Title races are one of the best elements of soccer and the Premier League so often supplies.
There is no better domestic achievement than winning the league title, and the Premier League is regarded, in the modern day, as the hardest major league to win.
What makes a great title race, though? It can be the fact that one team threw away a massive lead, it can be an underdog mixing it with the established giants, or the simple factor of there being more than two teams in the fight right until the end.
With all of that in mind, here is Sports Illustrated’s ranking of the best Premier League title races that we have ever seen.
10. 1995–96 (Man Utd)
One of the reasons that this title became so iconic was Alan Hansen’s early season proclamation that, ‘You can’t win anything with kids.’ A Manchester United side with four players aged 21 or under had just lost to Aston Villa. Experience had left the team in the summer and Eric Cantona had not yet come back from his lengthy ban.
It seemed for all the world that Kevin Keegan’s entertaining Newcastle side would win the Premier League, as they had a 12-point lead with 15 games to go. Man Utd never know when they’re done though, and Cantona’s return from an eight-month suspension was crucial to them reeling the Magpies in.
Keegan produced his famous ‘I would love it if we beat them’ interview in response to some Sir Alex Ferguson comments, but Man Utd won the league by four points with Newcastle running out of steam.
| Position | Team | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Man Utd | +38 | 82 |
| 2. | Newcastle | +29 | 78 |
9. 2023–24 (Man City)
The 2023–24 title race had the makings of an all-timer, and although it was decided on the final day, there was an inevitability regarding the victor.
Liverpool looked to compete until the last as part of a thrilling three-horse race, but their April collapse left Arsenal as the sole competition to Manchester City’s throne.
The Gunners were outstanding, winning 16 of their last 18 games to record their highest points tally since the Invincibles. However, City were similarly unrelenting with their last defeat arriving on Dec. 6. They matched Arsenal stride for stride, with the ease at which Pep Guardiola’s side dispatched opponents removing any serious jeopardy.
There was a lack of tension for a race so tight, although City could’ve surrendered their crown had Son Heung-min struck for Tottenham late on in their penultimate game of the season.
| Position | Team | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Man City | +62 | 91 |
| 2. | Arsenal | +62 | 89 |
| 3. | Liverpool | +45 | 82 |
8. 1994–95 (Blackburn Rovers)
This title race ticks two major boxes: a non-traditional winner and excellent final-day drama.
Blackburn Rovers had not won the top flight of English football since 1914 but they had become a real force under owner Jack Walker. The incredible strike partnership of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton proved too good to stop.
On the final day of the season, a very late Jamie Redknapp goal meant that Blackburn had been beaten 2–1 by Liverpool. Fans and coach Kenny Dalglish were in shock waiting to hear what Man Utd had done against West Ham, as a win would have snatched the title away from Blackburn.
News filtered through that the Red Devils had missed a host of chances and only drawn and Blackburn were the champions.
| Position | Team | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Blackburn Rovers | +41 | 89 |
| 2. | Man Utd | +49 | 88 |
7. 1998–99 (Man Utd)
A two-way title race is great, but the more the merrier, right?
Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea served up a cracker in the 1998–99 season with Ferguson’s side coming out on top by just a single point. Chelsea, led by player-manager Gianluca Vialli, were the leaders at the halfway stage after a 21-game unbeaten run.
The run was halted by Arsenal and then a run of three draws in April meant it was curtains for Chelsea. Man Utd had started poorly but after losing to Middlesbrough in December, they did not lose again, ending the season with a home game against Tottenham to win the Premier League, then the FA Cup final against Newcastle, and finally the Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
They won the lot, and one of the greatest seasons ever was completed. There was final-day drama, though, because Man Utd fell behind to Tottenham, but fought back to ensure that Arsenal’s win over Aston Villa did not matter.
| Position | Team | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Man Utd | +43 | 79 |
| 2. | Arsenal | +62 | 78 |
| 3. | Chelsea | +27 | 75 |
6. 2009–10 (Chelsea)
It is another title race involving Man Utd, but this time, Chelsea came out on top. With the teams finishing on 86 and 85 points, the real interest here was just how good they both were. It wasn’t normal at this time for two teams to get so many points.
Chelsea arguably did everybody a favor as this would have been Man Utd’s fourth consecutive title. The decisive moment was a 2–1 win for the Blues at Old Trafford, which came in April, late enough that everyone knew that it was a crucial moment in the title race.
Just in case anyone wanted to claim that Chelsea did not deserve to win the league under Carlo Ancelotti, they clinched it on the final day with an 8–0 win over Wigan.
| Position | Team | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Chelsea | +71 | 86 |
| 2. | Man Utd | +58 | 85 |
5. 2018–19 (Man City)
This was arguably a more modern version of the 2009–10 Chelsea vs. Man Utd battle. The number of points that Man City and Liverpool accrued in the 2018–19 season was simply ridiculous.
