Chelsea extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table following a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland. With the victory on Wednesday, they scripted their 10th successive win in the league and are on the threshold of creating a new record for the longest winning streak in the Premier League history.
After the 3-0 drubbing at Arsenal, Antonio Conte changed Chelsea’s style of play by shifting to a 3-4-3 formation. The change seems to have worked wonders for the Stamford Bridge side as they have won every single game since then.
In a busy December schedule, Chelsea will face the likes of Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Stoke City before the end of 2016. However, even if they manage to win all the remaining games of the year they will still not have broken the Premier League record. On that note, here we take a look at the longest winning streaks in Premier League history.
11 wins - Chelsea (April to September 2009)
Guus Hiddink took over the reigns as the interim manager when Luis Felip Scolari was sacked by Roman Abramovich. The Australian manager was successful in his short tenure as the Blues boss leading his side to a Champions League semi-final.
Towards the end of his spell, Hiddink enjoyed a winning streak of five games winning against West Ham, Fulham, Arsenal, Blackburn and Sunderland and guided Chelsea to a third-place finish in the Premier League.
Carlo Ancelotti was appointed as Chelsea’s boss at the start of the next season. The Italian boss tasted success immediately after joining the London-based side and stitched together six consecutive wins to start the Premier League campaign. Atlas, the winning run came to an end when Wigan notched up a surprise victory, but Chelsea went on to win the league.
11 wins - Manchester City (April to September 2015)
Manchester City ended the 2014-15 season on a high note winning six consecutive games although Chelsea went on to win the league. The winning run started with a 2-0 win against West Ham at the Etihad Stadium in April.
They started the next season with aplomb winning their first five fixtures in the Premier League. Ironically, the winning run came to an end with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham at the Etihad Stadium. Still, everyone tipped Manuel Pellegrini’s side to win the title at the end of the season.
However, the football gods had something else in mind as Leicester City endured a fairy-tale season in England. They claimed the league title with Manchester City eventually finishing fourth in the league after suffering a further slump midway through their campaign.
11 wins - Manchester United (December 2008 to March 2009)
Manchester United had just returned from the Club World Cup and were facing Stoke City on Boxing Day of 2008. They were 3rd in the league as Liverpool were racing ahead in the title chase. The 1-0 win at Stoke on that day set something in motion.
United went on to win 11 straight games in the league right up till 4 March 2009. The streak was brought to an end by Liverpool themselves when they won 4-1 at Old Trafford. However, by then it was a little too late.
This was around the same time that Rafael Benitez, the then manager of Liverpool, had just read out his list of “facts” in the famous press conference. Atlas, Sir Alex Ferguson had the last laugh winning the league for the third consecutive time and equalling Liverpool’s record of 18 league titles in England.
11 wins - Liverpool (February to April 2014)
Every Liverpool fan remembers the 2013-14 season. It was the season where they almost went past the “we will win next season” to “we will win this season”. Until, of course, a rather unfortunate slip cost them the title.
This was also the season when the club enjoyed their longest winning streak in the Premier League. Liverpool won 11 consecutive games which started with a resounding 5-1 victory over Arsenal. In that period of 11 games, Liverpool scored an astonishing 38 goals, spearheaded by none other than Luis Suarez.
They were on the verge of a Premier League triumph after a gap of 24 years. Alas, it was not to be. The winning streak came to an end when Liverpool suffered a 0-2 loss to Chelsea at Anfield which effectively ended their title hopes as well.
12 wins - Manchester United (March to August 2000)
Manchester United dominated in England in the 1999-2000 season. Coming off the back of a treble winning campaign, Sir Alex Ferguson’s team went on to win the title with a humongous 18-point margin.
On their way to a 13th English League title, the Red Devils stitched together a winning streak of 11 games starting with a 3-1 win against Derby County at Old Trafford in March 2000. In this stretch, if 11 games they thumped in 37 goals with Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke leading the attack.
They started the 2000-01 campaign with a 2-0 victory over Newcastle which stretched their winning run to a record 12 games. This was a Premier League record at that time. Atlas, as all good things should come to an end, United drew 1-1 against Ipswich Town in the next game to end their streak.
14 wins - Arsenal (February to August 2002)
The only feat that comes close to rivalling the achievements of the ‘invincibles’ of 2004 was achieved by none other than Arsenal. A winning streak of 14 games – a record, not only in the Premier League but also in England.
Arsenal went on stitch together 13 back to back victories to seal the title back in 2002. The run started in February with a 1-0 win against Everton and carried through the rest of the season. It also included a title-winning victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
They started the next season with a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City to stretch the run to an incredible 14 games. However, it all came to an end when Arsenal drew 2-2 against West Ham United.
Nevertheless, the record still stands in England and have only been matched thrice, and all three being in the 2nd division. Manchester United in 1904-05, Bristol City the following season and Preston in 1950-51 all won 14 consecutive games in the 2nd division.
