Ranking all of the teams ever to win the Premier League is a thankless task. For a start, the game has changed enormously over the three decades since the Premier League began. Is it fair to compare Blackburn Rovers’ mostly English title-winners with the more stellar international names plying their trade at the City of Manchester Stadium in recent years? Can you objectively rate the nostalgia-tinged teams of Barclays seasons past with the modern, sleek machines of the non-branded EPL, or is it a matter of apples and oranges (where the apples are Des Lynam and the oranges are Jake Humphrey)?
Added to which, you rank anything in football and you’re going to piss someone off. You could argue that Eric Cantona had the best eyebrows in football and someone would firebomb your house and paint “Manc scum” on the ruins. It's all about opinions – unless you politely disagree, then you're a fraud who doesn't even look at post-match xG.
This is not simply an exercise in tallying up the number of points each team got in their title-winning season. Of course, the wins, losses and draws are hugely significant in the rankings, but there’s more to it than that – things such as dominance, swagger, goals scored, goals conceded, the strength of the opposition, the extent of the season's superiority and the pressure of the situation must all be taken into account.
Let’s go flying right in, Roy Keane style. It's our Premier League winners ranking – AND IT'S LIVE.
31. Manchester United 1996/97
It seems harsh to rank this team at the bottom, after they won their fourth title in five years and claimed the league by a comfortable seven points. But they only won 21 games, and conceded 44 goals, on their way to the lowest points total by any Premier League-winning side. They also lost 5-0 to Newcastle.
Points: 75
Key player: New signing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was United’s top scorer, netting 18 in only 25 starts. Whatever became of him?
Unsung hero: Fellow Norwegian newbie Ronny Johnsen rarely received the plaudits, but was a solid defensive figure who started 26 games in his first season at Old Trafford.
Defining moment: On the opening day of the season, a young upstart called David Beckham saw Wimbledon keeper Neil Sullivan off his line. From 57 yards out, he let fly… and a legend was born.
30. Arsenal 1997/98
Arsène Wenger’s side won the double in his first full season in charge, claiming the league by a single point from Manchester United, in spite of scoring a paltry 68 goals. Arsenal overcame a 12-point United lead with a 16-match unbeaten run.
Points: 78
Key player: Dennis Bergkamp scored 16 goals and registered 12 assists and was named the PFA and Football Writers’ Association Player Of The Year.
Unsung hero: As the season reached its business end, Emmanuel Petit stepped up with some superb performances to guide Arsenal home, form he took into the 1998 World Cup…
Defining moment: There can have been few more joyous goals scored at Highbury than when Tony Adams galloped through to claim his side’s fourth against Everton in a victory that sealed the title.
29. Manchester United 1998/99
There will be plenty who baulk at the lowly status of the treble winners – but this list is based on league form only. They famously left their Champions League win late, but the league was a bit squeaky-bum as well – they had to come from behind to beat Spurs on the last day of the season to claim the title by a point from Arsenal. They only lost three league games all campaign, though.
Points: 79
Key player: Beckham racked up eleven assists in the league and finished runner-up to Rivaldo as European and World Player Of The Year.
Unsung hero: In his final season at United, Peter Schmeichel was as imperious as ever.
Defining moment: Super-sub Solskjaer scored four goals in the final ten minutes as United recorded an 8-1 win away to Nottingham Forest.
28. Manchester United 2010/11
United overtook Liverpool with their 19th championship, in a season where they only dropped two points at home – to, er, West Brom. They also became one of only six teams to beat all other 19 Premier League teams in a single season.
Points: 80
Key player: Dimitar Berbatov shared the golden boot with Carlos Tevez, scoring 20 goals, including a hat-trick against Liverpool and five goals against Blackburn.
Unsung hero: Javier Hernández will not be remembered as a United great, but his 13 goals this season proved vital.
Defining moment: A 3-1 win against Aston Villa on 1 February equalled the club record of 29 league games undefeated.
27. Manchester United 2002/03
United overcame an eight-point deficit to Arsenal by remaining unbeaten from 28 December to the end of the season, eventually winning the league by five points. In his first season at the club, Rio Ferdinand justified his £29 million price tag, while up front Ruud van Nistelrooy scored 25 goals.
Points: 83
Key player: Paul Scholes netted 14 goals from midfield and was the only United player in the PFA Team Of The Year.