Going into the final day, Pep Guardiola’s City had 95 points and Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool had 94. City had won 13 in a row and Liverpool were unbeaten in 16. It seemed impossible for either team to lose on the final day, and it was clear that neither deserved to lose the title.
Man City briefly made things interesting as they went 1–0 down away at Brighton, while Liverpool were calmly beating Wolves 2–0. Guardiola wasn’t going to let this slip, though, and they eventually won 4–1.
Liverpool fans will forever wonder how they scored 97 points and still did not win the title. That was the third-highest tally in Premier League history.
| Position | Team | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Man City | +72 | 98 |
| 2. | Liverpool | +67 | 97 |
4. 2015–16 (Leicester City)
The biggest underdog story that the Premier League has ever seen, and one of the biggest underdog stories that the entire sport will ever know.
Leicester City may have ended the 2015–16 season with a 10-point lead over second-placed Arsenal, but the fact that it was Leicester meant that it felt tight the entire way.
Really, it was Tottenham that were the closest challengers to Claudio Ranieri’s side but they wilted towards the end of the season and ended up third. There was a feeling throughout that one bad game would see it all fall apart, and they lost at Arsenal in February, but proceeded to go unbeaten for the rest of the season.
Leicester could have won the league with a win over Man Utd but a 1–1 draw saw the wait go on, with Tottenham’s 2–2 draw with Chelsea—the famous Battle of the Bridge—the following night meaning the Foxes had won the Premier League one year after so nearly getting relegated.
| Position | Team | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Leicester City | +32 | 81 |
| 2. | Arsenal | +29 | 71 |
| 3. | Tottenham | +34 | 70 |
3. 2011–12 (Man City)
As far as final-day drama goes, nothing will ever top Man City’s 2011–12 title, which came at the expense of Man Utd. They had not been champions since 1968, but this was a new age and the money was flowing. They were expected to be in the mix, but not to win it in the manner that they did.
Man Utd had a commanding lead with six games to go, sitting eight points ahead of Man City. A dip in form and a loss against their rivals (to go with the 6–1 defeat at Old Trafford earlier in the season) opened the door for City, and they just had to beat QPR on the final day.
Man Utd had done their bit by beating Sunderland, and City were 2–1 down stoppage time at the Etihad, Edin Džeko headed them level, but they had to win, not draw. Over three minutes into stoppage time, Mario Balotelli found Sergio Agüero in the box who lashed it home, and the celebrations could begin.
There may never be a singularly more dramatic moment in the Premier League again.
| Position | Team | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Man City | +64 | 89 |
| 2. | Man Utd | +56 | 89 |
2. 2007–08 (Man Utd)
Another three-way classic between Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea in 2007–08 went the way of Ferguson’s side. The primary source of drama here was Arsenal’s collapse.
They were at the top for most of the season but after a February draw with Birmingham City that saw Eduardo suffer a horrendous injury, they then won one of the next eight. In there was a 2–1 defeat against Man Utd that spelled the end of their hopes.
Man Utd were the dominant force with Cristiano Ronaldo flying, but an Avram Grant-led Chelsea wouldn’t give up. Their 18-game unbeaten run made them real contenders, albeit unlikely ones. Beating Man Utd 2–1 at Stamford Bridge made things really interesting, and only goal difference separated them on the final day.
Man Utd did what they needed to do, though, beating Wigan 2–0 and winning the Premier League again.
| Position | Team | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Man Utd | +58 | 87 |
| 2. | Chelsea | +39 | 85 |
| 3. | Arsenal | +43 | 83 |
1. 2013–14 (Man City)
A season that lives long in the memory of Liverpool fans for all of the wrong reasons, 2013–14 was packed full of drama and intrigue.
It was Man City who eventually came out on top under Manuel Pellegrini, but Brendan Rodgers’s Liverpool side were the main story. Having finished seventh the season before, they were not supposed to launch a title challenge. It would have been their first title in 24 years and they were being inspired by Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge.
A 3–2 win over Man City meant that Liverpool were top with four games to go. They still had to welcome Chelsea to Anfield, though, and that was where it went wrong. Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip allowed Demba Ba to score as they lost 2–0, and then they threw away a 3–0 lead at Crystal Palace to draw 3–3.
Man City won their last two games to take advantage of Liverpool’s capitulation, and the chance of a title had gone for Rodgers.
| Position | Team | Goal Difference | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Man City | +65 | 86 |
| 2. | Liverpool | +51 | 84 |
| 3. | Chelsea | +44 | 82 |
| 4. | Arsenal | +27 | 79 |
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The 10 Best Premier League Title Races Ever—Ranked.
