The five biggest slips in a Premier League title race as Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea fight for this season’s top flight trophy.
Chelsea and Liverpool both probably need Man City to drop points to stand a chance.
5. Manchester United 1997/98
United were used to dominating the Premier League in the ’90s, but it was their turn to suffer a slip-up in 1998 when they threw it all away to Arsenal.
Alex Ferguson’s men were 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League at the start of March and looked all set to claim a fifth title in six seasons.
However, the Gunners, with three games in hand, quickly narrowed down United’s lead, with a 1-0 triumph at Old Trafford in mid-March proving decisive. The victory began a barnstorming run of eight successive wins and the North Londoners ultimately wrapped up the title with two games remaining with a 4-0 thumping of Everton.
4. Arsenal 2007/08
The Gunners were in good shape to snatch the title back in 2007, they had top quality players all over the pitch and a solid start to the campaign saw them go undefeated for their first 15 games of the season.
Quickly recovering, the title was theirs to lose, and in February they did just that.
Following a 2-2 draw with Birmingham City, the game that saw Eduardo almost lose a foot, the club drew their next four games against Villa, Wigan and Middlesbrough before going down to Chelsea.
Stuttering form followed and another defeat to Manchester United virtually ruled them out of the race in spectacular fashion.
3. Liverpool 2008/09
Rafa Benitez saw his Liverpool side give up what had appeared a serious title bid in 2009 when they slipped up to Manchester United at the top.
The Reds had found themselves eight points clear of their arch-rivals in January, but by the time they went to Old Trafford on March 14th they had slipped seven behind.
Their alarming dip came on the back of some ferocious mind games between Benitez and Sir Alex Ferguson, culminating in an astounding five-minute attack on the United boss by Benitez during a press conference, insinuating that he organised the Premier League fixture list and that the Red Devils profited from generous refereeing decisions.
United ended up claiming the title by four points, with the Reds coming in second, and many pointed to Benitez’s infamous rant as the moment when their season began to spiral out of control.
2. Arsenal 2002/03
Manchester United were involved again in 2003 when Sir Alex Ferguson’s men pegged back Arsenal in one of the most classic races for the title in Premier League history.
The Gunners had led by eight points in March, but had that advantage trimmed back by their rivals in the closing weeks of the campaign.
United grabbed a crucial point in a dramatic 2-2 draw with the North Londoners in April before the Gunners imploded later that month in a draw with Bolton before losing to Leeds in early May. Those results allowed the Red Devils to sneak in at the top and Arsene Wenger’s men had to make do with FA Cup success.
1. Newcastle United 1995/96
In January 1996, Manchester United lost 4-1 at Tottenham before being held to a goalless draw against Aston Villa, allowing Newcastle United to build up a seemingly un-catchable 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Kevin Keegan’s men were firmly on course for the title and everyone presumed the race for the trophy was well and truly over.
Three months later, though, and things were looking decidedly different. The Magpies had stumbled through an poor run of results, while United had worked a well-timed resurgence to catch them up. Cue an unexpectedly tight run-in, which was highlighted by Liverpool’s knife-edge 4-3 victory and was complete with Keegan’s infamous ‘I will love it if we beat them’ rant, and United snatching the title from under the Magpies’ noses in arguably the most memorable collapse.