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Chris Wright, Toe Poke writer
Manchester City slumped to yet another defeat on Saturday as the defending Premier League champions fell to a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa that, just to rub salt into the wound, saw their opponents leapfrog them in the table.
The four-time reigning champions of England are finding their bid for a fifth consecutive crown tough going. Pep Guardiola’s side have won just one of their past eight league games, that run extending to one in 12 matches in all competitions. Having played 17 league games, City are sixth in the table with 27 points (nine behind leaders Liverpool, who play one of their two games in hand on the champions on Sunday) as we head into the Christmas period and toward the halfway mark of the campaign.
However, dejected City fans might be able to take heart in the fact that, at the same point of last season, they were in fourth place and five points behind leaders Arsenal, and they still roared back to win the title. And their 2024-25 travails aren’t even close to being the among the worst Premier League title defences on record.
There have been some underwhelming Premier League defences over the years (Manchester United in 2013-14 and Blackburn Rovers in 1995-96, for example) but the twin disasters staged by Chelsea as reigning champs in 2015-16 and Leicester City’s the following season must rank as the two worst.
Here we look at various different criteria by which you could ascertain are the worst-ever Premier League title defence — first by taking whole seasons into account, and then by judging the culprits on their records after their 17 league games, the point where City are in their current campaign.
Full seasons
Defending champions with lowest finish by table position
Leicester City (2016-17): 12th
Still the low-water mark when it comes to Premier League title defences, Leicester went from the euphoria of winning the title in 2015-16 despite preseason odds as long as 5000-1, only to lodge the worst-ever finishing position for a defending champion the season after. The Foxes might have finished 12th, but they fell as low as 17th in February — resulting in the sacking of heroic manager Claudio Ranieri — only for a flurry of five consecutive wins through March and April to haul them up and out of the relegation mire.
Defending champions with biggest points gap to new champions
Leicester City (2016-17): 49 points
After suffering their own annus horribilis as defending champions in 2015-16, Chelsea returned to the summit the following campaign as Antonio Conte marshalled them back to the top. The Blues finished with 93 points on the board, almost double the tally of the faltering Foxes.
Biggest drop-off in points total from title-winning season
Chelsea (2015-16): minus-37 points (87 to 50) Leicester City (2016-17): minus-37 points (81 to 44)
Chelsea and Leicester are neck-and-neck when it comes to the reduction in their post-title points tallies, with both sides somehow managing to haemorrhage 37 points down during the fallow seasons their followed their respective league triumphs.
Biggest drop-off in goals scored from title-winning season
Chelsea (2010-11): minus-34 (from 103 to 69)
This is the only stat point that doesn’t come from the period between 2015 and 2017, though Chelsea are still responsible for registering the biggest drop-off in goals scored after winning the title the previous season. It’s a little harsh, but the Blues’ failure to re-create their massive three-figure tally on the way to claiming the 2009-10 Premier League title (by “only” scoring 69 goals and finishing as runners-up behind Manchester United the following year) goes down as the largest post-title goal deficit on record.
Biggest drop-off in overall goal difference from title-winning season
Leicester City (2016-17): minus-47 (from plus-32 to minus-15)
Once again, Leicester win the wooden spoon for the biggest swing in goal difference after their 2015-16 title run saw them finish with plus-32 (which is the slimmest goal differential of any Premier League champion) only to plummet spectacularly down into negative equity the following year.
After 17 games
After falling to their sixth league defeat of the season (and their fifth in their past seven league games), City are now just four points above midtable after 17 matches.
Compared with last season’s record at the same juncture, Pep Guardiola’s side are significantly off the pace — which may be slightly concerning seeing as they were only fourth and trailing five points behind league leaders Arsenal at this point last year.
City were able to rally from the turn of the year, and an unbeaten second half of the season was enough for them to claw back into contention. They beat West Ham United on the final day of the campaign to pip the Gunners to the prize and seal their fourth title on the bounce, the first time that feat has been achieved in the English top flight.
Man City 2023-24 title-winning season after 17 games
Position: 4th
Points: 34
Gap to leaders: 5 points (Arsenal top with 39)
Goals scored: 40
GD: 20
Man City 2024-25 title defence after 17 games
Position: 6th
Points: 27
Gap to leaders: 9 (Liverpool top with 36, with two games in hand as of Dec. 21)
Points drop off from last season: minus-7
Goals scored drop off from last season: minus-11
GD drop off from last season: minus-16
When it comes to the worst title-defending records after 17 games of the season, the same two culprits re-emerge: Chelsea in 2015-16 and Leicester City in 2016-17.
Defending champions with lowest table position after 17 games
Leicester City (2016-17): 15th, 17 points
Chelsea (2015-16) were also 15th after 17 games but had amassed 18 points by the same juncture — one more point than Leicester
Defending champions with biggest points gap to leaders after 17 games
Leicester City (2016-17): 26 points
Biggest drop-off in points total from title-winning season after 17 games
Chelsea (2015-16): -24 points (+42 down to +18)
Biggest drop-off in goals scored from title-winning season after 17 games
Chelsea (2015-16): -17 goals (+38 down to +21)
Biggest drop-off in goal difference from title-winning season after 17 games
Chelsea (2015-16): -31 swing in overall GD (from +25 to -6)