Teams That Threw Away Huge Premier League Points Leads
The most memorable Premier League comebacks always have a flip side: the team that let it all slip. Whether topping the table at Christmas or building a seemingly insurmountable lead over their rivals, it's easy to assume the title race is over — but football has a way of making fools of certainty.
Even the Premier League odds stack heavily against anyone thinking of mounting a comeback as the season enters its final stretch. Yet sometimes those odds flip. Sometimes the leaders stumble at the last.
Below are the six biggest Premier League bottles of all time — the moments when the firm favourites faltered and gifted the title to their resurgent rivals.
Liverpool: 2013/14
Steven Gerrard and Liverpool could have written the modern handbook “How to Surrender Premier League Leads” following their capitulation in 2013/14.
Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea were all vying for the title that spring. The Reds looked to have stolen the advantage when, with five games remaining, they beat City 3-2 at Anfield. Captain Gerrard was overheard in the huddle saying “we don't let this slip, we go again” to his teammates.
All Liverpool needed to do was beat Chelsea at home in their third-last game, then see off Crystal Palace and Newcastle, to win the title. Incredibly, Gerrard slipped at Anfield to allow Demba Ba to score Chelsea’s opener in a 2-0 win for the Blues.
Eight days later, and level with City at the top of the table, Liverpool threw away a three-goal lead at Selhurst Park to draw 3-3 with Palace. City won their game in hand against Aston Villa, then cruised to a 2-0 triumph over West Ham on the final day to claim the title by two points. From beating City to claiming just one point from a possible six against Chelsea and Palace, Liverpool’s “slip” was as ironic as it was dramatic.
Gerrard left Liverpool at the end of the following season, having failed to bring the coveted Premier League trophy to Merseyside.
Newcastle United: 1995/96
Kevin Keegan was a two-time Ballon d’Or winner, won three league titles and the European Cup as a player with Liverpool, and managed England during a sparkling career in football. Yet many supporters remember him for two incidents during Newcastle’s title capitulation in the 1995/96 Premier League season.
The ever-impassioned Keegan had steered Newcastle to the top of the table with a 12-point lead over Manchester United in January. A Toon squad featuring Peter Beardsley, Les Ferdinand, David Batty, David Ginola and Rob Lee looked to be motoring away to the championship.
But then it all fell apart. In perhaps the most definitive capitulation in history, Newcastle surrendered the biggest Premier League lead on record to lose out to Manchester United by four points.
The first big blow was a 1-0 loss to Alex Ferguson's side at St James' Park in March that year. Then came a loss to Arsenal before the famous 4-3 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield. That game is considered one of the greatest Premier League matches in history, and resulted in Keegan crumbling behind the advertising hoardings after Stan Collymore scored his 90th-minute winner.
Newcastle were still in control of their own destiny by that point but then lost 2-1 at Blackburn, where they conceded twice in the last four minutes. Manchester United, who won all but one of their league games from mid-January to the end of the season, finally closed the gap and leapfrogged the Magpies.
What truly makes the 1995/96 season one of the best Premier League title races was what happened next. An impassioned Keegan ranted on live TV after Newcastle had beaten Leeds, throwing the gauntlet at Ferguson, saying: “You can tell him now, we're still fighting for this title and he's got to go to Middlesbrough and get something. And I'll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we beat them. Love it.”
Ferguson’s side cruised to a 3-0 win at Middlesbrough to win the league.
Arsenal: 2022/23
Arsenal had a reputation in the second half of Arsene Wenger’s managerial reign of flirting with a title push before capitulating in February. Five years after the Frenchman’s departure, Mikel Arteta went one better and threw away the title in April.
The Gunners got off to a blistering start in the 2022/23 season and quickly set the pace at the top. They beat Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea in the first half of the season, and found a way of grinding out 1-0 wins. The title race was on.
But a miserable February – culminating in a 3-1 home defeat to Manchester City – started the jitters. Were Arsenal going to capitulate again?
Arteta’s side recovered in March, even though they crashed out of the Europa League. Still leading by five points heading into April, it looked like they’d inch over the line.
