Man City ahead of Manchester United and Liverpool FC greats after joining elite club

Manchester City have joined an elite group of teams to have won the English league title in four out of five years after clinching the 2021-22 crown after a thrilling race with Liverpool. No team has ever won four on the bounce, and on just eight occasions since league football began in this country 134 years ago has anyone won four out of five - and those teams are remembered among the all-time greats.

City have broken their way into that aristocratic cabal in astonishing style, setting new records for points, goals, winning streaks and many more over the past five years. And that is despite being up against a Liverpool side which many critics feel is the greatest in their club’s remarkable history, and which has pushed them all the way in two of those seasons, as well as preventing Pep Guardiola’s team from completing a complete sweep of five straight triumphs.

Comparing teams from different eras is always fraught with problems, but we have compared those eight great teams by dint of their points per game records, the only true statistical way to hold teams from different eras up against each other - although it ignores other factors, such as success in other competitions, and the relative strengths and weaknesses of rival clubs.

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So, while City’s success has come with the best record, judgment of true status is subjective - and it must be remembered that City could be at the start of a run of success that rivals those of Liverpool in the 70s and 80s and Manchester United in the 90s, 00s and 10s.

Here is how those great teams rank in terms of points per game:

Aston Villa had capped their run at four wins from five but Liverpool were not