Any Premier League team considering themselves a title challenger wants to be top at all parts of the season, but being top at Christmas seems to carry some added significance.
Similarly, at the other end of the table, nobody wants to be bottom at Christmas, with that often spelling doom. Indeed, only four teams have been bottom at Christmas in the Premier League and stayed up, but how many teams who've been top at Christmas have gone on to win the league? Find out below.
Season | Team top at Christmas | Final position |
92/93 | Norwich | 3rd |
93/94 | Man Utd | 1st |
94/95 | Blackburn | 1st |
95/96 | Newcastle | 2nd |
96/97 | Liverpool | 4th |
97/98 | Man Utd | 2nd |
98/99 | Aston Villa | 6th |
99/00 | Leeds | 3rd |
00/01 | Man Utd | 1st |
01/02 | Newcastle | 4th |
02/03 | Arsenal | 2nd |
03/04 | Man Utd | 3rd |
04/05 | Chelsea | 1st |
05/06 | Chelsea | 1st |
06/07 | Man Utd | 1st |
07/08 | Arsenal | 3rd |
08/09 | Liverpool | 2nd |
09/10 | Chelsea | 1st |
10/11 | Man Utd | 1st |
11/12 | Man City | 1st |
12/13 | Man Utd | 1st |
13/14 | Liverpool | 2nd |
14/15 | Chelsea | 1st |
15/16 | Leicester | 1st |
16/17 | Chelsea | 1st |
17/18 | Man City | 1st |
18/19 | Liverpool | 2nd |
19/20 | Liverpool | 1st |
20/21 | Liverpool | 3rd |
21/22 | Man City | 1st |
22/23 | Arsenal | 2nd |
23/24 | Arsenal | 2nd |
As seen in the table above, the team top at Christmas has only won the league 16 out of 31 times, and only twice in the last six seasons.
Teams top at Christmas are winning the league more often than they did in the early years of the competition, however, with the financial disparity growing and fewer teams able to be top at Christmas, let alone go on to win the league.
Manchester United won eight of the first 11 Premier Leagues, but were only top at Christmas in three seasons (and only won the league in two of those), with Sir Alex Ferguson making a habit of ensuring his side were raring to go at the business end of the campaign.
Between 2004 and 2017, the team top at Christmas went on to win the league 11 out of 14 times, with Arsenal and Liverpool being chased down by Manchester United in 2008 and 2009, and Liverpool dramatically letting their lead slip at the end of the 2013/14 campaign with Manchester City taking the title.
In the last six years, we've only seen City top at Christmas once, but Pep Guardiola, like Ferguson, has always made sure his sides finished campaigns strongly.
The Citizens are surely too far back this time, though, and table-toppers Liverpool look well placed to win a record-equalling 20th league title.