Best Teams To Have Never Won The Premier League

The Premier League trophy is one of the most sought after accolades in world football. Global stars past and present have flocked to England to compete in what is the pinnacle of the game.

However, some teams have failed to go on to be crowned champions, despite looking destined to do so for the majority of the season.

Below are the best teams to have never won the Premier League. You can find the latest spread betting odds on the Premier League here. 

5. Arsenal 1998/99

Arsenal headed into the 1998/99 campaign as title winners the previous year and their squad boasted a plethora of elite talent – Nicolas Anelka, Marc Overmars and Dennis Bergkamp just to name a few.

Arsène Wenger had been with the Gunners for just two years but had already claimed a Premier League title in just his second season during the 1997/98 campaign. He almost retained the trophy the following year and Arsenal even went top of the league in April for the first time that season.

However, with both Arsenal and Manchester United level on points with two games remaining, Wenger’s side suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Leeds United. The Red Devils would go on to claim the title by just a single point en route to their treble-winning campaign.

4. Liverpool 2008/09

Rafael Benitez had accumulated a star-studded squad for the 2008/09 season that featured the likes of Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso. However, Liverpool still weren’t good enough to win their first-ever Premier League title that year.

The Reds had raced to the top of the pile through their first ten matches and were undefeated, dropping points in just two games. They even went the first 26 games of the campaign having suffered just one defeat but a run of successive draws meant that the last time they sat top was after round 21 of fixtures.

Liverpool only lost twice all season – away to Tottenham Hotspur and Middlesbrough respectively – and even their final run in that saw them go undefeated in 11 games, dropping points in just one, wasn’t enough.

Fierce rivals Man United would go on to claim the trophy, equalling Liverpool’s record of 18 English top flight titles, despite Benitez doing the double over Sir Alex Ferguson that year.

3. Newcastle United 1995/96

In only the fourth season of the competition, the 1995/96 Premier League season delivered some of its best ever moments and some that will go down in footballing history.

It was the season of Kevin Keegan’s famous rant live on Sky Sports which captured his ‘love it’ moment after the Magpies had defeated Leeds United at the end of April.

Newcastle had led the top of the league from August, all the way up until mid-March, and even had a 10-point lead over Ferguson’s United at Christmas.

However, despite Keegan’s men later extending their lead to 12 points, a poor run of form at the crunch time of the season derailed their title aspirations. Winning just two games from eight in a period from the end of February up until the beginning of April, Newcastle allowed Man United to overtake them with just five games remaining.

Even Les Ferdinand’s 25-goal Premier League season wasn’t enough for the Magpies and the return of Eric Cantona from his eight-month suspension strengthened the Red Devils’ title charge.

Newcastle even finished as runners-up again in the following 1996/97 season, being beaten by Man United once more and are still yet to add a Premier League title to their trophy cabinet.

2. Manchester United 1997/98

The late 1990s saw some of the best title races in Premier League history as Man United and Arsenal – Ferguson and Wenger – went head-to-head in a series of fascinating battles.

Arsenal claimed the title in 1998, winning their first league title since 1991, and even went on to claim a famous double after beating Newcastle in the FA Cup final. Ferguson had to serve as runner-up that year by a marginal one point.

The Gunners also did the double over United that year, including a narrow 1-0 win at Old Trafford in March thanks to an Overmars winner. The victory would prove to be crucial, allowing Arsenal to go six points behind United with three games in hand.

The likes of Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and David Beckham failed to deliver the Premier League trophy that year but they would go on to exact vengeance the following season by winning the treble.

1. Liverpool 2013/14

The stars were aligning for Liverpudlians in 2014 as they believed that they would finally see their cult hero and captain Gerrard lift the club’s first-ever Premier League trophy.

Gerrard had taken a slightly deeper role that year at the base of midfield, with the England midfielder heading towards the twilight of his career. Nonetheless, he still contributed 13 league goals that season behind a formidable strike force of Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling.

Suarez truly proved his world class ability too, scoring 31 Premier League goals on his way to claiming the Golden Boot and PFA Players’ Player of the Year. Liverpool were unstoppable going forward altogether, amassing a total of 101 goals in the Premier League.

Nevertheless, the campaign would be smeared by Gerrard’s infamous slip at Anfield to allow Demba Ba through on goal and open the scoring, before Chelsea went on to claim a 2-0 victory.

The Reds then threw away a three-goal lead away to Crystal Palace in the penultimate game of the season, allowing Manchester City to go top of the pile.

The quality of City that year is often overlooked since Liverpool threw away a leading position. However, they were equally as impressive under Manuel Pellegrini and Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero were able to lead them to only their second-ever Premier League title, scoring 37 goals between them.

However, the 2013/14 season will always be remembered for Gerrard’s slip that meant the Premier League trophy would evade him for life as a player.