Ranking the 10 best teams who somehow never won a Premier League title | OneFootball

Some of the best teams in Premier League history don’t actually win a lot of titles, with the strength of rival sides during the same period blocking them from success.

The current Arsenal side are on course to win the Premier League this season, but they’ve been burdened largely by being a great team in the same era as Pep Guardiola’s dominant Manchester City.

City are once again breathing down the Gunners’ necks, and if Mikel Arteta’s side manage not to win the title, they’ll be one of the greatest sides ever not to do so.

We have ranked the 10 best sides never to have won the Premier League.

10. David O’Leary’s Leeds United (1998-2002)

Accruing some of the lowest points tallies on this list are why Leeds are so far down, but it was still a good side who only once finished outside the Premier League’s top four under O’Leary.

Their best finish was third, on 69 points, in 1999-2000. That squad included Nigel Martyn, Jonathan Woodgate, Alf-Inge Haaland, David Batty, Alan Smith and Harry Kewell to name a few.

Leeds were four points off second-placed Arsenal but nowhere close to runaway champions Manchester United.

They were closer in terms of points in the seasons either side of that one, but further away in terms of league position. At least they enjoyed kicking the sh*t out of the Gunners.

9. Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United (2016-18)

One of the very best managers to grace the Premier League, Mourinho named finishing second in it with United in 2017-18 as his “best ever achievement.”

United had not finished in the top four for either of the last two seasons,  but managed to be runners-up under Mourinho.

Unfortunately, while they were better than everyone bar rivals City, Pep Guardiola’s side were so good – 100 points good – that it mattered very little but for Mourinho’s pride.

8. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United (2018-21)

After two 66-point campaigns in a row, United pushed on and scooped 74 points in Solskjaer’s third season at the helm, as he guided the Red Devils to second in the league, in 2020-21.

Finishing runners-up to the Manchester City juggernaut is nothing to sniff at, with United also going 28 games unbeaten away from home under Solskjaer, highlighting the defensive rigidity that the club have been crying out for in seasons since then.

7. Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea (2021-22)

Tuchel only actually got to the end of two seasons at Chelsea, but the club finished within the Premier League top four in both and won the Champions League, proving how good a side they were.

Their best points total under the German was 74 in 2021-22, in what was largely a scrap for the title between Liverpool and City.

But being third to two of the best sides in history is a feat in itself, and Tuchel’s Chelsea overcoming Real Madrid and City in dominant eras for both clubs to scoop the Champions League showed how good the Blues could be.

6. Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool (2012-15)

A phenomenal second-placed finish was sandwiched between two very average campaigns outside the Premier League top four for Rodgers, and he largely had Luis Suarez to thank for how close he came to a title in 2013-14.

Suarez’s best season in the Premier League by some distance saw him bag 31 goals alongside 13 assists, as Manchester City beat Liverpool to the title by just two points, by virtue of winning just one extra game when Liverpool drew.

Had the peak been longer, Rodgers’ side would have been higher on this list, but as single seasons go, his team was right up there.

5. Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool (2004-10)

How fortunate was Benitez to have Steven Gerrard in his pomp and a Fernando Torres who finished third in Ballon d’Or voting in his first season on Merseyside – the pair combining for one of the deadliest combinations in Premier League history.

In three seasons under Benitez, Torres scored 56 league goals, and aided his compatriot in having the most successful of his six seasons at the helm at Anfield.

In 2008-09, Liverpool won 25 games and amassed 86 points, but Manchester United pipped them to the title by four points, losing more games but also winning more.

4. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal (Post-Invincibles)

Wenger’s last title as Arsenal boss came in 2003-04, before he had 12 seasons in a row not finishing outside the Premier League top four.

The sheer length of that sustained excellence was something to behold, as he consistently led his club into Europe.

The likes of Robin van Persie were unable to lift a league trophy at Arsenal, but were never very far away from doing so, with Arsenal coming within seven points of the title in 2013-14.

That they finished fourth that season proves how competitive the league was during that period.

Also, isn’t it funny (but not deliberate) we’ve got them fourth on this list given the amount of times they finished there! (Six under Wenger).

3. Gerard Houllier’s Liverpool (1998-2004)

In six seasons in charge at Liverpool, Houllier only twice saw his side finish outside the Premier League’s top four.

He had a couple of great seasons back-to-back (2000-01 and 2001-02). In the first of those, Liverpool came third in the Premier League but won a treble of trophies – the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup. That was also the year in which Michael Owen won the Ballon d’Or.

The following season, Liverpool amassed 80 points as they finished second to Arsenal by seven points.

Houllier’s sustained period of producing quality results across competitions puts him higher on this list than his successor Rafa Benitez, who had a better Premier League run in one season, but was less consistent.

2. Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham (2014-19)

Pochettino had Tottenham playing some of the best football we have ever seen in the Premier League, focused through their two main attackers – Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

The pair are the most successful strike partnership in the history of the league, so the boss clearly knew how to get the best out of them.

The 2015-16 season was the most infamous of Pochettino’s reign, following a fifth-placed season by essentially coming third in a two-horse race.

Spurs were in and around top spot for the entire campaign, before they let it slip right at the end of the season, and Leicester wanted it more, winning the title, before Arsenal pipped their north London rivals to second.

Spurs finished on 86 points the following season, coming second to an electric Chelsea side who reached 93 points. A couple of years later – with third and fourth-placed finishes under their belt in the league – Tottenham reached the Champions League final, highlighting their fight on the biggest stage.

1. Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle (1993-97)

David Batty, Rob Lee, Lee Clark, David Ginola, Les Ferdinand, Tino Asprilla. Newcastle had a squad full of stars who had a few exceptional seasons together in the North East.

They came third, sixth and then second in the Premier League, and the latter of those seasons (1995-96) saw them come closest to the title.

“I will love it if we beat them, love it” were the eternal words of Keegan in response to Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson during that campaign.

Beat them they did not, unfortunately, with the Manchester-based powerhouse winning the league by four points – but Newcastle gave it a great go, racking up 78 points that campaign.