The closest Premier League title races, 1992-93 to 2025-26
The tightest Premier League race charted came in 2011-12: Manchester City over Manchester United on goal difference. Below, every title race charted since 1992-93, ranked three ways: by final margin, by lead changes, and by days spent within three points. How each list is computed is spelled out under the lists.
Manchester City won the 2011-12 English Premier League race over Manchester United on goal difference, with eleven lead changes, taking first place for good on April 30, 2012.
Manchester City won the 2018-19 English Premier League race by 1 point over Liverpool, with 32 lead changes, taking first place for good on May 6, 2019.
Manchester United won the 1998-99 English Premier League race by 1 point over Arsenal, with 18 lead changes, taking first place for good on May 9, 1999.
Chelsea won the 2009-10 English Premier League race by 1 point over Manchester United, with 22 lead changes, taking first place for good on April 25, 2010.
Manchester City won the 2021-22 English Premier League race by 1 point over Liverpool, with twelve lead changes, taking first place for good on May 8, 2022.
Arsenal won the 1997-98 English Premier League race by 1 point over Manchester United, with seven lead changes, taking first place for good on April 18, 1998.
Blackburn Rovers won the 1994-95 English Premier League race by 1 point over Manchester United, with eleven lead changes, taking first place for good on March 8, 1995.
Manchester City won the 2013-14 English Premier League race by 2 points over Liverpool, with 25 lead changes, taking first place for good on May 7, 2014.
Manchester City won the 2023-24 English Premier League race by 2 points over Arsenal, with 24 lead changes, taking first place for good on May 14, 2024.
Manchester United won the 2007-08 English Premier League race by 2 points over Chelsea, with 19 lead changes, taking first place for good on March 15, 2008.
The top two in the 2023-24 English Premier League race ended 109 of its 120 playing days within three points of each other, and Manchester City won it by 2 points over Arsenal.
The top two in the 2001-02 English Premier League race ended 95 of its 102 playing days within three points of each other, and Arsenal won it by 7 points over Liverpool.
The top two in the 1992-93 English Premier League race ended 93 of its 119 playing days within three points of each other, and Manchester United won it by 10 points over Aston Villa.
The top two in the 2009-10 English Premier League race ended 91 of its 106 playing days within three points of each other, and Chelsea won it by 1 point over Manchester United.
The top two in the 2018-19 English Premier League race ended 87 of its 108 playing days within three points of each other, and Manchester City won it by 1 point over Liverpool.
The top two in the 2007-08 English Premier League race ended 86 of its 96 playing days within three points of each other, and Manchester United won it by 2 points over Chelsea.
The top two in the 1996-97 English Premier League race ended 86 of its 108 playing days within three points of each other, and Manchester United won it by 7 points over Newcastle United.
The top two in the 2021-22 English Premier League race ended 83 of its 123 playing days within three points of each other, and Manchester City won it by 1 point over Liverpool.
The top two in the 1994-95 English Premier League race ended 82 of its 122 playing days within three points of each other, and Blackburn Rovers won it by 1 point over Manchester United.
The top two in the 2011-12 English Premier League race ended 76 of its 104 playing days within three points of each other, and Manchester City won it over Manchester United on goal difference.
How these lists are ranked
Everything on this page comes from the same season files the charts draw, with standings read as each day ended. All 34 charted Premier League races from 34 finished seasons enter: every title race from 1992-93 to 2025-26. Wild card races are not ranked; their story is the playoff cutoff, not first place. The 2026-27 season joins these lists when it ends.
Tightest finishes ranks races by the final gap between first and second place, in points. Ties are broken by how late the winner took first place for good, then by lead changes, then oldest first. Two teams the standings cannot separate are shown as level, with no winner named; where the league settled such a race another way, the linked race page tells that story. A margin of zero with a winner named means the race was decided on goal difference or goals scored.
Most lead changes counts a change only when a new team passes the leader outright. A day spent tied on top stays with the team already leading, so a tie can never inflate the count.
Most days within three points counts the days on which this race's teams played and the top two ended the day within three points of each other, the most a single result can make up. Days a league stood idle (a strike, a pause) are not counted: a frozen gap says nothing about a race.
Only finished seasons are ranked. Seasons shortened by strikes or other stoppages count as played; every irregularity in the record is listed in the data notes.