But then, in the space of a week, everything unravelled. Arsenal threw away two-goal leads at both Liverpool and West Ham to draw 2-2 in both, and needed two late goals to draw 3-3 with Southampton.
They then lost 4-1 at the Etihad to cap off a miserable April, with City moving ahead of the Gunners. Arsenal picked up just nine points from their remaining five fixtures after that, while City – who already had two games in hand over their rivals – finished the season five points clear.
Manchester United: 2011/12
Manchester United were used to calmly strolling to Premier League titles by the time Sir Alex Ferguson set eyes on a 13th championship. With six games to go, the Red Devils were eight points clear of Manchester City and seemingly comfortable.
Even a surprise 1-0 loss at Wigan wasn’t too concerning. But Manchester United were about to suffer what future teams would also endure: City’s spring revival.
City, under Roberto Mancini, won all six of their remaining fixtures to win the league in style in the last minute of the season. Along the way was a 1-0 victory over Manchester United at the Etihad, which flipped the title race.
Manchester United had, just eight days earlier, led the title race and were 4-2 up at home against Everton. But in two minutes that would arguably define their season, Nikica Jelavic and Steven Pienaar scored to make it 4-4 at the death, and hand City an opportunity to leapfrog their rivals a week later.
City’s subsequent win over their rivals and victories against Newcastle and QPR earned Mancini’s men the league on goal difference.
Ferguson’s response was swift. Manchester United spent more than £52m on the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa that summer, and they beat City to the 2012/13 title by a staggering 11 points.
Arsenal: 2002/03
Defending champions Arsenal headed into the 2002/03 season knowing Manchester United would push them hard, as they had done the previous season. Sir Alex Ferguson spent £30m on centre-back Rio Ferdinand, while Arsene Wenger was more reserved in the transfer market.
The two sides duked it out for much of the season. They alternated league supremacy a number of times, and both went deep in other cup competitions. Between them, Arsenal and Manchester United played 122 games that campaign.
Arsenal were eight points clear in early March and looked on course to win back-to-back league titles for the first time since the 1930s.
But a run of just two wins in seven games between March and early May ruined that dream. While Manchester United dropped points only in a 2-2 draw at Arsenal, the Gunners lost to Blackburn, drew with Aston VIlla and Bolton, and then somehow suffered a 3-2 home defeat to relegation-threatened Leeds.
The defeat to Eddie Gray’s men ended their title hopes and Manchester United had two games to spare to enjoy the victory.
Manchester United: 1997/98
There was once a time when Arsenal didn’t wilt in the early-spring sunshine. In fact, quite the opposite.
Back in 1998, the Gunners were looking good for a second-place finish under Arsene Wenger. A sign of progress after securing third in his first campaign as manager the previous year.
Wenger had gone big in the transfer window that summer, signing Marc Overmars, Gilles Grimandi, Emmanuel Petit, Luis Boa Morte, Matthew Upson and Alex Manninger – plus others – for more than £20m.
Sitting second in early February but still 11 points off Manchester United, it looked as though Arsenal would have to settle for a well-earned runner-up spot. But then the Gunners kicked into gear.
They won 10 straight league games – including a famous 1-0 result at Old Trafford, with Overmars bagging the goal – to hunt Manchester United down. Alex Ferguson’s squad crumbled, losing to Sheffield Wednesday and drawing to West Ham, Liverpool and Newcastle.
Arsenal won the title with two games to spare, beating Everton 4-0. They subsequently lost their last two dead-rubbers (against Liverpool and Aston Villa) before beating Newcastle in the FA Cup final to complete the double.
As for Manchester United, they responded the following season by signing Jaap Stam, Jesper Blomqvist and Dwight Yorke, and duly won the treble.
From Gerrard's slip to Keegan's infamous rant, the greatest title collapses share a common thread: even the biggest Premier League leads are never truly safe. As the current season unfolds, history suggests it's always worth keeping an eye on the chasing pack – and the Premier League tips – before writing anyone off.