Unsung hero: In a defence featuring stellar centre-backs Ferdinand and Laurent Blanc, John O’Shea played more than both in the league’s most parsimonious defence.
Defining moment: With the momentum tipping United’s way in the title race, the top two sides met at Highbury in April, with Arsenal desperate for a win. In a fiery game, a Thierry Henry double put the Gunners 2-1 up before a Ryan Giggs equaliser and a Sol Campbell red card ruined things for the hosts.
26. Manchester United 1992/93
United won the inaugural Premier League, their first title for 26 years. How times change! They finished ahead of Aston Villa and Norwich. Blimey, how times change! But United scored a paltry 67 goals, only four more than Oldham, who finished in 19th place.
Points: 84
Key player: A Frenchman (with marvellous eyebrows) moved from Leeds to Manchester in November, in what may still be the Premier League’s most impactful transfer. With nine goals in 21 starts, Eric Cantona played a huge role in this, and subsequent, championships.
Unsung hero: Steve Bruce was ever-present at centre-back and scored two vital late goals to claim a 2-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday and take United two clear of Villa with five to play. Plus, a notable mention for the talismanic “Captain Marvel”, Bryan Robson.
Defining moment: On 2 September, Crystal Palace visited Old Trafford. Eric Young and Dion Dublin went for the same ball and Dublin ended up with a broken leg. United went looking for a replacement and their eyes fell upon Elland Road…
25. Manchester United 1995/96
The Premier League’s first 38-game season saw a two-horse race between the Uniteds of Newcastle and Manchester. The Magpies had a 12-point lead in January, but were relentlessly reined in by the Mancunian juggernaut, who took the title on the last day of the season.
Points: 82
Key player: United struggled before the return of Cantona in October, following his eight-month ban for a terrible Bruce Lee impersonation at Selhurst Park. The Frenchman clocked up 14 goals and ten assists thereafter.
Unsung hero: Alan Hansen famously claimed that United would “win nothing with kids” in August. Twenty-year-old Gary Neville was the sole United representative in the PFA Team Of The Season.
Defining moment: Kevin Keegan’s infamous “I will luv it” rant was the epitome of the wheels coming off a clown car, a sure-fire sign that Newcastle were starting to implode.
24. Manchester United 2000/01
For the third season running, United finished top and Arsenal second. This was no close-run thing, though – the Red Devils won by ten points, despite losing their last three games. With the attacking talents of Teddy Sheringham, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Solskjaer, Beckham, Scholes and Giggs sharing the goals, United scored eight more than anyone else in the league.
Points: 80
Key player: In his last season at United, Sheringham scored 15 goals and claimed the PFA and FWA Player Of The Year awards.
Unsung hero: Fabien Barthez cemented his place as starting keeper in his first season at Old Trafford and promptly set about marshalling the league’s most successful defence.
Defining moment: The gulf between United and Arsenal was emphasised when the sides met in February and Yorke scored a hat-trick in the first 22 minutes, on the way to a 6-1 win.
23. Arsenal 2001/02
A five-way battle for the title, involving Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle saw the lead change a record 29 times over the season. Arsenal seized the initiative by remaining unbeaten after Christmas and winning their last 13 games to finish seven points above Liverpool. For good measure, they also won the FA Cup.
Points: 87
Key player: Robert Pires, the magically gifted French winger, scored nine goals and clocked up 15 assists in the league, on his way to being named FWA Footballer Of The Year.
Unsung hero: Not exactly unsung, but Freddie Ljungberg deserves mention for his superb form during a tense run-in, scoring vital goals in five consecutive games in April.
Defining moment: Arsenal had the singular pleasure of claiming the title with a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in their penultimate game. Sylvain Wiltord’s goal ensured Arsenal not only won the league, but remained unbeaten away all season.
22. Chelsea 2014/15
From a season where the lead changed hands 29 times to one where the same side led from gun to tape (if anyone writes in to point out that they were second on goal difference in week two we will go full Cantona on them). The returning José Mourinho, plus the arrival of Diego Costa and Cesc Fàbregas, brought new impetus to Stamford Bridge and the Blues won the league by eight points over Manchester City.
Points: 87
Key player: While Costa scored 20 goals, Eden Hazard chipped in with 14 goals and nine assists and won the Premier League, PFA and Football Writers’ Player Of The Year awards.
