Manchester City’s defence of the Premier League title has unravelled in recent weeks. A dreadful run of results has seen the champions slump to seventh in the table at Christmas.
Hopes of winning a fifth consecutive Premier League title are fading fast, with a 12-point gap to leaders Liverpool having played a game more. History is also against City. Just four teams have won the Premier League title after spending Christmas outside the top four.
Every Premier League title winner who was outside the top four at Christmas
Manchester United (Fifth in 1996/97)
An unconvincing start to the season left Manchester United with ground to make up during the 1996/97 season. The defending champions drew three of their first four games, before a run of three consecutive defeats in the autumn. That run included a 5-0 thrashing at title rivals Newcastle and a defeat at Southampton that saw the now infamous grey Umbro kit blamed.
An impressive run of form after the turn of the new year saw United move top in late January and the Red Devils never relinquished their grip. Sir Alex Ferguson’s side ended the campaign seven points clear of runners-up Newcastle.
We’ve had plenty of fruitful trips to Merseyside down the years…
Who remembers Pally’s Anfield double in 1997? 🤩 #MUFC pic.twitter.com/P1SLvgVkcG
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 19, 2019
Arsenal (Sixth in 1997/98)
Arsene Wenger led Arsenal to a famous domestic double during the 1997/98 season.
However, it was far from a perfect start. Arsenal lost four times in six games between November 1st and December 13th, before their clash with Wimbledon on December 22nd was abandoned due to floodlight problems. Arsenal were sixth at Christmas and seemingly out of the title picture.
The Gunners found their form over the second half of the campaign. An 18-game unbeaten run, including a run of 10 straight wins, sealed the title with two games to spare.
Wenger’s side then beat Newcastle United 2–0 in the 1998 FA Cup Final to complete a domestic double
Would you believe it? 🤯
🗓️ On this day in 1998, Tony Adams did this! 👏 pic.twitter.com/s7b23V5gZ0
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 3, 2024
Manchester City (Eighth in 2020/21)
Manchester City can take heart from the 2020/21 campaign, having climbed from eighth on December 25th to win the Premier League title. The Citizens endured an indifferent start to the campaign but hit an unstoppable run of form after Christmas.
Pep Guardiola’s team won 21 consecutive games in all competitions between December and March, including 15 straight wins in the Premier League. Ilkay Gundogan embarked on a prolific period to fire the Blues to the top of the table, including a brace as defending champions Liverpool were thrashed 4-1 at Anfield.
Manchester City (Fifth in 2023/24)
Manchester City also rose from outside the top four to win the Premier League last season. Pep Guardiola’s side were six points behind Arsenal, albeit with a game in hand, and ended up as champions.
For the second successive season, City hunted down Arsenal in the title race to overhaul Mikel Arteta’s team in the run-in. City did not lose from December 6th onwards and ended the season with nine consecutive wins.
Phil Foden, who was named PFA Player of the Year, scored twice as the title was sealed on the final day of the season with a 3–1 victory against West Ham United.
Read – Liverpool top at Christmas but will they win the title?
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