Ranking the 8 Best Teams Never to Win the Premier League
Chelsea are the 2016/17 Premier League champions, bringing Antonio Conte his first piece of silverware in England less than a year after taking over at Stamford Bridge.
The feat is made all the more impressive by the fact they've managed to hold a phenomenal Tottenham Hotspur side at arm's length for months. Mauricio Pochettino's charges are stellar in every area of the pitch but just didn't have enough to overhaul their illustrious rivals.
That got us thinking: Who are the best teams to miss out on the Premier League title? Spurs aren't the only club that has put together a brilliant group of players but missed out, so we've ranked the top eight, with them included.
8. Leeds United 2001/02
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Leeds United's capitulation in 2001/02 was, for all intents and purposes, the beginning of the end for the club. They gambled money on the assumption they were set for repeated Champions League qualifications but fell short of even that.
They led the table for long periods pre-Christmas but fell away sharply afterward in a way few could have predicted. This was a team boasting Nigel Martyn, Jonathan Woodgate, Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell, among many others.
The following season, the Whites fell to 15th in the table; a year after that, they were relegated to the second tier and have yet to return.
7. Tottenham Hotspur 2016/17
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What cost this Tottenham team in the title race was their poor start. They languished around fifth for long stretches before Christmas, finding that relentless groove too late. Their ridiculous loss to West Ham United on May 5 shows there's still some mental growth to be done too.
Defensively solid, powerful in midfield and potent in attack, they're an incredible, exhilarating watch. But Chelsea were just too good, too consistent and too professional to allow Spurs back in with a true shout all season long.
6. Manchester United 1997/98
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Even teams as formidable as Manchester United have a slightly chequered history when it comes to securing titles. Back in 1998, they let a huge lead slip, finishing second to Arsenal by a point in one of the biggest collapses the Premier League has seen.
Eleven points ahead of the Gunners in March, they messed it up. Granted, the Gunners made up some ground by winning several games in hand, but United had the points in the bag and held a huge advantage.
It wasn't a vintage year for points (Arsenal triumphed on 78) or goals (Andy Cole was United's top scorer with only 16). The Red Devils won the next three titles spanning, but this one still stings, as it would have connected the dots, making it five straight.
5. Liverpool 1996/97
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Liverpool finished seven points off the top, in fourth place, in 1996/97, but they ended up level on points with both Arsenal (second) and Newcastle United (third).
The Reds played some scintillating stuff but fell short primarily because of disciplinary problems and horrendous defensive and goalkeeping errors.
Anfield, seen as a fortress for long periods during the '90s, played host to a number of mind-bending mistakes that gifted visitors points—most notably Dion Dublin's late winner in April for Coventry City, courtesy of a David James circus act.
Like many of the teams on this list, they led the Premier League for lengthy periods but fell away. Robbie Fowler's suspension, forcing him to miss the last four games of the season, even helped them drop from second to fourth at the death.
4. Arsenal 1998/99
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In what seemed something of an anachronism, the 1998-99 Premier League title race saw three teams racing toward the finish line rather than your traditional two. Arsenal and Manchester United fought most closely, but Chelsea were there all along and finished just five points shy of first.
With two games to go, both Manchester United and Arsenal were level not only on points (75) but also on goal difference (plus-42). The penultimate slate of games saw Arsenal lose to Leeds United and the Red Devils draw with Blackburn Rovers a day later.
It became a simple case of a United win on the final day would win the title, and they managed it. Arsenal won their game to apply the pressure but ended with 78 points to United's 79.
3. Liverpool 2008/09
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When Liverpool's 2008-09 season is referenced, two faces in particular spring to mind: those of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. The pair combined on a weekly basis to wreck teams, forming a potent, two-headed monster in attack.
The team, managed by Rafa Benitez, had stars all over: goalkeeper Pepe Reina in his pomp, a world-class midfield of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, Jamie Carragher marshalling at the back and the blurred form of Dirk Kuyt, working relentlessly to link it all together.
Psychological walls crumbled that year. Liverpool recorded a first league win over Manchester United in over four years, came from two down to beat Manchester City 3-2 away from home and lost just one match prior to Christmas and sat top of the table on December 25.
But too many draws, in addition to Benitez's remarkable "facts" rant, saw the Reds slip away in January and February. They finished the season strongly, but the damage had been done earlier and finished second behind a United side that had gone over 1,000 consecutive minutes without conceding earlier in the season.
2. Liverpool 2013/14
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Over the course of the 2013-14 Premier League season, Liverpool won 26 games, found the back of the net in excess of 100 times and saw their imperious SAS pairing (Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge) combine for 52 goals and 19 assists, per WhoScored.com.
They were an attacking juggernaut, capable and wholly willing to steamroll teams and beat them by large margins. Heading into the closing stages of the season, they looked certain to win the title. But then events began to conspire against them.
Steven Gerrard's infamous slip allowed Demba Ba to steam through and put Chelsea ahead in a game Liverpool could not afford to lose. Liverpool then committed everyone bar 'keeper Simon Mignolet forward, allowing Fernando Torres and Willian to race on goal unchallenged and seal the result in stoppage time.
Concerned about a somehow inferior goal difference to Manchester City's, Liverpool then travelled to Selhurst Park and relentlessly attacked the Crystal Palace goal. Three up and unwilling to stop searching for more, things began to unravel and, to the red half of Merseyside's horror, Palace scored three to draw the game.
Manchester City won the title by two points.
1. Newcastle United 1995/96
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How Newcastle United did not end up Premier League champions in 1995/96 is still a question met with considerable chagrin by supporters.
At Christmas 1995, the Magpies held a 10-point lead at the top of the table. A few weeks later, that was enhanced to 12, with the likes of Peter Beardsley, Les Ferdinand and David Ginola strutting their stuff in front of an adoring crowd.
But things turned. Five losses in an eight-game stretch late in the campaign allowed Manchester United to catch up and overtake them, riling manager Kevin Keegan to the point his infamous "I will love it" rant spilled out on Sky Sports.
The Magpies finished second, four points behind champions United.
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
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