Unsung hero: Think Cesc Fàbregas and you tend to think Arsenal, but he managed a remarkable 18 assists in the league in his first season at Chelsea.
Defining moment: Chelsea’s relentless march to the title wasn’t characterised by a plethora of goals, but their early season trip to Goodison Park saw them run out 6-3 winners in a very un-Mourinho-esque performance.
21. Leicester City 2015/16
We want to put them higher. Of course we do. It’s the best footballing story in our lifetime. Relegation favourites, 5,000-1 cannon fodder, managed by the man fired by Greece after defeat against the Faroe Islands and they go and win the league by ten points. It’s a fairy story and one the world fell in love with. But honestly, even 21st is a bit generous. They played the league to perfection – but we'd fancy this season's Championship Leicester side to give them a game.
Points: 81
Key player: Honestly, you can’t split three of them. Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez provided the magic up front while the extraordinary N’Golo Kanté did the work of three men in his tireless midfield displays.
Unsung hero: Pretty much everyone else.
Defining moment: Vardy’s goal in a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford was the eleventh game running in which he’d scored, beating Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record. Four years previously, Vardy had been playing for non-league Fleetwood Town. Nothing is impossible, kids.
20. Manchester United 2007/08
What can you say about a team who scored the most goals, conceded the fewest and won the most games? They may have only finished two points above Chelsea and four above Arsenal, but that does not reflect their dominance. In the same season, they beat Avram Grant’s Chelsea in the Champions League final.
Points: 87
Key player: Cristiano Ronaldo scored a remarkable 31 league goals over the season – eleven more than Derby County.
Unsung hero: While Ronaldo was getting all the plaudits at one end of the field, Nemanja Vidić was marshalling the league’s meanest defence and winning a place in the PFA Team Of The Year for the second season running.
Defining moment: United came up against Newcastle in January, needing to win to go top on goal difference. Things were finely balanced at 0-0 at half-time; by full time, they’d won 6-0. A month later, they won the return fixture 5-1. Shay Given must still be having nightmares.
19. Manchester United 2008/09
Ninety points isn’t a bad return over a season, but in many ways this side was less dominant than the one that had won the previous campaign. Indeed, second-placed Liverpool had a better goal difference, beat Manchester United home and away and only lost two games, compared to United’s four. But United were ruthlessly efficient and only conceded 24 goals all season.
Points: 90
Key player: Giggs was the PFA Player Of The Year and, besides, we can’t not give him “key player” status at least once on this list.
Unsung hero: Edwin van der Sar kept 21 clean sheets in the league, including a record 14 in a row, between 15 November and 18 February.
Defining moment: With the league very much in the balance in late April, United found themselves 2-0 down to Spurs at half-time. But 45 minutes later, they’d wrapped up a comfortable 5-2 win. After all, lads, it’s Tottenham…
18. Manchester United 2012/13
Having lost out to the upstarts from across town with the last kick of the previous season, United were desperate to mark Sir Alex Ferguson’s final campaign in charge with the title. In the end, they did so at a canter, winning the league with five games left to go. It still seems like a peculiar cheese dream, seeing Robin van Persie in a United shirt, but it definitely happened, because he won the golden boot this season with 26 goals.
Points: 89
Key player: After a difficult first season at Old Trafford, David de Gea had considered leaving the club. Instead, he stayed, won a champions’ medal and claimed the keeper’s spot in the PFA Team of the Year.
Unsung hero: His unflashy style meant Michael Carrick was always rated more highly by his peers than the watching public, but this season was among his finest. His superb vision and ability to pass short or long saw him named in the PFA Team of the Year and voted Player of the Season by his teammates at United.
Defining moment: The title was already won, but United wanted to send Fergie off in style following his 26 years at the club. With ten minutes to go, they were cruising at 5-2 up against West Brom – only for the Baggies to get three late goals and claim an unlikely 5-5 draw. Time for one last blast of the hairdryer?
17. Manchester City 2013/14
An absolutely fascinating title race that saw the lead change hands 25 times was finally concluded on the last day of the season, when City beat West Ham 2-0. But, in truth, the title race was decided in a game that didn’t involve City at all. It was more than a little tragic that it was Liverpool’s talismanic captain, Steven Gerrard, who slipped to allow Demba Ba in to score for Chelsea in the defeat that ultimately sealed the title for Manuel Pellegrini’s team. But some of City’s football was breathtaking and they clocked up an extraordinary 102 league goals (one more than Liverpool).
