Best Premier League Title Races
The Premier League is the richest and most popular division on the planet – and for good reason. Unlike other big European leagues, the Premier League regularly dishes up great title races. From the frenetic managerial spats of the mid-1990s to last-minute goals, slips and comebacks, famous Premier League seasons usually end in a tense finale.
No one is guaranteed the title at the start of the season and many we regularly get to April with still everything to play for.
But how do you define the best Premier League title races and which stand out above the rest? Join us as we dissect the seven most exciting Premier League seasons at the top of the table – and how they shaped the football odds!
What Makes a Premier League Title Race Truly Great?
There have been 33 Premier League seasons since the inaugural campaign in 1992/93. Some seasons slide into the history books without much notice – who really remembers Manchester United’s title in 2000, when they beat second-placed Arsenal by 18 points?
Other seasons stand out for their uniqueness, their storylines, their glory and heartbreak. Here are four factors that make a title race truly great, which we’ve considered when creating our ultimate list:
- Rivalries – Rivalries can carry a title race from the early stages of the season through to the final day. Arsene Wenger vs Sir Alex Ferguson is the classic Premier League rivalry, but ‘Fergie’ also had adversaries in Kevin Keegan, Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho. Rival clubs – such as Manchester City taking on Manchester United in 2012 – can also collide to create memorable Premier League campaigns.
- Last-minute drama – Sergio Aguero’s last-minute goal to earn Manchester City the 2012 Premier League title from under the nose of Sir Alex Ferguson is the epitome of ‘last-minute drama’. The Premier League title race has gone to the last game of the season 10 times between 1993 and 2025.
- Historic comebacks and collapses – Manchester United once overturned a 12-point gap to win the Premier League title. Dramatic collapses are just as famous as remarkable comebacks, though, and play out across weeks and months.
- Unexpected twists – There’s always room for a shock twist or surprise result that turns a title race on its head. The Premier League has witnessed plenty of these down the years!
Most Thrilling Premier League Title Races
So, now you know our criteria for the greatest Premier League title battles, here are our top seven! Do you agree?
1995/96: Manchester United vs. Newcastle United
If you want to see an implosion in real time then look no further than the 1995/96 season. Newcastle famously led the division by 12 points in January 1996 and Kevin Keegan was on course to deliver the title to St James’ Park.
But Sir Alex Ferguson was having none of it. His Manchester United side won all but two games for the remainder of the season, as Newcastle stumbled, tripped, and eventually fell.
The title race culminated in Keegan’s infamous “I would love it” rant as he lashed out at Ferguson’s mind games. United won the title on the last day of the season with a 3-0 win at Middlesbrough, as Newcastle drew their final two matches.
1998/99: Manchester United vs. Arsenal
United dominated the Premier League in the 1990s, with only Blackburn and Arsenal able to rival them. The 1998/99 season is remembered for United winning the treble – but they only did it after Arsenal threw away the league lead.
Arsenal bounced back from the famous FA Cup semi-final defeat to United by winning four on the bounce. All they had to do was beat Leeds on a Tuesday night in May to head into the final game in top spot.
Leeds, United’s rivals, had other ideas. Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink earned them a 1-0 win and United then beat Tottenham – Arsenal’s rivals – on the last game of the season to edge the title race. They went on to lift the FA Cup and Champions League, but not after benefitting from Arsenal’s freak blip at Elland Road.
2007/08: Manchester United vs. Chelsea
Chelsea replaced Arsenal as Manchester United’s main title rivals in the second half of the noughties. The 2008 title race was a thriller as both teams stumbled to the line. United dropped seven points in the final six games of the campaign, with Chelsea dropping four. The Blues secured what many thought was a pivotal 2-1 win over United at Stamford Bridge, with Michael Ballack scoring an 86th-minute winner.
But Chelsea, with an inferior goal difference, needed Wigan to do them a favour on the last day of the campaign. It wasn’t going to happen. Wigan’s historic record against United read “Played 6 Lost 6”.
United won the title on the final day by two points, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his 41st goal of the season in a 2-0 win over Wigan. Ronaldo would go on to score in the Champions League final that summer, as United beat Chelsea on penalties in Moscow.
2011/12: Manchester City vs. Manchester United
Manchester City hadn’t won the English championship since 1968 but, newly minted, they were finally in a position to challenge rivals Manchester United. Five decades of watching your neighbours conquer English football and Europe naturally causes a lot of resentment.
The psychological battle between Roberto Mancini and Sir Alex Ferguson was not as fraught as many of Fergie’s other managerial rivalries. Mancini kept his cool even after a late-March blip to string five successive wins together. United were the ones who blinked, as they threw away a lead to somehow draw 4-4 with Everton, before losing to City 1-0 at the Etihad.
If that wasn’t dramatic enough, City’s 3-2 victory over QPR to seal the title on goal difference certainly was. City were losing as the clock ticked into stoppage time, while United were listening in after beating Sunderland 1-0. All they needed was a QPR draw – but first Edin Dzeko and then Aguero popped up with the goals. The Etihad went ballistic, while QPR themselves stayed up despite the loss.
