Liverpool’s current run of form is up there with the longest unbeaten runs in the Premier League era.
Following their most recent win over Man United, Liverpool continued their club-record unbeaten streak under Jurgen Klopp. A 2-0 victory at Anfield stretched the run to 39 games, not only the Reds’ longest run without defeat in the Premier League era, but also the third-longest of any top-flight club in that period.
The Merseyside outfit are surpassing records set by some of the greatest English teams of all-time, and if they were to climb any further up the list it would cement their place among the best teams we’ve ever seen. The kicker here is that every team on this list won the league in the same campaign they embarked on their unbeaten streaks – except for Liverpool.
Surely this is the season they change that particular unwanted statistic.
The five longest unbeaten runs in the Premier League era:
5. Man United – 29
Streak: December 26, 1998 – September 25, 1999; April 11, 2010 – February 5, 2011
Remarkably, Manchester United have gone 29 games unbeaten on two separate occasions.
The first was in that famous Treble-winning campaign, when they avoided defeat from Christmas until the end of the campaign, stretching into the new season. That was ended spectacularly by Chelsea in October of 1999, who thumped the reigning champions 5-0 at Stamford Bridge.
In 2011, Alex Ferguson’s charges were just over two months away from going an entire year undefeated when they lost 2-1 to Wolves thanks to goals from George Elokobi and Kevin Doyle. They won the league by nine points that season.
4. Man City – 30
Streak: April 8, 2017 – January 2, 2018
The side that everyone thought would emulate the Invincibles lost for the first time 22 matches into the 2017/18 campaign. The 4-3 defeat to Liverpool did nothing to derail their title charge however, as they enjoyed a procession on their way to becoming the first team to reach 100 Premier League points in a single season.
The result did reveal some chinks in the seemingly flawless Man City armour and foreshadowed the challenge the Reds would pose to Pep Guardiola’s team in the coming years.
3. Liverpool – 39
Streak: January 12, 2019 – present
Liverpool last tasted defeat in the league back in January of last year, when they fell 2-1 to Manchester City, at Eastlands. Ironically, it was their only defeat of the season and ended up costing them the league title by a single point.
The Reds got back on the horse nine days later with a 1-0 away win over Brighton, and ended the season on a nine-game winning run. They’ve continued that stellar form into this season, winning 20 and drawing one of their opening 21 fixtures – the first time a team in Europe’s top five leagues has ever done so.
They fell just a game short of equalling the longest winning streak in Premier League history when they drew 1-1 with arch-rivals Man United at Old Trafford in October, but they are just one game away from equalling Chelsea’s run from a decade and a half ago.
2. Chelsea – 40
Streak: 16 October 2004 – 6 November 2005
When Jose Mourinho arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2004, he quickly turned Chelsea into an unstoppable winning machine. His first league defeat at the South West London club came in October when they lost 1-0 to a pre-petrodollar Man City, before going undefeated for 12 months and three weeks. That run was finally ended by Man United in the 2005/06 campaign, although the Blues won the title in both seasons.
1. Arsenal – 49
Streak: 7 May 2003 – 24 October 2004
And way out in front, it’s none other than The Invincibles, who became just the second team in the history of English football to go an entire league season undefeated, Preston North End in 1888/89 being the other.
Arsenal‘s run went beyond just a season though, refusing to lose for a whopping 49 games. Arsene Wenger’s side were stopped just short of the half-century however, by none other than their arch-nemesis, Man United.
That 2004 fixture was the scene of the infamous Battle of the Buffet, in which Alex Ferguson was splattered with a slice of pizza by Cesc Fabregas. The defeat had deeper repercussions for the Gunners though, who could never quite reach the same heights thereafter.
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