Points: 86
Key player: Yaya Touré finished as the side’s top scorer, netting 20 from midfield, including some absolutely gorgeous free kicks.
Unsung hero: Pablo Zabaleta was Mr Consistent and played more league games than any other City player over the season.
Defining moment: Tempting to say Gerrard’s howler, but let’s go with their comprehensive 4-1 win over champions Manchester United in September. It summed up the direction both sides were heading in, as United finished seventh.
16. Blackburn Rovers 1994/95
One of the great season climaxes saw Blackburn win the title at Anfield despite losing to Liverpool, while Manchester United dominated their way to a 1-1 draw against West Ham. Blackburn’s fabled SAS partnership was secured when Rovers paid a record £5m for Chris Sutton ahead of the season. The pair scored 49 goals between them, as Blackburn claimed their first title since 1914.
Points: 89
Key player: Who else? Alan Shearer scored a remarkable 34 goals, winning the golden boot nine clear of Robbie Fowler.
Unsung hero: Mark Atkins. If you were to name the title-winning team, how many of you would remember Atkins? Yet he anchored the midfield in 34 games and scored six goals.
Defining moment: Funnily enough, the defining moment in this title battle didn’t involve Blackburn Rovers at all. Did it, Eric? Eric??? Oh, Eric…
15. Chelsea 2009/10
The points total may have been fairly unremarkable, but the performances were anything but. Chelsea finished the season with a (then) record goal difference of +71. They may have only pipped an unlucky Manchester United to the title by a point, but they did it in style. In his first season in charge, Carlo Ancelotti wasted little time in bringing verve and prowess to Chelsea’s front line and was rewarded with an extraordinary 103 goals. These included four games where they scored seven or more.
Points: 86
Key player: Take your pick between Golden Boot winner Didier Drogba, with 29 goals, or Frank Lampard, who netted 22 times from midfield.
Unsung hero: Branislav Ivanović replaced the injured José Bosingwa in October and made the right-back slot his own with some magnificent, fully committed performances.
Defining moment: Going into the final game of the season, Chelsea had to beat Wigan to ensure they won the title. They squeaked it 8-0.
14. Manchester City 2011/12
Manchester City’s first Premier League title was claimed in the most dramatic circumstances, thanks to a 94th-minute winner to beat QPR 3-2. But this excellent team, boasting the attacking talents of Sergio Agüero, Edin Džeko, Mario Balotelli and Tevez, scored 93 goals and conceded only 29. They also clocked up a 6-1 win at Old Trafford, Fergie’s worst-ever home defeat there. Manchester United will always rue their missed opportunity, having been eight points ahead with six games to go.
Points: 89
Key player: For all the goalscoring prowess, it was the leadership and defensive nous of Vincent Kompany that gave this team such solidity and made them so hard to beat.
Unsung hero: Joe Hart’s decline from England’s number one was precipitous, so it’s easy to overlook just how brilliant he once was, including this season, where he kept 17 clean sheets.
Defining moment: “Agueeeeerrrroooooooooo!” Martin Tyler must still be sucking lozenges after the Argentine’s 94th-minute winner. Which, in turn, came after Džeko's 92nd-minute equaliser, in the single most dramatic denouement to a game in Premier League history.
13. Manchester United 2006/07
Roy Keane had been such a talismanic figure for Manchester United, many feared they would crumble in their first season without him. Instead, they put in a dominant display, winning the league by six points and scoring 19 more goals than anyone else. They also conceded only 27 goals and their back five of Van der Sar, Neville, Patrice Evra, Ferdinand and Vidić all made the PFA Team of the Year.
Points: 89
Key player: With 17 goals, this was far from Cristiano Ronaldo’s most prolific season, but his sparkling wing play saw him clean-sweep the awards, winning the gongs voted for by players, fans, football writers, the Young Player and the Premier League Player of the Season.
Unsung hero: This much-vaunted United defence has had its share of plaudits, but Wes Brown started almost half the league games this season and never let his team down. His contribution remains largely ignored. We see you, Wes!
Defining moment: In their penultimate away game of the season, with the title still up for grabs, United visited Manchester City. In a game of two penalties, Ronaldo scored his, while van der Sar saved Darius Vassell’s effort. The following day, Chelsea failed to beat Arsenal and the title was sealed.
