The Biggest Premier League Title Races of All Time

A look back at the closest and most dramatic Premier League title races in history. Cover the famous 2012 Aguero moment, Arsenal vs Man United battles, and other seasons where the title went to the final day. Data tables with final standings and points gaps. Timely as the current title race heats up in April.

Most Premier League seasons are decided long before the final day. A club pulls clear, the gap becomes too big to close, and the trophy is handed over in front of a home crowd weeks before the season ends. But occasionally, two clubs are so evenly matched that neither can pull away, and the whole thing comes down to the final whistle of the final game. Those are the seasons that stay with you.

The closest Premier League title races by points

The closest title race in Premier League history came in 2011/12, decided not by points but by goal difference. Manchester City and Manchester United finished level on 89 points. Everything came down to the final day. 

Here are the seasons where the gap between first and second was smallest: 

Seasons where the title was decided on the final day

The Premier League title has gone to the final day ten times. Some are remembered for drama. Others for heartbreak.

Nobody who watched the 2011/12 finale will ever forget it. City needed to beat QPR at the Etihad to win their first league title in 44 years. QPR had nothing to play for. City fell behind, but clawed it back to 2-2 through Dzeko in the 92nd minute, and then Aguero scored at 93 minutes and 20 seconds. Martin Tyler's commentary became the most replayed moment in Premier League history. City won the title on goal difference.

Two years later, Liverpool came closer than they had since 1990 and then watched it fall apart in the final weeks. Gerrard's slip against Chelsea handed the initiative to City, and a 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace after leading 3-0 with half an hour to go finished it.

The 2018/19 race produced some late drama too. City beat Brighton 4-1 on the final day and Liverpool beat Wolves 2-0 in the same afternoon. Liverpool needed City to drop points. They never did. Ninety-seven points and still second.

The 2021/22 finale looked, briefly, like it might go differently. City went 2-0 down to Aston Villa at the Etihad. Gundogan pulled one back, then equalised, then scored a third. Liverpool won at Anfield but it was not enough. One point separated the two sides at the end of a season. Crazy stuff. 

How the 2025/26 title race compares to the greatest ever

Arsenal lead Manchester City by nine points with seven games to go as the season enters its decisive final stretch. Arsenal haven’t won the Premier League since 2003/04, making this the closest they have come to ending a 22-year wait.

The key fixture is the meeting at the Etihad Stadium on 19 April. If City win that game they would close the gap to six points with six games remaining. Whether that would be enough to reel Arsenal in depends on how both sides handle the run-in across a packed schedule that includes European commitments for Arsenal.

Compared to the greatest title races in Premier League history, 2025/26 doesn’t yet have the final-day tension of 2012 or the single-point drama of 2019. But with seven games to play and a heavyweight clash still to come, it’s not finished yet. 

The title race enters its final stretch. Stay across it with Match Bingo

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