Sport
What is the longest Premier League winning streak ever?
Barring a collapse similar to Newcastle United in the 1995–96 season, Manchester City are going to reclaim their Premier League title. City have won 13 games on the spin to establish a comfortable lead at the top of the table. It would be a remarkable end to the season if their double-digit advantage was to disappear. A potential quadruple is on the cards for Pep Guardiola’s side, while various records are in their sights. City could set a new benchmark for the longest winning streak in the history of the Premier League, for example. So what are the longest winning streaks in the English top flight?
5 longest winning streaks in Premier League history
5th. Arsenal – 14 (February-August 2002)
We have to go back nearly 20 years for the fifth longest winning streak in Premier League history, with Arsenal putting together a series of 14 victories in succession back in 2002, just a season before the Invincibles season.
That run of form included a dramatic 2-1 derby win at home to Tottenham, secured by Lauren’s late penalty, as well as the famous 1-0 victory at Old Trafford that sealed the title. That meant the rampant Gunners had secured a domestic double, but their winning streak continued briefly when the new campaign got under way a few months later.
Goals from iconic French forward Thierry Henry and Sylvain Wiltord swept aside newly promoted Birmingham City and set a new record of 14 straight wins in the Premier League. But a draw against West Ham saw the sequence come to an end in Arsenal’s next game. The biggest football club in London are the only southern entry on this list.
4th. Manchester City – 15 (February-August 2019)
Four of the longest winning streaks have come within the last four season and this was one of them. Sergio Aguero’s hat-trick in a 3-1 win at home to Arsenal got this run going and City then won their next seven league games with just one goal conceded.
A 2-0 derby win at Old Trafford was arguably the key result as City crunched through the gears, with Aguero’s winner at Burnley then setting up a thrilling finale to a title battle with Liverpool.
Leicester City held Guardiola’s men at bay for 70 minutes at the Etihad only for captain Vincent Kompany to thump home a long-range drive, their title then sealed by a 4-1 defeat of Brighton.
Like Arsenal, City kept the streak going into the next campaign, extending it with a thumping 5-0 win at West Ham, but their run ended at 15 wins after a 2-2 draw at home to Spurs.
3rd. Liverpool – 17 (March-October 2019)
Jurgen Klopp’s side had compiled nine wins in a row to end the 18-19 campaign but it was not enough to win the league, a 0-0 Merseyside derby draw at Goodison Park proving a key game. The pain of missing out on the league fuelled the Reds, though, and they started 19-20 in thrilling form with an opening weekend demolition of Norwich City followed by another seven wins.
Win number 16 came thanks to an error from Dean Henderson at Bramall Lane – the Sheffield United goalkeeper letting Georginio Wijnaldum’s shot go through him – and a James Milner penalty deep into stoppage-time made it 17 on the bounce against Leicester in their next game.
But Liverpool’s luck then ran out at Old Trafford, where Marcus Rashford gave arch-rivals Manchester United the lead. The Reds needed Adam Lallana to strike late to earn a point, but Liverpool had set a firm foundation for an unforgettable season.
1st. Liverpool – 18 (October 2019-February 2020)
Incredibly, Liverpool then immediately went on a slightly longer winning streak, a perfect purple patch spanning four months that effectively sealed their first title of the Premier League era. The Reds got back to winning ways thanks to a 2-1 comeback win at home to Spurs and even though they did not keep a clean sheet in any of their next five games, victories kept coming.
While a 3-1 win at home to City was a sign there could be a changing of the guard, a 4-0 clinic away to Leicester was perhaps the highlight as Klopp’s side closed in on the title. Errors from West Ham stopper Lukasz Fabianski helped Liverpool to come from behind for a 3-2 win at Anfield to make it 18 wins in a row, but the series ended with a bump a few days later.
Nobody had expected Watford to beat Liverpool but they battered the champions-elect 3-0 with Ismaila Sarr scoring a brace. Nevertheless, after the season was paused due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Liverpool eventually went on to claim the title their fans craved. Only two sides have ever managed 18 game winning streaks and Liverpool were one of them.
1st. Manchester City – 18 (August-December 2017)
That wild night at Vicarage Road, one of the biggest Premier League upsets ever meant Liverpool were unable to snatch the record for the longest Premier League winning streak out of the hands of City.
Guardiola’s side are chasing their own benchmark after they hit stunning heights at the start of the 17-18 league season having finished third, 15 points behind Chelsea, in the previous term.
Raheem Sterling’s 97th-minute winner at Bournemouth got the run going, with Sadio Mane’s red card contributing to Liverpool crumbling 5-0 at the Etihad in City’s next game. The next few weeks saw City beat Watford 6-0, Crystal Palace 5-0 and Stoke City 7-2 to get fans purring.
A 2-1 win at Manchester United saw City become the first team in Premier League history to win 14 games in a row in a single season.
City then put four past Swansea, Spurs and Bournemouth before edging past Newcastle to make it 18 in a row, but a goalless draw at Selhurst Park on New Year’s Eve ended the streak.
So can City beat it this season? In-form West Ham are next with Wolves, Manchester United and Southampton then visiting the Etihad in a run of four home games ahead of a trip to Fulham.
Win all of those and City will head to Leicester on Easter weekend with the record in their grasp.
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