The Worst Title Defences in Premier League History

Manchester City’s title defence under Manuel Pellegrini is the first to feature on this list, having finished 15 points behind Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in the 2014-15 season.

The 2014-15 campaign was blighted with inconsistency for the Chilean’s side, as City conceded 38 goals in the league, suffering shock losses at home to Stoke City, as well as away defeats to the likes of West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Burnley.

Ultimately, City were too static in the transfer market and failed to add quality to their side while others around them strengthened, with their three biggest signings that season being Eliaquim Mangala from Porto for £42m, Wilfried Bony from Swansea for £25m and Fernando for £12m from Sevilla. With Chelsea adding Cesc Fàbregas and Diego Costa to their squad, you can see why things ended the way they did.

The 2019-20 season saw Liverpool claim their long-awaited first Premier League title, and they did so in emphatic fashion, accumulating a total of 99 points, finishing well beyond Manchester City in 2nd.

2019-20 will forever be one of The Reds' greatest campaigns, but the following season was a very sobering experience for the red corners of Merseyside as they put up a meek defensive of their Premier League crown, finishing in 3rd place with just 69 points, 17 behind champions Manchester City.

The campaign saw Liverpool involved in a couple of wild results, notably a 7-2 defeat away at Aston Villa, while also losing 0-1 at home to Burnley, a result that ended a 68-game unbeaten league run at Anfield.

There likely wasn't a single reason behind Liverpool's abrupt decline, but having won the Champions League two seasons prior and having been involved in two 97+ point seasons, there was likely a notable element of fatigue affecting the squad, especially considering their exertive playing style under Jürgen Klopp.

Next up on this list is City’s title defence back in 2019-20, as they surrendered the title without so much as a whimper, barely posing a challenge to champions Liverpool.

The Catalyst of City's failure to get close to Liverpool was arguably allowing club captain Vicent Kompany to leave without a replacement, but even then it would've been exceptionally tough to stop The Reds winning the title as they ended the season with a total of 99 points, dropping just two points after 27 league matches.

Pep Guardiola’s side that season was summed up by their best league-winning run coming when they won their last five matches of the campaign. As a result, City finished 18 points adrift of Liverpool, in addition to suffering nine defeats in the league to the likes of Norwich City, whilst Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United both did the double over them.

Blackburn Rovers shocked many when they won the Premier League title on the final day of the 1994-95 season at Anfield, becoming the first town team to ever win the Premier League, with Manchester United failing to win against West Ham at Upton Park. However, what was to shock many was the downturn in the club's fortunes following what was their greatest-ever achievement, as Kenny Dalglish resigned as manager.

This news rocked the Lancashire club, who appointed Ray Harford as his replacement and struggled throughout his time as manager, as Rovers finished seventh, 21 points behind United, winning just 18 out of 38 league fixtures, and even exited the Champions League at the group stage.

It was the beginning of the end for Rovers as a league title contender as Jack Walker scaled back investment into the squad, feeling as though his initial goal had already been achieved, with Rovers relegated back to Division One not long after.

United’s last Premier League title came in the 2012-13 season, as they finished 11 points ahead of City. However, towards the end of that season, the football world was stunned as Sir Alex Ferguson announced that he would be retiring after just short of 27 years in the hot seat at Old Trafford.

United replaced Ferguson with fellow Scot David Moyes, manager of Everton at the time, and it turned out to be a complete disaster. What set the tone for Moyes’ tenure in charge was the summer transfer window of 2013, as the only major signing United made was Marouane Fellaini from Everton for £27m.

Moyes’ side failed to win in 17 of the 34 matches they played in the league that season, including home defeats to the likes of Newcastle United, Everton and West Bromwich Albion. This resulted in the Scotsman being sacked, with club legend Ryan Giggs taking over for the last four games of the season, where United picked up seven points from a possible 12.

Chelsea’s title defence in 2017-18 ranks as the third-worst in Premier League history, having finished 30 points behind Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. This ultimately cost manager Antonio Conte his job at Stamford Bridge, as the Blues finished in fifth place and failed to qualify for the Champions League.

Key players such as Nemanja Matić and Diego Costa were sold to the likes of Manchester United and Atlético Madrid, while Conte’s side made a series of poor signings, having spent over £100m on the likes of Tiemoue Bakayoko, Álvaro Morata, Davide Zappacosta and Danny Drinkwater.

The Stamford Bridge club only managed to score 62 goals, as the likes of Morata failed to make a mark in the team, finding the back of the net 11 times in 31 Premier League appearances, three of which came in the same game against Stoke at home. This came in stark contrast to the 28 goal contributions that Diego Costa managed in 35 league games in the previous season.

Conte’s side lost ten times in the league to the likes of Burnley, Bournemouth, Newcastle and Watford.

Unfortunately for fans of the Blues, Chelsea also have the second-worst title defence in Premier League history on their record book, following what was a disastrous 2015-16 campaign. The Stamford Bridge club finished a staggering 31 points behind shock champions Leicester City, in what was a turbulent season which saw them sack José Mourinho and replace him with interim manager Guus Hiddink.

Under Mourinho and Hiddink, the Blues accumulated just 12 wins from 38 games and conceded 53 goals, which saw them finish in 10th place on 50 points, one point behind ninth-placed Stoke City.

The West London club had a poor summer transfer window which likely contributed to their woes, as a manager like Mourinho needs regular turnover in the squad to maintain success. Chelsea’s most notable signings in the summer were Pedro from Barcelona, a declining Radamel Falcao on loan from AS Monaco and Baba Rahman from Augsburg.

It will come to nobody’s surprise that Leicester City’s title defence in 2016-17 ranks as the worst in the history of the Premier League - and by an almighty margin.

The Foxes were one of the favourites to be relegated when they stunned world football and won the Premier League title in 2015-16 under Claudio Ranieri, amassing 81 points while finishing 10 clear of second-placed Arsenal.

Realistically, Leicester were not going to retain the title and sat at an incredible 200/1 at the beginning of the campaign, but they were expected to come fairly close to the Europa League qualification places. The beginning of the downfall of Leicester’s title defence was the sale of N’Golo Kanté, which saw the Frenchman join eventual champions Chelsea, who the Foxes finished a whopping 49 points behind.

The start of the season saw Leicester win just five of their first 25 matches, which resulted in the sacking of Ranieri, who was then replaced by Craig Shakespeare who managed to guide the Foxes to a 12th-placed finish, winning seven of the remaining 13 fixtures in the league that season.

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