12. Manchester City 2022/23
Remember, this is the best Premier League teams: a team that lost five games in a season and didn't break the 90-point mark won't be standing on the podium, no matter the success elsewhere. The order of the day for Manchester City's most recent title was an unerring, unsettling march of consistency at the top of the chasing pack – something that stood in contrast to Arsenal's panic at actually being very good, culminating in a last-gasp capitulation and yet another City title.
Points: 89
Key player: Could it be anyone else? Erling Haaland arrived in the Premier League and decided to dismantle what we thought it took to be a great striker. 36 goals and 8 assists in 35 games sank the hearts of opposition players and fans across the land.
Unsung hero: Not quite unsung, but without İlkay Gündoğan's outstanding last couple of months in Manchester, City might not have won anything. Captain Fantastic.
Defining moment: A prowling City took apart title rivals Arsenal in a 4-1 April demolishing that proved each team's differing trajectories. Nine months of chasing turned into a procession.
11. Manchester United 1993/94
Most of the teams from the Premier League’s first decade occupy the lower positions on this list. Manchester United’s second EPL-winning team is the exception. With the monkey off their backs following the previous season’s triumph, they romped to victory, leading from week four to the season’s conclusion (albeit only by goal difference in April).
Points: 92
Key player: For the second season running, Cantona inspired his teammates to the title, with 18 goals and 12 assists earning him the PFA Player of the Season award.
Unsung hero: Denis Irwin was the only Manchester United player to feature in every game of the season, was able to play in either full-back position and was a dab hand at free kicks and penalties.
Defining moment: Once upon a time, £3.75m could buy you the most expensive player in British football. When Roy Keane signed from Nottingham Forest, the seeds were sown for an already strong United team to dominate proceedings for the next decade.
10. Manchester City 2020/21
It might seem strange to place them this high up, but here, context is king. City finished 12 points clear of second-placed Manchester United: taking the lead in the title race by the end of January, City went on a 15-match unbeaten run to go 15 points clear by March, and won the league with three games to spare. Through empty stadia and COVID restrictions, they showed a level of concentration degrees above the competition, deservedly winning the league at an eventual canter.
Points: 86
Key player: Defenders never usually get the plaudits, but Rúben Dias won Premier League Player of the Season, FWA Player of the Year and Manchester City Player of the Year ahead of De Bruyne after only joining the club in September 2020. He helped City shut up shop, conceding less than a goal a game and finishing with 19 clean sheets.
Unsung hero: Gundogan had a knack for dragging City up the table. In a rotating team, the man they call Mr Whippy top scored with 13 goals in 28 appearances.
Defining moment: A top vs bottom switcheroo at the end of January kick-started a run to the title, when City beat West Brom 5-0 and their city rivals lost 2-1 to Sheffield United. The blue side of Manchester never looked back.
9. Chelsea 2005/06
By the standards set in his first season in charge, Mourinho’s second title-winning Chelsea side was a vague disappointment. By any other measure, it was a phenomenal success. His team conceded only 22 goals all season and kept 20 clean sheets. They won 18 of their 19 home games and won 14 of their first 16 matches.
Points: 91
Key player: Frank Lampard was the side’s top scorer, with 16 goals from midfield.
Unsung hero: While John Terry grabbed more of the headlines, William Gallas proved an accomplished presence alongside his skipper at centre-back and even outscored him five to four on the league goals front.
Defining moment: On 24 August, Chelsea beat West Brom 4-0, with goals from Lampard (two), Joe Cole and Drogba, and went top of the table. They stayed there for the rest of the season.
8. Arsenal 2003/04
The Invincibles. A team for the ages. A unique achievement, an entire league season undefeated. Theirs was a remarkable campaign – so why are they not at the very top end of the table? Well, in truth, they didn’t score that many goals (73) or win that many games (26). But when they were good – with the mesmeric talents of Henry, Bergkamp, Pires and Ljungberg – they were so, so good. You’d have not bet, back then, that they wouldn’t have won another title since. Who knows: this year could be the one…
Points: 90
Key player: Thierry Henry scored 30 goals (so many of them brilliant) and won the golden boot by eight. He was also voted Player Of The Year by his peers, journalists and fans.
Unsung hero: This season saw Ashley Cole at the peak of his powers. The ugly transfer saga was still a couple of seasons away and, for now at least, Arsenal could luxuriate in having perhaps the world’s best left-back.
