Premier League: Chelsea’s nine-win start still unbeaten after 21 years

Nine out of nine

It has stood for 21 years.

Chelsea, 2005-06. Nine matches, nine wins. Nobody has beaten that start to a Premier League season since. Opta put the table back into circulation a few days ago, just as the English top flight gets going again.

Wigan, Arsenal, West Brom, Tottenham, Sunderland, Charlton. Six victims, six wins, and the then-record matched. Then Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge, 1-0 down, turned around 2-1 by a Frank Lampard brace. The record was gone. Liverpool were beaten 4-1, Bolton 5-1.

Everton ended the run at Goodison Park. A 1-1 draw on the 10th matchday. Manchester United handed them their first defeat in early November. Chelsea went on to lift the title eight points clear of Alex Ferguson’s side.

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Liverpool fell short at eight

The only club to really get close were Liverpool in 2019-20. Eight straight wins. Number nine slipped away at Old Trafford, a 1-1 draw rescued by Adam Lallana in the closing minutes.

It did not stop what came next. 18 straight victories after that, and a first English league title in 30 years.

Six wins to start is already rare. Newcastle in 1994-95, Chelsea in 2009-10, Manchester City in 2016-17, Liverpool in 2018-19, City again in 2023-24. Five clubs, two titles at the end of it.

Ninety-seven points and nothing to show for it

Newcastle in 1994-95 remains the warning sign. Kevin Keegan had them flying forward, scoring at least four in each of their first six matches. Coventry 4-0, Southampton 5-1, Chelsea 4-2, Arsenal 3-2 at Highbury. Then a draw at Liverpool in late September, and only six wins from then until the end of January. Sixth place in the finish.

Guardiola went through the same thing in his first season in England. Six wins, then Tottenham 2-0, and third place, 15 points behind Chelsea.

Liverpool’s 2018-19 campaign is the cruelest case. Six wins from the start, just one defeat all season, 97 points. A Premier League points record for a club that did not win the title. City had one more.

Before the Premier League, two teams went better than Chelsea. Tottenham with 11 wins in 1960-61, Manchester United with 10 in 1985-86.

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