After avoiding defeat to Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur joined a distinct list of clubs to go an entire league campaign without losing at home.
It was a nice caveat to add to their final season at White Hart Lane, a season which has seen them challenge for the Premier League title yet again – although they have fallen at the end.
There are several obvious teams to go the season unbeaten at home, the likes of Arsenal’s Invincibles and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea of course make the list but there may be a few you’ve forgotten, including a few which join Spurs as one of the only teams to remain undefeated on home soil yet not win the title.
Only one team can hold the distinction of going unbeaten away from home in the Premier League however, Spurs’ great rivals Arsenal the only club to do so, in both 2001/02 and 2003/04.
Chelsea 2014/15
This season’s Champions have lost two at home under Antonio Conte but in their final full season under Mourinho they emulated the amazing home form they showed in the Portuguese manager’s first spell winning 15 and drawing four, the Blues only conceded nine goals at home compared to the 23 away from Stamford Bridge. Image Source: Twitter
Manchester City 2011/12
City’s first Premier League title was also delivered with a near faultless record at home, 18 wins and one draw, a thrilling 3-3 with Sunderland at the end of March 2012. Although had it not been for late goals from Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero on the final day of the season, what would have been their only home defeat that season would have incidentally cost them the league title.
Image Source: Twitter
Manchester United 2010/11
Some believed this was one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s worst United teams but, like City, they only dropped points once at home - a 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion in October 2010. Outside Old Trafford, however, they only won five games and only had a goal difference of +5 in away games. Still Champion form. Image Source: Twitter
Liverpool 2008/09
Liverpool may have handed Fergie’s United’s their only home defeat that season, in an emphatic 4-1 thrashing at Old Trafford but Rafa Benitez’ team couldn’t overhaul the Red Devils in the title race. Like Spurs, Liverpool are one of the only teams on the list not to win the title despite remaining undefeated at home. Image Source: Twitter
Arsenal and Chelsea 2007/08
Champions Manchester United lost only once at Old Trafford in an emotional 2-1 defeat to neighbours City four days after the 50th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster but the two teams below them were unbeatable at home. Without Jose Mourinho who left in September 2007, Avram Grant kept Chelsea's unbeaten home run going until the next season, whilst Arsene Wenger lost only one league game in the first two seasons of the Emirates. It’s the only time two sides have maintained unbeaten home records, yet neither won the title.
Image Source: Twitter
Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea 2004-2007
Mourinho was renowned for his amazing home record in charge of FC Porto, having only lost one home game with the Portuguese side and he kept that steel with him when he moved to Chelsea. In his first spell, no travelling team to the Bridge came away with all three points as they won two league titles and came runner-up in a third. In the two title winning seasons Chelsea conceded only 15 goals at home and their home undefeated record in the Premier League lasted over four years and 86 games even after he’d left. Mourinho’s personal record was ended at Real Madrid when he lost to Sporting Gijon, the streak lasted 151 games, whilst Sunderland were the first team to beat a Mourinho team at the Bridge during his second spell in charge in April 2014, ending the Chelsea streak at 78 games.
Image Source: Twitter
Arsenal 2003/04
In 2001/02 Arsenal became the only Premier League club to go an entire league campaign without losing away from home, in 2004 they married that up by becoming the only Premier League club to go the entire league campaign without losing. The Invincibles’ Highbury home was an unbreakable fortress in 2003/04 as Arsenal won 15 and drew 4 and had a goal difference of +26. Image Source Twitter
Manchester United 1999/00
From an attacking standpoint there weren’t many better than Manchester United, only Carlo Ancelotti’s 2009/10 Chelsea found the net more times than this United team and before Wenger’s Invincibles or Mourinho’s Chelsea you'd be hard-pressed to find a better Premier League team than the 1999/00 United side. The reigning European Champions notched up 59 goals at home, winning 15 of their games and drawing four as they scored 91 points, 18 ahead of second place Arsenal, the biggest points gap between first and second in Premier League history. Image Source: Twitter
Arsenal 1998/99
You may have thought Mourinho’s 2004/05 Chelsea team holds the best defensive record at home but you’d be wrong, in fact, it was the 1998/99 Arsenal team that holds that record, conceding only five goals all season at Highbury. Instead it was the Gunners away form in the first half of the season that cost them the title as they lost four times and missed out on retaining their title by one point, due to their only defeat in the latter half of the season - a 1-0 loss against Leeds United in May. Image Source: Twitter
Manchester United 1995/96
The first side to achieve the feat, Fergie’s Red Devils overcame a 12-point deficit at Christmas to win the title thanks to the return of Eric Cantona from suspension. Old Trafford really emerged as a fortress over that season having not lost since December 1994, United almost went two years before losing at home again eventually being beaten by Chelsea in November 1996. Image Source: Twitter
SEE ALSO: Ballon d’Or: Will a Brit ever win again?
Mauricio Pochettino’s biggest challenge comes now, though, with the Lilywhites set to play all home games at Wembley, for the 2017/18 season; a place that has haunted them during the current campaign.
Can they break the hoodoo?
Who was the best side to go undefeated at home? Was it Mourinho’s record breakers from the Bridge or Arsene’s Invincibles? Or maybe one of the others on our list?
Start the discussion
Login to comment