The Premier League Big Six’s lowest finishes

Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham have defined themselves as the ‘big six’ in the Premier League over the past 15 years with their consistency in finishing in the top six in the league and their accumulation of trophies, but not every season can be a success.

We take a look at each big six club’s lowest Premier League finish – though this looks very likely to change by the end of the 2025/26 season with some of England’s elite teams struggling in the early stages of the campaign.

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Manchester United – 15th, 2024/25

Manchester United have had several issues over the years and their 15th placed finish in the 2024/25 Premier League season is by far their worst performance in the modern era.

Under Sir Alex Ferguson, United were the dominant force in English football, winning 13 Premier League titles in 21 seasons, with five second placed finishes, and three thirds.

By today’s standards a seventh-place finish would certainly not be the end of the world for Manchester United and to have only dropped as low as what is now a European spot in 30 years of Premier League football was an achievement in itself.

However, the Red Devils finishing down in 15th last season topped the record initially set by David Moyes’ side in 2013/14.

Liverpool – 8th, 2011/12

Before Jurgen Klopp led Liverpool to the dizzy heights of a Premier League title they rarely challenged at the very top of the table, but with a lowest ever finish of 8th they have rarely had horror seasons.

Despite finishing between second and fifth fairly consistently throughout the Premier League era, the Reds hit a lull between 2009 and 2013, finishing seventh, sixth, eighth and seventh respectively. It was in this period, under Sir Kenny Daglish, that they had their worst Premier League season as they finished eighth on 52 points.

Since then Liverpool have progressed greatly and when the prospect of finishing eighth was likely earlier this season it was seen to be a crisis for the club, which shows just how far Klopp has brought them in a short space of time.

Arsenal – 12th, 1994/95

Arsenal did not have a favourable start to the Premier League era, with their two worst finishes coming in the first three years of Premier League football as they finished 10th in the 1992/93 season and 12th in the 1994/95 season.

Despite having a squad littered with stars like David Seaman, Paul Merson and Ian Wright, Arsenal struggled in the 1994/95 season, winning just one of their first six matches and going on win just three of their last 12, the struggles were season-long.

Ian Wright was one of the few bright sparks in the team as he netted 30 times over the course of what turned out to be the Gunners’ worst Premier League season to date.

Chelsea – 14th, 1993/94

As is always the narrative when Chelsea’s success is mentioned, most of it is very recent, but the Premier League extends beyond the days of Chelsea’s big-spending, title winning era.

Almost 30 years ago Chelsea finished 14th in the league, with an eleventh-place finish either side of that, a far cry from the top of the table.

The Blues were yet to introduce star power to the club with the likes of Ruud Gullit and Gianfranco Zola joining a few years later. With 51 points it wasn’t Chelsea’s lowest points scoring season, which came as recently as 2015/16 when they finished in 10th with 50.

On 42 points with four games left to play in in the 2022/23 season, Chelsea could still mathematically have their worst ever Premier League season this year.

Tottenham – 17th, 2024/25

The least successful of the big six, Tottenham have had several double-figure finishes, as well as never finishing a season top of the table.

Spurs’ previous worst season came in 1993/94 as they finished 15th with 45 points. Osvaldo Ardiles’ men escaped relegation by just three points, with a seven-game losing streak lasting from January 1st to February 27th making it a nervy end to the season.

However, Spurs flopped down the 2024/25 table and just about avoided relegation. Despite their troubles domestically, Tottenham Hotspur somehow kept it together in Europe and lifted the Europa League trophy, securing a major trophy for the first time in nearly two decades.

Manchester City – 18th, 2000/01 (Relegated)

It might be hard to believe for some younger fans that the now dominant Manchester City side were once relegated from the Premier League in the 2000s.

City’s 2001 relegation was their first season in the top flight since they were previously relegated in 1996. It is safe to say that this history makes City the most recent team to establish themselves in the big six, only gaining Premier League success since their takeover in 2008.

The city side that went down were captained by a more recognisable name for the modern fan, Haaland. Alfie Haaland, father of Erling did not see the same successes as his son has in Manchester but despite relegation, he still goes down as a Manchester City legend.

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