Defining moment: In April, with the historic undefeated season now a realistic possibility, Arsenal went into half-time 2-1 down at home to Liverpool. A Henry hat trick, and one from Pires, took them to a 4-2 victory.
7. Manchester City 2021/22
Poor old Liverpool. Were it not for the arrival of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Reds would have been well on course to cementing their reputation as one of the Premier League's most successful clubs. As it is, they've seen Manchester City pip them by one point twice, the second instance of which happened in the 21/22 season. It could've been so different: City almost squandered a 13-point lead when Liverpool went on a 10-game winning run. A tetchy 2-2 draw between them at the Etihad preserved City's slender lead in mid-April, and they held on, coming back from 2-0 down on the final day to clinch the title by a solitary point.
93 points should be enough to put you in the top five, but City's January disintegration and need for a final-day miracle relegates the class of 2021/22 to the Europa League.
Points: 93
Key player: You can't look past Kevin De Bruyne, who topped both of City's goals and assists tables, was picked for the PFA Team of the Year and won the Premier League Player of the Year. The man can pick out a pass.
Unsung hero: João Cancelo was key at both ends of the pitch, contributing to the team's 20 clean sheets and managing seven assists – while becoming one of Fantasy Football's darlings of the season.
Defining moment: As in 2011/12, the defining moment came, fittingly, on the final day. 2-0 down to Aston Villa after 69 minutes, super-sub Gündoğan (once again) and Rodri saved City's bacon, scoring three goals between them in the space of six minutes to match Liverpool's result and win the league.
6. Chelsea 2016/17
The previous season had seen the defending champions from Stamford Bridge finish tenth, but this season Chelsea roared back to the title with an impressive 93 points and a record 30 league wins. Antonio Conte’s side recovered from a slow start to reward their manager with the title in his first season at the club, with Diego Costa and Eden Hazard scoring 36 goals between them. Spurs, in second place, seven points back, may have scored more and conceded fewer, but Chelsea’s sheer relentlessness proved irresistible.
Points: 93
Key player: The midfield energy of N’Golo Kanté took his side to the title for the second season running, after his success with Leicester the previous year. He won the Premier League, PFA and FWA Player of the Season awards.
Unsung hero: In September, Marcos Alonso made his debut for the club. He instantly became an indispensable cog in the Chelsea wheel and scored six goals from left-back.
Defining moment: In September, Chelsea followed up a draw with Swansea and a defeat to Liverpool by going in 3-0 down to Arsenal at half-time. At that point, Conte switched to a back three for the first time. They still lost 3-0, but the formation that would lead them to the title was now in place.
5. Manchester United 1999/2000
In one of the most dominant seasons ever, United won the league by a chasmic 18 points, scoring 97 goals in the process, with Dwight Yorke (20) and Andy Cole (19) leading the charge, fed by the sparkling wing play of Ryan Giggs and David Beckham.
Points: 91
Key player: Roy Keane started the season embroiled in a contract dispute and ended it as the undisputed best player in the league, duly recognised by both his peers and journalists.
Unsung hero: Jaap Stam, the defensive rock upon which so many attacks foundered, played more league games than anyone else at the club this season.
Defining moment: Arsenal lost their long unbeaten record at Highbury in August, when a Keane double saw United claim the spoils in a dramatic 2-1 win. The die was cast.
4. Chelsea 2004/05
In June 2004 José Mourinho arrived at Chelsea, fresh from Champions League success with Porto, and instigated a revolution. Gone was the famed King's Road swagger, replaced by utter defensive ruthlessness. Chelsea kept a record 25 clean sheets, conceded a (remarkable) record low of 15 goals and won a then-record 29 games.
Points: 95
Key player: Hard to pick between the two Chelsea stalwarts of Lampard (top scorer with 13 goals) and Terry (dominant figure in the league’s best-ever defence). They shared the season’s awards between them.
Unsung hero: Goalkeepers tend to get more blame than adulation, but in his first season at Chelsea Petr Cech had more clean sheets than Stamford Bridge’s two on-site hotels, including ten in a row.
Defining moment: When Mourinho arrived to replace Claudio Ranieri (whatever happened to him after that?) he declared himself the “Special One”. Somewhat annoyingly, he was absolutely right.
