A look at the biggest and smallest title-winning margins in Premier League history

For many football fans, the Premier League is the best in the world, with its huge TV deals (and some oil money…) allowing teams up and down the table to sign some of the best players in the world. In its 32-year history, we have seen some incredible finishes in the Premier League, but let’s take a look at the biggest and smallest gaps between first and second place, starting with the tightest finishes.

United were able to clinch their fourth title in five seasons and Newcastle were unable to chase down the Red Devils. Per the Premier League website, provisions were being made in case a playoff match was required for the title, but Newcastle’s challenge fell short by four points.

The 07/08 season was another that went right to the wire, with Arsenal leading for most of the season before falling away. That left United and Chelsea in a two-way battle for the title. On the final day, United beat Wigan 2-0 whilst Chelsea could only draw to Bolton, giving the Red Devils their 10th Premier League title, per the Premier League.

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Gerrard’s slip and the infamous Crystanbul saw Liverpool falter just as they seemed on course for a first Premier League title. Manchester City pounced, ensuring their league title with a 2-0 victory over West Ham on the final day.

United were reeling after Arsenal knocked them off their perch in the 97/98 season, and the Red Devils responded by winning yet another Premier League title. Still, the Gunners pushed them all the way, as United only snuck the league a solitary point!

The 1993 Blackburn side was stacked, with Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton leading the line, they were dominant across the season. Despite losing 2-1 on the final day to Liverpool, Blackburn secured the title by just one point as Manchester United drew to West Ham.

Perhaps the most emphatic one-point league victory of them all as Chelsea hammered eight past a hapless Wigan on the final day to secure the Premier League title, per BBC Sport.

Manchester City did what Manchester City has become known for in recent times at the end of the 18/19 season: winning every game en route to the title. Despite a seven-point lead in January, Liverpool weren’t strong enough to hold off the Cityzens, who cruised to a 4-1 win against Brighton on the final day to ensure they were champions, per BBC Sport.

Despite some major triumphs, Liverpool fans surely can’t help but think “what if?” about this era. With the Reds needing to win, and for City to draw or lose, they ran out 3–1 winners over Wolves whilst City were 2-0 down against Villa before scoring three goals in six minutes to complete the turnaround and secure the title, per Manchester Evening News.

Agerooooooo! For many fans that should be enough as they will probably remember exactly where they were that day as they watched City turn around a 2-1 deficit to QPR at home whilst United prematurely celebrated their title win at Old Trafford. The finest of margins were needed to separate the two Manchester giants.

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The seventh-widest margin of victory was Arsenal’s 11-point lead in 2003/04 as the Gunners cruised undefeated to their third Premier League title. As FourFourTwo points out, “The Gunners also scored the most goals and conceded the fewest on their way to making history,” which sums up their dominance nicely.

Sir Alex Ferguson et al. were out for revenge in the 2012/13 season, and revenge they got. On paper, United’s squad didn’t fill opponents with fear, but Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney often proved too much to handle as United romped to an 11-point gap by the end of the season.

As FourFourTwo points out, “Jose Mourinho’s side lost just one game and conceded only 15 goals,” which shows just how dominant they were all season long.

The COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing as Manchester City cruised to another title. With Liverpool suffering injuries and struggling with a lack of fans at Anfield, there was no competition for City all season. United were the closest by the end of the season, but never put up much of a fight.

Liverpool’s dominance in the 19/20 season cannot be understated, as the Reds won 32 out of 38 games, per English Football Stats. The only difficult part was having to raise the trophy in front of an empty Kop given ongoing pandemic restrictions.

The turn of the millennium saw Manchester United reach unprecedented heights in English football, winning the Treble. The Premier League was never in doubt as United ran out as 18-point victors whilst scoring 24 more goals than Arsenal as well, per English Football Stats.

The most dominant side in English Premier League history was the 2017/18 vintage of Manchester City who, per FourFourTwo, “broke numerous records in 2017/18: most points (100), most wins (32), most goals (106), the best goal difference (+79), most consecutive wins (18) and biggest margin of victory (19 points).” Ridiculous dominance.

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