal). With this, United registered the earliest title win ever in the history of Premier League!
How did the season pan out?
Seven weeks into the season, United's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at Highbury saw Leicester City leading the table at the start of October. However, a run of bad results saw the Foxes slip up, while Arsenal and Manchester United battled for the top spot.
By Christmas, most of the bookmakers had closed their books on anyone catching Manchester United, and most of those who believed otherwise were silenced on 25 February when they crushed their nearest rivals Arsenal 6–1 at Old Trafford.
Six weeks later, second-placed Arsenal crashed to a 0-3 home defeat to Middlesbrough.
Meanwhile, up north, Manchester United condemned Coventry City to a 4-2 defeat, which was more than enough for the league leaders to secure their seventh Premier League title with five games to spare.
With this, for the third year running, Arsenal found themselves finishing second to Manchester United.