3. Manchester City 2018/19
Into the podium positions now and this extraordinary battle for the title between Liverpool and Manchester City. That Liverpool clocked up 97 points and lost only one game all season and still didn’t win the league tells you all you need to know about Pep Guardiola’s magnificent City side, who scored 95 goals, conceded only 23 and won their last 14 games.
Points: 98
Key player: Fernandinho. In a team boasting the midfield attacking talents of two Silvas, Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sané, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling, the defensive midfielder has some heavy lifting to do. The Brazilian was man of the match in the defeat of Liverpool upon which the season hinged and it’s no coincidence that he was injured when his teammates lost to Crystal Palace and Leicester in December.
Unsung hero: Vincent Kompany, the team’s iconic skipper, was absent for much of the campaign, but made arguably the single most crucial contribution – a fabulous winning goal against Leicester City with 20 minutes left in the penultimate game of the season.
Defining moment: It all came down to 1.12cm. That was how far the ball was from being over the line when John Stones cleared it in City’s 2-1 win over Liverpool. On such tiny margins are dreams made and broken.
2. Liverpool 2019/20
Liverpool’s first title win in 30 years was extraordinary in many ways. Not least among them was the fact that they claimed the title earlier than any other team, in terms of games played (with seven games left) and later than any other team, in that it was 25 June (thanks, COVID). It saw them claim the second-highest points total ever, equal the most wins in a season (32) and the most consecutive wins. Of their first 27 games, they won 26 and drew one (before losing 3-0 to relegation-bound Watford – go figure!) If the pandemic hadn’t intervened (Liverpool’s form slumped thereafter) it’s likely the all-time points record would have been broken. Nothing should detract from the sheer magnificence of that team in that one, glorious, profoundly weird season.
Points: 99
Key player: Virgil van Dijk was already widely recognised as having made the difference for Liverpool, turning them from nearly men into European and Premier League champions. But his absence in the current campaign has confirmed just how vital he is to his team’s fortunes.
Unsung hero: Jordan Henderson might not have been the most eye-catching member of the team, but with his all-action, tough tackling, non-stop approach to the game, he was crucial to the way the team operated. We're sure his new bosses in Saudi Arabia are delighted to have him.
Defining moment: In a season that featured some glittering football from the likes of Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino et al, the club’s best moment came when none of them were on the field. Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Manchester City on 25 June, sealed by Willian’s 78th-minute penalty, was the cue for some not-entirely COVID-safe celebrations in Liverpool.
1. Manchester City 2017/18
So, here it is. Top spot. Obviously, 99 per cent of you will be outraged, such is the partisan nature of football. But if you actually put tribal allegiances aside (we say optimistically) it’s difficult to argue against this remarkable side. The only team in top-flight history to notch up 100 points, they won the title with five games to spare, scoring a record 106 goals. The records continue: the most consecutive wins (18), the best goal difference (+79), the biggest points margin (19), the most wins (32). They enjoyed eleven consecutive away wins and beat every other team in the division.
Going forward, Pep Guardiola’s team was irresistible. Sergio Agüero scored 21 goals in only 25 starts, while Raheem Sterling scored 18 goals and contributed eleven assists and the magician Kevin De Bruyne managed eight goals on top of his league-high 16 assists. Throw into the equation David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Sané (PFA Young Player of the Year), Gündoğan and Gabriel Jesus and you had an embarrassment of attacking riches.
But this was a team that also had the best defensive record in the division, conceding only 27 goals. The contributions of Ederson, John Stones, Kyle Walker and Nicolás Otamendi, shielded by the brilliant defensive midfield work of the invaluable Fernandinho, made City not just devastating going forward, but obdurate and disciplined at the back.
Points: 100
Key player: Kevin De Bruyne’s 16 assists and eight goals in the league were impressive enough, but only told half the story. His extraordinary vision and anticipation, allied to his eye-of-the-needle passing and a work rate rare in such a creative player, saw him win a place in both the PFA and UEFA Teams of the Year.
Unsung hero: Nicolás Otamendi was the best centre-back in the best defence in the league, played more games than any other defender, contributed four goals, won the Etihad Player of the Month for December and was named in the PFA Team of the Season by his peers.
Defining moment: Of course, players will tell you that they just want to win silverware for their club and records don’t really matter to them. But the celebrations when Gabriel Jesus scored a 94th-minute winner in the last game of the season against Southampton, to see them over the 100-point line, told a very different story.
