The Premier League returns this weekend, and the standout tie of the round is undoubtedly Manchester City‘s trip to Liverpool.
You don’t need us to tell you why this fixture is so timely, with everything happening off the pitch for Man City at the moment.
But for now, at least, the match carries huge significance over the white line. Liverpool remain unbeaten but are looking to wash their drawing habit out of their system, while Man City are the only remaining team with a perfect record.
That makes the Cityzens just the 15th team in Premier League history to win their first five games of the season. What happened next to the other 14, and how did they get on throughout the rest of the campaign? Let’s take a look, but a warning: the title-winning record of these sides is surprisingly poor.
1994/95: Newcastle United
- What happened next: Beat Arsenal 3-2 away
- Final position: 6th
Kevin Keegan’s ‘Entertainers’ were the first team to win each of their first five matches of a campaign in the Premier League era, dispatching Leicester, Coventry, Southampton, West Ham and Chelsea with relative ease. They followed that up with an impressive away win at Arsenal before drawing at home to Liverpool. It took until late October for Manchester United to inflict the Magpies’ first defeat of the season, and they went on the slide from there, ultimately crawling to sixth.
2004/05: Arsenal
- What happened next: Drew 2-2 at home to Bolton Wanderers
- Final position: 2nd
Fresh from their ‘Invincibles’ season, Arsenal entered 2004/05 looking relentless, seeing off Everton, Middlesbrough, Blackburn, Norwich and Fulham with 19 goals scored. Bolton held them to a 2-2 draw at Highbury to end the run, but they still managed to equal Nottingham Forest‘s English record 42-game league unbeaten run before an infamous 2-0 defeat at Man Utd brought the sequence to an end. Arsene Wenger’s men endured an inconsistent run from there, but still managed to secure second place.
2005/06: Chelsea
- What happened next: Beat Charlton Athletic 2-0 away
- Final position: 1st
It was Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea who the Gunners finished second to that year, and the Blues carried on their incredible form at the start of 2005/06. Chelsea won each of their first nine games of the season, with Wigan, Arsenal, West Brom, Tottenham, Sunderland and Charlton all beaten without a goal conceded during the first six. Mourinho’s side spent all but the first two weeks of that campaign top of the table and became the first side to win their first five games of the season and go on to lift the Premier League title.
2009/10: Chelsea
- What happened next: Beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 at home
- Final position: 1st
Chelsea repeated that feat in 2009/10 under Carlo Ancelotti and made it six straight wins when they thrashed Tottenham 3-0 at home. Wigan then pulled off a shock 3-1 victory over the defending champions, but they went on to retain their crown, edging out Man Utd by a single point.
2010/11: Chelsea
- What happened next: Lost 1-0 away at Manchester City
- Final position: 2nd
Ancelotti continued his habit of starting fast the following season, even beating both West Brom and Wigan 6-0 in Chelsea’s first two games of the campaign. Chelsea couldn’t sustain that form, however, ending the season in second on just 71 points, nine adrift of champions Man Utd. A run of just two wins from 11 midway through the season ended their title hopes.
2011/12: Manchester United
- What happened next: Drew 1-1 away at Stoke City
- Final position: 2nd
It’s amazing to think that for all their dominance in the first half of the Premier League era, 2011/12 was the first time Sir Alex Ferguson’s men won their first five games of a season. The run came to an end in game six as Stoke held them to a 1-1 draw on the road. The most remarkable title race in competition history then played out, with the Red Devils settling for second thanks to Sergio Aguero’s famous last-gasp goal against QPR on the final day.
2015/16: Manchester City
- What happened next: Lost 2-1 at home to West Ham United
- Final position: 4th
Manuel Pellegrini became the first Manchester City manager to lead them to five straight victories at the start of a season in 2015/16. However, the Sky Blues lost back-to-back games against West Ham and Tottenham from there and were unable to recover any sort of consistency. City slipped to fourth and Pellegrini departed.
2016/17: Manchester City
- What happened next: Beat Swansea City 3-1 away
- Final position: 3rd
This was the beginning of the Pep Guardiola era, and it kicked off with six straight wins, including a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford in the Manchester derby. But like Pellegrini before him, Guardiola succumbed to some costly defeats, including 1-0 and 4-0 away at Liverpool and Everton, respectively. Man City had to settle for third, though a period of incredible dominance was just around the corner.
2018/19: Liverpool
- What happened next: Beat Southampton 3-0 at home
- Final position: 2nd
This was the year that Jurgen Klopp truly moved Liverpool into a different gear, winning the Champions League and amassing 97 Premier League points — the fourth-highest in competition history and the most without winning the title. The Reds won their first six that season before consecutive draws against Chelsea and Man City, who finished third and first, respectively. Their only defeat came at the Etihad Stadium in January, and what a costly defeat it was for the Premier League’s best-ever runners-up.
2018/19: Chelsea
- What happened next: Drew 0-0 away at West Ham United
- Final position: 3rd
Chelsea matched Liverpool by winning their first five games of 2018/19, before rivals West Ham held them to a goalless draw. Unlike Liverpool, Chelsea became far more inconsistent from there and eventually had to settle for third on 72 points — 25 and 26 points adrift of Liverpool and Man City, respectively.
2019/20: Liverpool
- What happened next: Beat Chelsea 2-1 away
- Final position: 1st
Just a year later, Liverpool did it again. In fact, it took until week nine for Manchester United to snatch a point from them, while Klopp’s side pulled off a quite ridiculous run of 26 wins and a draw from their first 27 games. With the title effectively sealed already, Liverpool actually lost a few games, their form not helped by the Covid-19 pandemic pausing play. But they still finished the season on an incredible 99 points — 18 clear of runners-up Man City and the second-highest points total in Premier League history. The Reds joined Mourinho and Ancelotti’s Chelsea sides as just the third in the Premier League era to win their first five games and lift the title.
2022/23: Arsenal
- What happened next: Lost 3-1 at Manchester United
- Final position: 2nd
A familiar story played out for Arsenal in 2022/23 when, just like the 2004/05 season, they won their opening five games, only to finish second. Manchester United ended the sequence with a 3-1 bruising at Old Trafford in game six, and the Gunners went on to finish five points adrift of Man City at the start of a three-season run of second-place finishes — only broken when they lifted the title last campaign.
2023/24: Manchester City
- What happened next: Beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 at home
- Final position: 1st
One season later, it was Man City once again opening things up in style, winning each of their first six games — in a run that included a 5-1 thrashing of Fulham and away victories at Burnley, Sheffield United and West Ham — before back-to-back losses to Wolves and Arsenal. Guardiola’s side spent most of that campaign chasing in the title race before sneaking past Arsenal in the final two games, finishing just two points clear of the Gunners.
2025/26: Liverpool
- What happened next: Lost 2-1 away at Crystal Palace
- Final position: 5th
Arne Slot‘s Liverpool looked all set to defend their title last season, opening up with five straight wins, including beating Arsenal 1-0 and Everton 2-1 in the Merseyside derby. But that is where it all went horribly wrong. A 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace in match six began a four-game losing streak and a run of six defeats in seven. Slot’s men did manage to level out somewhat after that, but continued inconsistencies and shock results saw them desperately cling to the fifth and final Champions League spot, having slid down to 12th at one point in the campaign. Slot was swiftly replaced by Andoni Iraola heading into this season.
Times achieved per club
- Man City: 4
- Chelsea: 4
- Liverpool: 3
- Arsenal: 2
- Man Utd: 1
- Newcastle: 1