Top 10 Teams To Not Win The Title

jonjoward1998
Mar 25, 2025
7 min read

We all remember the great sides to have won the Premier League over the years like Arsenal's Invincibles, Man City's Centurions, Liverpool's Mentalist Monsters, and Man United and City's treble winning sides.

But there have also been some great sides who haven't won the title including the ones on the list. A lot of them have pushed the eventual champions right to the wire in the title races they were involved in, but despite their best efforts they've fell just short.

Liverpool are the prime example of one of those teams as they've pushed Man City to the wire twice in recent seasons, but ended up not winning the title despite gaining more than enough points to win the league. They went close in two other seasons as well in 2009 , when they were chasing Man United and 2014, when they first fought it out with Man City.

Those two sides unfortunately didn't make it onto the list, even though they probably could've had I thought of them when doing it.

And without further or do, here is the list:

Tottenham - 2016/17

Liverpool - 2018/19

Newcastle - 1995/96

Man United - 2011/12

Liverpool - 2021/22

Chelsea - 2006/07

Arsenal - 2023/24

Arsenal - 1998/99

Man United - 2009/10

Chelsea - 2010/11

Tottenham - 2016/17

This Spurs side had to be in 10th for me because they were a young team and were never going to win the league as Chelsea already had the title in the bag by Christmas.

They did take advantage of a couple of Chelsea defeats towards the end of the season and they did go on a good run to put themselves in contention. But they were never going to win the title as they put themselves in contention very late in the season, and Chelsea were always going to see themselves over the line due to the quality they had.

On a positive note, this team has to be Spurs' best of the Premier League era because of where they finished and the quality of players they had, including Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Heung Min Son and Christian Eriksen.

It's quite incredible to believe that this side didn't win anything considering the talent they had.

Newcastle - 1995/96

This Newcastle side were famous for blowing a 12 point lead just after the half-way point of the season. They were in cruise in control for much of the first half of the season, but their form from late-February onwards went downhill.

The Magpies lost 5 of their 8 games between late February and early April, and this run of form what probably what cost them the title as Man United both closed in on and went above them in the table, before going on to win the title.

One of the games during that run was that game against Liverpool where they were 3-1 up before going on to lose 4-3. That game was arguably the one that ended their hopes and is one of the great Premier League games.

Another iconic moment from that season was manager Kevin Keegan's famous "I will love it" rant during a post match interview from one the Magpies' final games of the season.

Arsenal - 2023/24

This Arsenal team pushed Man City right down to the wire last season after looking out of the picture after Christmas. A strong second half of the season put them back in contention and they even went into the final stretch of the season at the top of the league.

But they ended up missing out on the title as their defeat to Aston Villa proved to be the result that ended their chances, and City won all their remaining fixtures including their game in hand against Spurs.

They were City's main challengers the season before where they blew it in the final month of the season after spending most of the season at the top.

They improved massively as a team in that season and the signing of Declan Rice was arguably the reason why as he brought leadership, energy, and tenacity to the midfield. They also had a fit William Saliba for the entire season and his partnership with Gabriel was key to the Gunners having a solid defence.

Chelsea - 2010/11

Chelsea were probably the favourites to win the title heading into this season after winning it the year before in Carlo Ancelotti's first season in charge.

They started the season very strongly as they won their opening five games, but a sticky patch around Christmas saw them knocked off top spot and out of contention.

But they did get themselves back in contention as they went on a good run of form during the Spring, with Frank Lampard's return from injury playing a major role as he was a massive miss for them during their drop off around Christmas.

But that run of form was brought to an end when they lost the title decider to Man United at Old Trafford, which ended their hopes of defending their title.

Chelsea - 2006/07

Chelsea went into this season off the back of winning back-to-back titles under Jose Mourinho, and this season was beginning of Mourinho's third season syndrome as the blues finished six points behind champions Man United.

They did win both the FA Cup and League Cup that season, but they couldn't repeat their exploits from the previous seasons in the league as they drew a lot of games and those draws ended up costing them the title.

It was still a great team though as it was pretty much the same side that won the back-to-back titles. Drogba had his best season on record as he hit 20 league goals to win the golden boot, and Lampard had another productive season by scoring 11 goals.

Man United - 2009/10

I have a feeling that there were questions being asked of United heading into the 2009/10 season after losing talisman Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. Despite them coming into the season off the back of winning three straight titles.

Ronaldo was a big miss for them that season as he was expected to be because of how important he was to them. But his departure gave Wayne Rooney to chance to step up and become the main man and he took it by scoring 26 league goals.

United might've won the title had Rooney not picked up that injury against Bayern Munich in the Champions League as they lost the title decider against Chelsea without him, and he wasn't the same player when he came back from that injury.

Minus Ronaldo, their team still had the majority of the players who won those three straight titles with them in Gary Neville, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, and of course Rooney.

Arsenal - 1998/99

Arsenal went into the 1998/99 season off the back of winning their first title under Arsene Wenger the season before. That title win was the start of the rivalry between Wenger and Alex Ferguson.

The Gunners didn't get off to the best of starts that season as they were languishing in 6th place around mid-December. But they soon found some much needed consistency and pushed Man United all the way in the second half of the season.

But it was United who won the title by a single point in the end and it was the United side who would go on to win the treble.

The Gunners team was littered with quality players like Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira and an exciting youngster called Nicolas Anelka, all of whom were part of the title winning side form the season before.

Man United - 2011/12

This Man United team were a matter of seconds away from winning their 20th league title, only for Sergio Aguero to score that dramatic late winner against QPR to win Man City the title on goal difference.

They were top of the league heading into the final stretch of the season and were very much expected to get the job done due to past experiences in winning titles.

But two defeats from their final six games, including their defeat to City at the Etihad, saw City reclaim top spot before going on to win the title courtesy of that Aguero goal.

They lost to City twice that season with one of their losses against them being the 6-1 at Old Trafford.

Liverpool - 2021/22

This Liverpool team were chasing a quadruple during this season and they ended up with a double by winning the FA Cup and League Cup.

They looked out of the title race at Christmas as City were some distance ahead. But after City dropped points in a few games after Christmas, the reds pounced on this and breathed down City's neck for the entire second half of the season.

Despite not winning the league, this Liverpool team was arguably them in their prime under Klopp as they had arguably their strongest ever squad, and were in with a chance of winning every competition.

It was roughly the same team that won the league a couple of years before as they had the likes Salah, Mane, Firmino, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson and Van Dijk.

Liverpool - 2018/19

The two Liverpool sides that pushed City close were always going to be in my top two. But their 2019 team just edges it as they picked up more points.

They gained 97 points that season and to pick up that many points and not win the league was just cruel.

The reds pushed City all the way that season and especially during the latter stages of the season as they went on to win all of their remaining games from the middle of March onwards. But so did City who were a few points ahead at the start of that incredible both teams went on.

The signing of Alisson made a massive difference as he gave them what they were lacking for a few years in a top class goalkeeper. Him and Van Dijk were the two signings that took the reds to that next level of being serious title contenders.

MY TOP 10: