Which of our ten best Premier League teams of all-time can claim to be the greatest?
- Andy Schooler
- 8 June 2022
Some superb Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool teams all hold claims. Andy Schooler delivers his verdict...
It's the age-old pub debate - who is the greatest?
Here, we take a look at the best Premier League teams of all-time.
We're deciding on Premier League performances only - European success or cup glory isn't relevant here.
So will it be a Sir Alex Ferguson behemoth? Jose Mourinho's all-conquering Chelsea?
Perhaps the Arsenal 'Invincibles' or a more-recent side, such as Pep Guardiola's Manchester City or Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool?
Andy Schooler puts his head above the parapet to decide...
10th - Leicester - 2015/16
There will be plenty who disagree with Leicester's inclusion on this list.
But the word 'team' is vital to it and this was a team in the proper sense of the word - way greater than the sum of its parts which isn't something you can say about any of the other nominees on this page.
Somehow boss Claudio Ranieri shaped a squad which had nearly been relegated the previous season into something spectacular - N'golo Kante running games from midfield, Riyad Mahrez being creator in chief and Jamie Vardy using pace and finishing precision to score bundles of goals.
Those were the stars but lesser lights had to shine for anything even approaching title success to occur - and they did.
Another key factor was the team's rock-solid mentality. For months, the critics said they'd stumble. It never happened. Even once they'd convinced people, even themselves, that they were favourites, the Foxes never looked like losing their lead.
This was a special bunch, one which achieved greatness.
What else? Leicester were sent off at odds of 5,000/1, making their success one of the greatest sporting upsets of all time.
Best XI - Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs, Kante, Drinkwater, Mahrez, Albrighton, Okazaki, Vardy
9th - Chelsea - 2016/17
It's easy to forget that in the season Leicester won the league, Chelsea finished a lowly 10th, winning the same number of games as they lost (12).
Not surprisingly, big changes were made - and they worked spectacularly.
Boss Antonio Conte arrived, as did N'golo Kante, David Luiz and Marcos Alonso. Each played a huge part in what was a comfortable title success.
I say comfortable. Actually, there were early concerns with only three of the first six won and after back-to-back defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal, Conte was feeling the heat.
He responded by changing formation to 3-4-3 and the rest, as they say, is history.
Thirteen straight wins followed and the foundations for glory had been well and truly laid.
Diego Costa led the scoring charts with 20 goals while Eden Hazard again sparkled with 16. However, it was Kante who was chosen as PFA Player of the Year as he made it back-to-back titles following his previous success with Leicester.
What else? The Blues' final tally of 93 points is still the sixth-best in Premier League history.
Best XI - Courtois, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill, Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso, Pedro, Costa, Hazard
8th - Manchester City - 2021/22
While it might be a stretch to suggest Pep Guardiola had to rebuild after the departure of Sergio Aguero, he certainly had to adjust his team to play without a recognised centre forward.
It was done to great effect as City claimed a fourth title in five years, claiming 93 points in the process.
Success was claimed by a set of players already used to winning but they were tested both mentally and physically over the course of the campaign.
Liverpool pushed them all the way, closing what was at one stage a 14-point gap, before finally succumbing by a single point, while semi-final runs in the Champions League and FA Cup brought a total of 57 matches.
Kevin De Bruyne was the team's star, creating and scoring regularly from midfield, while Joao Cancelo emerged as a perhaps unexpected shining light as he added a new bow to the full-back role.
What else? City lost only three times but two of those defeats came against Tottenham.
Best XI - Ederson, Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo, Rodri, B Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Foden, Mahrez
7th - Manchester United - 1993/94
Unless you're a young reader, I'd suggest that if fans had to link one club to the Premier League era, they would, in the main, choose Manchester United.
The 93/94 Red Devils set the early standards for what has gone since.
Having dumped the baggage of 26 years without the title the previous season, United went into full flow.
The talisman was Eric Cantona had added a touch of magic to almost every game but behind him were other reasons for greatness.
Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister stood in front of arguably the PL era's greatest keeper, Peter Schmeichel, while the midfield had just been improved by the addition of a certain Roy Keane, who made an instant impact alongside Paul Ince.
On the wings, Lee Sharpe and Andrei Kanchelskis are players who don't get the recognition they deserve.
A tally of 92 points stood as the Premier League record for more than a decade, with only Blackburn coming close to challenging. In the end, Rovers finished eight points back.
What else? Mike Phelan, Dion Dublin and Darren Ferguson, the manager's son, were among the players to appear for United.
Best XI - Schmeichel, Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Irwin, Kanchelskis, Ince, Keane, Sharpe, Cantona, Hughes
6th - Manchester United - 1999/2000
Here's one for you - United 99/00 get into this list ahead of the Treble winners.
Well, this list is all about the best Premier League sides - and the 99/00 version was a step above on that front, winning 12 more points than the Treble team. They dominated, finishing 18 points clear - this was an era when Soccer AM was mocking the 'Premiership one-horse race'.
This United side, built on the famous midfield of Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs, smashed goals for fun - Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke both passed the 20-goal mark - and they scored three or more in exactly half of their league games.
The problem area was defence. Peter Schmeichel had left and Mark Bosnich and Massimo Taibi both threw in some calamitous displays. Not that it mattered.