2013/14: Manchester City vs. Liverpool
The 2013/14 Premier League featured a genuine three-horse title race, plus an unexpected twist that came to define the campaign. Manchester City and Chelsea were pushing for top spot, while Liverpool sought their first championship since 1990.
Brendan Rodgers had put together a deadly squad that featured Daniel Sturridge, Luis Suarez and Raheem Sterling in a front three, with Philippe Coutinho behind. Steven Gerrard drove the team forward as Liverpool won nine on the bounce between February and mid-April.
A 3-2 win over City at Anfield put Liverpool within four victories of the title. But then came the moment of infamy. Gerrard slipped to allow Demba Ba through to score as Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield, before the Reds drew 3-3 at Crystal Palace as Dwight Gayle bagged a double in the last 10 minutes.
Chelsea also faded away thanks to a 0-0 draw with Norwich, which handed City control of their destiny. City won their last five games to edge the title race by two points.
2018/19: Manchester City vs. Liverpool
Manchester City vs Liverpool became the big rivalry of the late 2010s and early 2020s, as Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea floundered. City, with their huge cash reserves and Pep Guardiola at the helm, set a blistering pace in 2018/19 when going unbeaten until December. Liverpool, though, bettered them and were seven points clear on New Year’s Day 2019.
A 2-1 win over Liverpool in early January triggered City’s comeback. City dropped just three points across the rest of the season, while Liverpool drew with Leicester, West Ham, Manchester United and Everton during the winter months.
One point split the two teams in the spring and they both won all of their remaining games. City clinched the title with 98 points, one ahead of Liverpool, who lost just one game all season.
2021/22: Manchester City vs. Liverpool
Liverpool got their revenge on City in the Covid season of 2019/20 when finally claiming the Premier League title for the first time. Two years later and the clubs were duking it out again, in a similar fashion to 2018/19.
Guardiola’s City led Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool by a point with eight games remaining. The teams shared a 2-2 draw at the Etihad that April to maintain City’s advantage. Both would win six of their last seven games, drawing the other, as Liverpool once again breached the 90-point barrier chasing City, without being able to catch up.
Remarkably, City trailed 2-0 to Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa on the final day of the season and it looked as though Liverpool would come from second place to claim the title. But Ilkay Gundogan’s double and a Rodri effort in the final 15 minutes flipped the race in City’s favour. City won 3-2 to consign Liverpool to a third second-place finish in the past nine seasons.
Why These Title Races Are Still Remembered Today
These seven title races stand out in Premier League history because of how they shaped English football – for good and for bad. The 1996 title battle between Newcastle and Manchester United catapulted the Premier League into a new era of speculation and sensationalism.
United’s victory in 1999 was part of the squad’s immortalisation as treble winners, and cemented Ferguson’s position as the greatest manager in British football. That managerial supremacy gave United the edge in the 2008 title battle with Chelsea.
But 2008 also triggered an era where one player, or one incident, dominated the narrative. The unstoppable Cristiano Ronaldo scored 31 league goals in 2007/08; Sergio Aguero created the Premier League’s most iconic moment in 2012; Steven Gerrard’s slip defined Liverpool’s capitulation in 2014.
Recent title races have been less about managerial mind games or individual performances. Instead, Premier League fans have basked in the sheer quality of the title contenders. Liverpool and City both went hell-for-leather in 2019 and 2022, breaking the 90-point barrier and pushing each other to the limit in two of the closest Premier League finishes ever.
These days, winning the Premier League isn’t about upsetting your rivals or relying on others to capitulate. It’s about setting standards and winning games week after week, even when your rival is breathing down your neck.
How to Bet on the Premier League Title Race
There are many ways to bet on the Premier League and one of the most popular markets is to focus on the title race. BetMGM offers outright odds on the Premier League title from pre-season onwards. We assess each club’s chances of winning the league and publish the odds each summer, so punters can lock in an early price.
Of course, the odds fluctuate over the course of the season. Manchester City might be favourites at the start of the campaign, only to see their odds drift if they endure a bad start.
To bet on the Premier League title race, first sign into your BetMGM account or create a profile today. You’ll need an active account and must be aged 18+ to bet on football.
Head to our Premier League betting page and click on the “Outrights” tab to see season-long bets. These bets include:
- Season Finishing Position
- Top Goalscorer
- Top Assists
- PFA Player of the Year
- Golden Glove
Click “Season Finishing Position” to find odds on each club to finish in various positions in the league, including top spot.
To back a team to win the title, click their relevant odds and enter your stake in the bet slip.
Check your potential reward and make sure you’re comfortable with your level of risk, before hitting “Place Bet” to complete the process.
Remember, outright odds rise and fall over the course of the season, so it’s all about timing your bet to perfection and locking in the best price.
