I’ve already ranked the top five teams to win the Premier League. So, it only seems fair to do the same to find the worst teams to lift the trophy.
I’ve collected both defending and attacking data to calculate how Premier League teams from 1992/93 to 2020/21 compared to the “average” champion over those specific seasons. From this model, we’re able to find an attacking score, a defensive score, and an overall score.
These scores are the same ones I recently used to determine that the 2017/18 Manchester City team were the best Premier League title winners over this period. The adjusted scores normalise the data, removing any skew due to external factors.
The graphic shows the bottom five sides to win the Premier League by overall score.
5. 1992/93 Manchester United: 2.22
From the first ever Premier League season, this Manchester United team has the third-lowest adjusted attacking score (1.34) of all the past champions. It only scored 67 goals, four more than the team in 19th place. Eric Cantona joined the club in November, helping United to its first title in 26 years.
4. 1997/98 Arsenal: 2.15
Only scoring one more goal than the inaugural champions, and with one fewer win, the Arsenal team of 1997/98 has the lowest adjusted attacking score (1.93). This is despite the presence of a certain Dutchman in the side…
3. 2002/03 Manchester United: 1.93
This team scored low in both the adjusted defending (1.80) and adjusted attacking (2.07) metrics. It won the title despite being eight points behind Arsenal in December. A 2-1 win at Highbury in April tipped the balance towards United.
2. 1998/99 Manchester United: 1.64
The Treble-winning side feature in second-last place on this list, largely due to the second fewest wins (22) and clean sheets (13) of all the champions. United left it until the last game of the season, coming from behind against Spurs to beat Arsenal to the title by a single point.
1. 1996/97 Manchester United: 1.27
This Manchester United team may have won its fourth league title in five years, but it recorded the lowest-ever points total by a champion (75). Another low of 21 wins gives this side the second lowest adjusted attacking score (1.22). United also conceded the second-highest number of goals (44), including a 5-0 whitewash against runners-up Newcastle.
2021/22: ?
It looks unlikely that this season’s champion will challenge for a place at the top of this list, with ten of the 11 seasons since 2010 coming in the top 15 for adjusted overall score. (The one exception? Leicester City’s miracle season of 2015/16).
Despite this, unwanted records can be broken. Check back in at the end of the season to find out where this year’s title winners end up.
Methodology
Attacking and defending statistics for each champion from 1992/93 to 2020/21 were collected from the Premier League’s official website. These statistics were normalised, weighted, and averaged to give an adjusted attacking score and an adjusted defensive score. The average of both scores gave the adjusted overall score.