Arsenal need to be near-perfect to breach three-season points haul list
We keep saying how difficult it is to be competitive in the Premier League for three consecutive seasons; Arsenal will now have to win almost every game to be among the greats.
It’s worth noting that no team has ever breached 90 points in a row, with Liverpool sandwiching a 69-pointer between their three 90-plus seasons,
No surprises which team are at the top of this list…
6) Manchester United 2010-2013 (258)
2010/11: 80
2011/12: 89
2012/13: 89
That these were the last three seasons of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign and United have only once since breached the 80-point mark – and are now desperately trying to reach 50 points – is pretty damning. That three-season run delivered two titles and one heartbreaking failure on goal difference.
One interesting aside is that Ferguson clearly thought he needed to improve on that first 89-point haul to win the title, so invested heavily in Robin van Persie. He was brilliant that season but United actually scored fewer goals (and conceded more) but still matched that points haul while City fell off the pace. The very next season United finished with 64 points. Ooft.
5) Manchester United 2006-09 (266)
2006/07: 89
2007/08: 87
2008/09: 90
While their first three-in-a-row reaped only 250 points, this was different; Manchester United had to improve to keep up with the new power of Chelsea. And they improved not by buying players but by selling Ruud van Nistelrooy and placing faith in Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. Add Carlos Tevez and United had put together their greatest striking trio.
What happened next? Ronaldo left and that was enough to allow Chelsea – now managed by Carlo Ancelotti – to win the title. United could not keep up that kind of pace without one of the world’s greatest players, oddly enough.
4) Chelsea 2004-07 (269)
2004/05: 95
2005/06: 91
2006/07: 83
Ah, the classic third season for Jose Mourinho, with friction developing within Chelsea not helped by the £30m signing of Andriy Shevchenko at the owner’s behest. Having swept to the title in his first two seasons, Mourinho lost his sparkle, the team lost their edge and Chelsea contrived to draw 11 games and end up second behind a Manchester United hitting the first strike of their title hat-trick.
3) Liverpool 2017-20 (271)
2017/18: 75
2018/19: 97
2019/20: 99
Let’s not pretend they did not spend to record such a ridiculous improvement – a 22-point leap in one season is truly astonishing – but the exploits of 2019/20 had continuity rather than extravagance as their hallmark. They fell just short of the 100-point mark, which is a shame as that brilliant Liverpool side probably deserved some kind of record.
The challenge was on to become the first side to hit 90 points in three successive seasons but injuries hit a tired squad and they came up well short with 69 points. A year later they returned to form with a 92-point haul that was followed by another duff season, proving that this sh*t is hard.
2) Manchester City 2021-24 (273)
2021/22: 93
2022/23: 89
2023/24: 91
After cruising to the title in 2020/21 with an exhausted Liverpool nowhere in sight, City needed to be far better in 2021/22, securing the title on the final day of the season with a comeback v Villa. Not satisfied, City went out and bought the best young striker in world football, which helped them to the Treble if not another 90-point haul. Last season – with no sign of what was to come – they hunted down Arsenal to win a fourth successive and unprecedented title.
It went to sh*t soon afterwards but they had peaked in quite some style.
1) Manchester City 2017-20 (279)
2017/18: 100
2018/19: 98
2019/20: 81
Proof here that Manchester City have been here before…logging an 81-point season just two years after hitting the 100-point mark, belatedly realising that there were too many ageing players that needed replacing. In the summer of 2020, they brought in Ferran Torres, Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias in a blatant attempt to lower their average age, allowing them to phase out Fernandinho, Sergio Aguero and co.
But we have that 2017/18 vintage pegged as the greatest Premier League team of all time. Absurdly, City boasted the top four names in the assist charts for the league that year, with Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sane, David Silva and Sterling all reaching double figures.