Topping the table on December 25 is considered a good omen in English football, but what does history tell us about this cliché?
There is a common cliché in English football that if your team is at the top of the table over the Christmas period, you have a good chance of making it. English Premier League By the end of the season. But as we know, this is far from guaranteed.
In ten of the last 15 seasons, the team that was No. 1 on 25 December has enjoyed success in winning the Premier League title. In fact, since the introduction of the revamped version of the English top flight in 1992, this has happened in 16 out of 32 seasons.
Of course, not every team can maintain their grip on the league crown after climbing to the top midway through the season.
So he dives in GOAL It’s in the history books to know what happened to the teams that topped the table on Christmas Day. Were they able to achieve glory or did they collapse at the end of the season?
The Premier League leaders at Christmas versus the title winners since the 1992/93 season
History suggests that the team that tops the table on Christmas Day usually wins the title, but things aren’t so great if you Liverpool.
Only five times in the last 11 seasons has the team at the top at Christmas failed to lift the Premier League trophy, and three times it has been Liverpool who are the losers.
Being top of the league at Christmas is a familiar position for the Reds, but every time they have been in that position, the Merseyside side have mostly failed to exploit that advantage and win the title at the end of the season.
In the 2008/09 season, the Reds lost only two games all season but finished behind the eventual champions Manchester United.
But undoubtedly the most famous collapse came in 2014, when the Reds lost 2-0 at Anfield to Chelsea, thanks to Steven Gerrard’s iconic slide, before squandering a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Crystal Palace.
Arne Slott and co are hoping the story has a happier ending this time around as they find themselves in the perfect position to claim the title of ‘Christmas Kings’ in the 2024-25 Premier League season.
Manchester City They were once again the villains of the 2018/19 and 2020/21 seasons, with Pep Guardiola’s winning side usually edging out Jurgen Klopp’s side in several thrilling close title races over the past six seasons.
Speaking of Man City, more than half of the City’s nine titles came when they were chasing the title at Christmas. In fact, they are the only team in the history of the Premier League to have won the title after they were in eighth place on 25 December.
In the 2020/21 season, City were eight points off the top at Christmas, while they were also chasing the top spot at the same time last season, showing their unique ability to string together an unstoppable run of points and wins and overturn the deficit.
Some of the eventual champions came back from larger point margins. Arsenal were 13 points behind on 25 December 1997 but came back strongly to win their first Premier League title.
What other teams have ‘failed’ to retain Christmas supremacy?
Liverpool are not alone in having the honor of falling on the wrong end of the post-Christmas title races, with several other teams failing to maintain their festive position at the top of the table until the end of the season.
Just last season, Arsenal found themselves sitting at the top of the Premier League standings heading into Christmas, enjoying a six-point lead over eventual winners Manchester City. However, their dreams disintegrated in the final stages.
During the 2022-23 season, Mikel Arteta’s men spent an incredible 248 days at the top of the league table, setting a new record for the longest spell at the top without winning the title in the history of the English Premier League.
On 8 April, the Gunners had a five-point lead, with an equal number of games played as their nearest rivals. But by the end of May, they had abdicated to Manchester City, failing in their bid for glory.
In the inaugural 1992/93 Championship season, Norwich got off to a flying start, defeating almost everyone before Christmas. They spent 129 days at the top of the table and continued to be at the top until March 19. However, a losing streak in the second half of the season saw Norwich finish in third place, with a negative goal difference.
The 1995/96 Newcastle team has become somewhat of a fond memory. A hugely talented team, nicknamed Artists for their brilliant style of play, led by Kevin Keegan, lost to an agonizing 4-3 defeat to Liverpool, and never recovered.
They finished the season in second place behind Manchester United, and Keegan’s famous “I’d love that” speech goes down as one of the most memorable moments in league history. Unfortunately for Keegan, they were unable to win the title.
Which teams have won the Premier League after topping the table at Christmas?
Aside from Man City and Liverpool, Leicester City (2015-16) and Chelsea (2014-15) are the two teams that topped the Christmas table and were able to exploit their lead and go on to lift the title the following summer in recent years.
Chelsea claimed their first title in five years when they lifted the trophy in 2015, having finished eight points ahead of Man City under Jose Mourinho’s management.
The 2015/16 campaign was all about Leicester City and their impressive first Premier League title.
Claudio Ranieri guided his side to the top of the table at Christmas, but no one would have imagined in their wildest dreams that the Italian would be able to lead them to the title, as they were comfortably crowned champions with two games to play and finished 10 points ahead of runners-up Arsenal.
During the 2016/17 campaign, Antonio Conte took over a Chelsea side that had finished 10th the previous season under Jose Mourinho and caretaker manager Guus Hiddink and helped them reach their full potential, reviving players such as Diego Costa and establishing a defense that was as solid as a rock.
With Eden Hazard as their trump card, the Blues were so good by December that they appeared to have few real title challengers, although Spurs did make a late surge to threaten Chelsea before their dream eventually faded away.