The heaviest defeats suffered by Premier League champions | OneFootball

Manchester City’s tough title defence continued on Sunday as the champions were humbled at Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola’s side lost 5-1 at the Emirates in a defeat that further emphasised their decline. It’s been a sharp fall from grace for the champions who have conceded 4+ goals in four different games across all competitions this season. That is the most in a single campaign in Guardiola’s managerial career.

City’s 5-1 defeat against Arsenal does not make this list, however, as we look at the heaviest defeats suffered by reigning Premier League champions.

The heaviest defeats suffered by Premier League champions

Coventry 5-0 Blackburn Rovers (1995/96)

Coventry City caused a huge upset in 1995/96 as the struggling side beat Blackburn Rovers in a five-star performance at Highfield Road. Ron Atkinson’s side were bottom of the table heading into the clash but scored five without reply to dismantle the champions.

David Busst opened the scoring for the Sky Blues five minutes before half-time to hand Coventry a narrow lead. After the break, the hosts ran riot. Dion Dublin doubled the lead before David Rennie headed home a third. A brilliant Peter Ndlovu goal added a fourth for the home side and John Salako completed the rout two minutes from time.

Newcastle 5-0 Manchester United (1996/97)

Newcastle United had blown a big lead in the title race the previous season, having led the Premier League by 12 points in January. However, the Magpies collapsed under Kevin Keegan to hand the title to Manchester United.

The following season, Newcastle were keen to send a statement when the champions arrived in the North East. A brilliant performance from Keegan’s ‘Entertainers’ saw Newcastle win 5-0 at St James’ Park, with world-record recruit Alan Shearer on target.

Darren Peacock and David Ginola had put Newcastle in control before Les Ferdinand added a third just after the hour. Shearer’s strike made it 4-0 and Philippe Albert’s audacious chip of Peter Schmeichel sealed the win. The result failed to be the springboard to success, however, as Newcastle finished as runners-up to Manchester United for the second straight season.

90s Gold: How Newcastle United went from Keegan’s Entertainers to Dalglish’s Dad’s Army

Chelsea 5-0 Manchester United (1999/2000)

Manchester United saw their 29-game unbeaten run spectacularly ended at Stamford Bridge in October 1999. Treble winners the previous season, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were regarded as Europe’s best side but were blown away by the Blues in the capital.

Gus Poyet opened the scoring inside 27 seconds for Chelsea, with the help of a goalkeeping gaffe from Massimo Taibi. Chris Sutton’s first goal for Chelsea doubled the lead before the game swung further in the host’s favour when Nicky Butt was sent off. After tangling with Dennis Wise, Butt’s petulant kick at the midfielder earned him his marching orders.

Chelsea made their man advantage count in a ruthless performance, as Poyet’s second, a Henning Berg own goal, and Jody Morris made it a day to remember for the Londoners.

Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City (2011/12)

A result and performance that sent shockwaves through the Premier League.

Sir Alex Ferguson had dismissed Manchester City as his side’s ‘noisy neighbours’ after the Blues’ capture of Carlos Tevez, but two years later the Citizens were beginning to look like a force. Having beaten United on route to a drought-breaking FA Cup success the previous season, City laid down an ominous marker at Old Trafford in October 2011.

A devastating display saw City inflict Manchester United’s worst home defeat since February 1955, thrashing the champions to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Mario Balotelli – who celebrated with his famous ‘Why always me?’ T-shirt – bagged a brace for the Blues, with Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko (2) and David Silva all also on target. It was the first time United had conceded six goals at Old Trafford since 1930,

Leicester City 1-6 Tottenham (2016/17)

Leicester City stunned the football world after winning the Premier League in 2015/16. Among the pre-season favourites for the drop after narrowly surviving a year earlier, the Foxes went on a remarkable run to be crowned champions.

Claudio Ranieri’s side shocked the sport but a title defence never looked likely. Leicester ended the following season 12th with their title-winning coach unceremoniously sacked in February. Leicester concluded the season with a 6-1 home defeat to Tottenham in their penultimate fixture, in which Harry Kane scored four times.

Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool (2020/21)

Aston Villa delivered one of the most shocking scorelines in Premier League history in 2020/21.

Ollie Watkins scored his first top-flight goals with a hat-trick as Villa scored seven in the defeat of champions Liverpool. The Reds had won their first league title in 30 years the previous season but collapsed on a chastening night in the Midlands.

Jack Grealish had a hand in five goals for the hosts, including scoring the last two, as Villa punished a poor performance from the visitors.

Liverpool had lost just three times in the Premier League in the previous 22 months but imploded to concede seven goals in a league game for the first time in 57 years.

Read – Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend

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