United were still way too good for their domestic rivals, this despite having to travel to first Japan and then Brazil for intercontinental competitions.
Even Sir Alex himself labelled this lot "the best Man United team we ever had" after they clinched the title. I rest my case.
What else? United famously didn't enter the FA Cup this season, instead taking part in the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil.
Best XI - Bosnich, G Neville, Stam, Silvestre, P Neville, Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Cole, Yorke
5th - Arsenal - 2003/04
'The Invincibles' were always going to be a shoo-in for this list - it was just a case of how high they'd be.
A measure of their achievement can be done by comparing the rarity of it - only Preston had previously gone unbeaten through a top-flight season, and that in the very first league campaign in the 19th century which saw them play only 22 games. The two are barely comparable.
It was some team, its shining light being 30-goal Golden Boot winner Thierry Henry, bewitching defences with the aid of the genius of Dennis Bergkamp. The wide men were also exceptional - Robert Pries and the forever-underrated Freddie Ljungberg.
With Patrick Vieira still commanding the midfield and Sol Campbell majestic at the back, there was no weak link in the side.
Still, the fact they drew 12 of their 38 games is not insignificant in terms of the upper echelons of this list.
What else? The unbeaten run would never have happened had Ruud van Nistelrooy not blasted a penalty against the bar in the last minute of September's 0-0 draw at Old Trafford - an incident which gained infamy for Martin Keown's aggressive reaction.
Best XI - Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Gilberto, Vieira, Ljungberg, Pires, Bergkamp, Henry
4th - Manchester United - 2007/08
It's often said that Sir Alex Ferguson created three great teams during his time at Old Trafford.
The Cantona-inspired force of nature, the unforgettable Treble winners and then this one.
It was the side featuring one of the Premier League's all-time great forward lines with Cristiano Ronaldo joined by Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.
This version of United won the Premier League three years running and this season came in the middle of that run.
Ronaldo was the driving force, scoring a record-equalling 31 PL goals en route to his first Ballon d'Or award.
The defence wasn't bad either - this was peak Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. No wonder they conceded just 22 goals.
Other United sides won more points but this lot were destructive with that powerful attack. They won 11 games by at least three clear goals and were a delight to watch.
What else? This United side also won the Champions League, beating Barcelona in the semis and Chelsea in the final.
Best XI - Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo
3rd - Liverpool - 2019/20
The 2019/20 season will forever go down as the Covid-interrupted one, a campaign which ended in late July.
That's sad for the legacy of a truly great Liverpool team for it deserves the highest accolades.
It was a side which ended a 30-year title wait in dominant fashion, playing exciting, attacking football which their rivals simply had no answer to.
Remarkably after 27 games, Liverpool had won 26 and drawn one.
It looked like Arsenal's 'invincible' feat could be matched and Man City's 100-point record smashed.
But a shock loss at Watford was followed almost immediately by the lockdown and, perhaps understandably given no one was pushing them, only six of the last 11 were won.
Instead they 'only' picked up 99 points (the second-best in history).
The Fab Three of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah scored 46 goals between them as Liverpool tore into opponents, while at the back Virgil van Dijk purred like a Rolls Royce and Alisson was outstanding in goal.
What else? When Liverpool were confirmed champions following Manchester City's defeat at Chelsea, they still had seven games to play. It is the earliest (in terms of games) any side has ever won the English title.
Best XI - Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane
2nd - Chelsea - 2004/05
The best teams aren't always the ones you want to watch the most.
Take Chelsea of 04/05 - a relentless machine of a team which nearly always got the job done.
Jose Mourinho arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2004, fresh from winning the Champions League with Porto, and crucially brought Ricardo Carvalho (to partner John Terry at centre-back) and right-back Paulo Ferreira with him.
A certain Didier Drogba and Petr Cech also arrived that summer but it was the back four which played the biggest part in the Blues' title triumph.
Chelsea conceded just 15 goals in their 38 games - a Premier League record which still stands.
What else? Chelsea lost only once in 2004/05, 1-0 away to Manchester City in mid-October.
Best XI - Cech, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Gallas, Makalele, Lampard, Cole, Duff, Robben, Drogba
1st - Manchester City - 2017/18
Data is a big thing in football these days and City's 2017/18 numbers are staggeringly good.
This team is the only one in Premier League history to rack up 100 points. They also scored 106 goals and triumphed by a 19-point margin - both records.
Other records set included total wins (32), away points (50) and consecutive victories (18).
Player. Team. Club. All the records that tumbled in a remarkable season! 🔥#CENTURIONS #mancity pic.twitter.com/cN5YhCgJc1
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 13, 2018
It was a team very much in the mould of Pep Guardiola - attack-minded, free-flowing and easy on the eye.
Sergio Aguero scored 21 times with Raheem Sterling maturing into a goalscorer with 18.
The league's top four assisters were all at City - Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sane, David Silva and Sterling. All hit double figures.
Five City players made the PFA Team of the Year with Sane voted as the best young player.
In short, they set new benchmarks and entertained royally. What more can you ask for?
True greats.
What else? The one disappointment for City came when they had the chance to clinch the title at home to local rivals United in April but lost 3-2 having led 2-0 at half-time.
Best XI - Ederson, Walker, Otamendi, Kompany, Delph, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, David Silva, Sterling, Sane, Aguero
