The era of City and Liverpool dominance could be coming to an end: How do teams of the past compare?
Manchester City and Liverpool have maintained a strong rivalry at the peak of English football over the last few years but there are signs that it could be coming to an end. In City's case, they have not looked like the same winning machine of the recent past, they trailed Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table after 18 games played this season. Liverpool's situation is far more worrying as they are in serious danger of not qualifying for the UEFA Champions League next season.
This is heartbreaking to see. Klopp is a smart man and knows this needs to change around. He's a Liverpool legend and deserves all the support he needs. pic.twitter.com/wDa36G0DXX
- DaveOCKOP (@DaveOCKOP) January 14, 2023
Arsenal's team of 2003/04 was one of the strongest in the league's history, but the team of the present now has the chance to write their own history. In the Premier League odds, Arsenal are offered at 5/6 to end their league drought of 19 years. City were the favourites for the first few months of the season, but the tide started to turn against them after the derby defeat in the English Premier League predictions as they were the second favourites 18 games into the season. A new era could be emerging in the league with Pep Guardiola set to go head-to-head with his former assistant coach Mikel Arteta. But it will struggle to live up to the rivalry that the Spanish coach has built with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool. Many would argue Liverpool and City's period of dominance resulted in the highest-quality era of English football, but how do great teams of the past compare?
Arsenal 2003/04
Arsenal's last title win came from the star-studded team that went unbeaten over the course of the league season. Finishing with 26 wins and 12 draws, they remain to this day the only team to record an invincible season. But in terms of league points City and Liverpool had the most impressive seasons. City managed 100 points in 2017/18 which made them the only team ever to reach a three-figure total. Liverpool finished with 99 points in 2019/20. It is difficult to judge the quality of the league at specific periods in time, but Liverpool and City broke boundaries that few believed were possible in terms of the points they accumulated.
Arsenal had arguably the greatest Premier League player ever in Thierry Henry who won everything there was to win in football and on that front Liverpool and City's greatest teams can not compete.
Manchester United 2006-2009
Sir Alex Ferguson's side of 2007/08 failed to secure the treble like the 1998/99 side but they did win a famous double. While the United team was incredibly consistent in winning three league titles in a row between 2007 and 2009, they were certainly not as dominant in individual seasons as the likes of City and Liverpool. United only reached 90 points once and while the differences in the quality of the league can be debated the side simply did not dominate the competition in the same manner as Guardiola and Klopp's teams. The Red Devils' lineup featured a number of top stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, however statistically Mohamed Salah outperformed him in the Premier League. Ronaldo managed 31 goals in his highest-scoring season, Salah broke the record with 32 in 2017/18 but the Portuguese forward was awarded the Ballon d'Or for his performances that year.
The last time a Premier League player won the Ballon d'Or was Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008 pic.twitter.com/Nj8z3AXHb5
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 18, 2022
Overall, City and Liverpool are certainly the most dominant sides that the league has ever seen, but in regard to team quality, Arsenal and United had some of the greatest players of all time in Henry and Ronaldo. There is no correct answer to the greatest team of all, it comes down to which metric the fans believe is the most important. But all of the teams are amongst the most illustrious that the game has ever seen.