Three-team title races: Liverpool, Arsenal, City could give us the closest Premier League yet
Might we finally have a proper three-horse title race on our hands? The closest the top trio have finished before is within four points. Usually, it is a double-figure gap…
Here are the five closest finishes between the top three since football was invented in 1992/93…
2013/14 – four points
- Manchester City – 86
- Liverpool – 84
- Chelsea – 82
Top spot changed hands 25 times during 2013/14 and the title race went to the final day of the season. Manchester City completed the job with a 2-0 victory over West Ham, but they led the Premier League for only 15 days in total. Liverpool blew it…
Brendan Rodgers’ Reds were five points clear at the summit with three games to go. Then they got Mourinho’d at Anfield before chucking away a 3-0 lead with 12 minutes to play at Palace.
Chelsea were top of the table themselves by the end of February with 11 games to go, powered by a 14-match unbeaten run, and they remained there until the last game in March when they were beaten by Villa and Palace either side of pummelling Arsenal 6-0. From there, it was Liverpool and City’s battle to fight.
READ: Top 10 biggest Premier League bottle jobs
2007/08 – four points
- Manchester United – 87
- Chelsea – 85
- Arsenal – 83
Chelsea pushed United all the way to the final day, despite spending most of the season under Avram Grant’s control. Sort of.
As little influence as Grant appeared to have, Chelsea were worthy rivals to defending champions United. The Blues did not lose after December 16, and only a final-day draw with Bolton stopped them from finishing level on points with the Red Devils before the two sides met in the Champions League final in Moscow.
It was Arsenal, though, who were top at the end of February. But a draw at Birmingham, which saw Eduardo ruled out for the season and William Gallas throw a strop after the concession of a late equaliser, prompted a run of five without a win, and one victory in eight. From mid-April, with four games to go, Arsenal were not realistic contenders.
Read more: Liverpool and Man City the only Premier League sides unbeaten in resilience table
1998/99 – four points
- Manchester United – 79
- Arsenal – 78
- Chelsea – 75
United’s most glorious season was a close-run thing in the Premier League. They secured the title on the final day, when they beat Spurs to mean Arsenal’s victory over Villa was not enough to stop the Gunners relinquishing their crown from the previous campaign.
Arsenal moved to the summit for the first time at the end of April and looked good for successive titles as late as the penultimate game of the season, which they lost at Leeds. United never gave them chance to recover, taking four points from their final two games to retain a one-point advantage.
Chelsea’s involvement in one of the great title races is often forgotten. The Blues were top on Boxing Day but three draws in April against Middlesbrough, Leicester, and Sheffield Wednesday cost Chelsea a first Premier League title.
1996/97 – seven points
- Manchester United – 75
- Newcastle – 68
- Arsenal – 68
The 1996/97 title race was not as close as it might appear. United went top in January and never slipped. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side coasted over the line, being confirmed as champions with two games to go amid a seven-match run-in that saw them win only three.
Their final haul of 75 points it is the lowest total for a title winner and lowest since three-points-for-a-win was introduced in the 1981/82.
The battle for second was as tight as it gets, though. Newcastle, Arsenal and Liverpool all finished on the same points total, but the Magpies claimed the second and final Champions League spot by virtue of goal-difference.
2008/09 – seven points
- Manchester United – 90
- Liverpool – 86
- Chelsea – 83
Try as they might, Liverpool could not stop United from equalling their record of 18 top-flight titles with a game to spare.
United took top spot in mid-January and never relinquished it. With 12 games to go, they held a seven-point lead which Rafael Benitez’s Reds chipped away at. Liverpool beat United at Old Trafford and a week later, the Red Devils lost at Fulham to reduce the advantage to a point.
United were then being held at home by Villa going into added time. But Federico MACHEDAAAAAAAAAAAA struck in the 93rd minute to give the champions the platform to win seven of their remaining eight unbeaten matches.
Like United, Chelsea also won seven and drew one of their last eight games but the scuppered themselves in the middle third of the campaign with four wins in 12 around the new year that cost Luiz Felipe Scolari his job.