RANKED: The worst Premier League title defences of all time as Arne Slot's Liverpool descend deeper into crisis

The Liverpool faithful actually experienced a similar situation after celebrating their maiden Premier League triumph. Jurgen Klopp's side amassed 99 points to win the title in 2019-20, finishing 18 points ahead of Manchester City. However, they reached just 69 the following season after an injury-plagued year that saw the majority of games played behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That was only enough for third place, with City regaining their crown at the canter ahead of Manchester United.

Klopp had to make do without key players such as Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara and Mohamed Salah for lengthy periods, and Liverpool completely unravelled after the festive period. Burnley ended the Reds' 68-game unbeaten run at Anfield on January 21, 2021, which started a miserable run of six successive home defeats.

Liverpool were down in eighth by March, and although they won eight of their final 10 games to qualify for the Champions League, including a memorable victory over West Brom that saw goalkeeper Alisson head in a stoppage-time goal, it wasn't enough to paper over the cracks of a disappointing campaign. The Reds' misery was compounded by a shocking 7-2 drubbing at the hands of Aston Villa and a 4-1 loss to Man City, the latter of which prompted United legend Roy Keane to dub Klopp's flops as "bad champions" on Sky Sports. 

Blackburn Rovers' rise from second division strugglers to champions of England is one of the greatest Premier League stories of all time, and their swift fall is among the saddest. Ray Harford had a huge job on his hands to follow the act of Kenny Dalglish, who resigned from his managerial post after masterminding the club's glorious 1994-95 campaign, but few could have predicted Rovers would start a new era in such abject fashion.

Blackburn were down in 17th just six games into the new season, with a 3-0 defeat at Liverpool effectively ending their title defence. Consistency would continue to prove elusive for Harford, whose lowest point came after a 5-0 thrashing by Coventry City in December. He did gradually turn things around thereafter as Blackburn only suffered five more losses en route to a seventh-placed finish, but the damage was already done.

That was not enough to secure European football for another year and Alan Shearer's head was subsequently turned by Newcastle. Blackburn sold their top scorer off to St James' Park for a British-record fee, before falling to 13th in the table the following season. In the end, Rovers were nothing more than a flash in the pan.

Leicester City eclipsed Blackburn's fairy-tale story by clinching the Premier League trophy as 5000-1 underdogs in 2015-16, which gave beloved manager Claudio Ranieri legendary status at the King Power Stadium. But the euphoria didn't last long; the Foxes suffered a major hangover, partly due to the sale of star midfielder N'Golo Kante, and were only six points clear of the relegation zone in 15th by the end of 2016.

They fell to 17th by mid-February, and Ranieri was ruthlessly sacked. Former Leicester striker Gary Lineker described that decision as "unforgivable", but the Italian's temporary replacement, Craig Shakespeare, immediately galvanised the team. He won all of his first five games and guided the Foxes to a comeback victory over Sevilla in the last-16 of the Champions League.

Atletico Madrid ousted Leicester in the quarter-finals, but they eventually climbed to 12th in the Premier League to beat the drop. Statistically, though, it was by some distance the worst title defence ever, and a 6-1 loss to Tottenham at the King Power in their penultimate game summed up a turbulent year that saw supporters' dreams give way to nightmares.

Leeds were not technically defending the Premier League title in 1992-93, because that was the season the old First Division was rebranded, but they still started the campaign as English champions, and thus cannot escape the ignominy of a place on this list. The Whites capitalised on Liverpool's implosion to top the table in 1991-92, led by hotshot striker Lee Chapman and winter signing Eric Cantona, the latter of whom also scored a hat-trick in a 4-3 Charity Shield victory over the Reds that August.

But Howard Wilkinson's side only won three of their opening 10 Premier League games in the new season, and Cantona departed for Manchester United in November after boycotting training and handing in a transfer request. His arrival at Old Trafford propelled the Red Devils to their first domestic crown in 26 years, while Leeds descended into a full-blown crisis without their star man.

The Whites did not win a single away game all season, and finished 17th in the table of 22 teams, just two points clear of the relegation places. They lost 15 of their 42 fixtures and conceded 62 goals, the joint-fifth worst defensive record in the league. Supporters invaded the pitch after a dramatic 3-3 draw away at Coventry on the final day, but more out of relief that the pain was finally over.

It was a fall from grace for the ages, and to make matters worse, Leeds were also knocked out of the Champions League second round in a 'Battle of Britain' clash against Rangers. 

Jose Mourinho lifted the Premier League trophy for the third time in 2014-15, as his Diego Costa and Eden Hazard-inspired Chelsea side finished 13 points clear of second-placed Man City, which some experts saw as the dawning of a new dynasty. But Mourinho's second spell at Stamford Bridge ended just seven months later, by which time the Blues had tumbled to 16th in the table.

English football has never seen such an astonishing falloff, and it was on the cards right from the opening day of the 2015-16 campaign. Chelsea were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Swansea City in a pulsating game that saw goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois sent off in the 52nd minute. They were reduced to nine men briefly late on as Hazard left the field injured, but only after Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro had rushed onto the pitch to treat the Belgian - an act Mourinho later described as "impulsive and naive".

Carneiro's role was reduced after the game and she left the club in September before filing a constructive dismissal claim against the Blues. It was an ugly affair that did damage to Mourinho's reputation, with the Portuguese tactician seemingly losing the dressing room in the immediate aftermath. Fans also turned against him after home defeats against Crystal Palace, Southampton and Bournemouth, and a 2-1 reversal at Leicester proved to be the final straw.

The former Real Madrid boss accused his players of "betrayal" after the Leicester game, but he brought it all on himself, and it was no surprise when performances instantly improved under interim boss Guus Hiddink. The Dutchman dragged the Blues to a 10th-placed finish, putting the foundations in place for Antonio Conte to transform the team from their 'Mourinho season' into champions again in 2016-17.

Sir Alex Ferguson signed off his legendary Manchester United career by delivering a 13th Premier League crown, and hand-picked fellow Scot David Moyes as his successor. Moyes, who had done a fine job across the previous 11 years at Everton, was handed a six-year contract at Old Trafford, which reflected how much weight Ferguson's opinion held.

But it quickly became apparent that Moyes wasn't equipped for the pressures of life at one of the biggest clubs in world football. He lacked the charisma and strength of personality that brought Ferguson so much success in the transfer market, as evidenced by his failed negotiations for Gareth Bale, Cesc Fabregas and Sami Khedira. United only made one major signing in the 2013 summer window: Moyes' trusted former Everton lieutenant Marouane Fellaini, which only went through on deadline day and led to suggestions the club had no proper recruitment plan.

It also seemed that Moyes had no clear plan on the pitch. West Brom, Everton and Newcastle all ran out winners at Old Trafford in the first half of the season, while the Red Devils were pulverised 4-1 at the Etihad in the Manchester derby. 

Home defeats to Tottenham, Liverpool and City followed after the turn of the year, and the writing was on the wall by the time Moyes returned to Everton on April 20. He was dismissed after a dismal 2-0 loss at Goodison Park, which left United seventh in the Premier League and guaranteed to post their worst-ever points total. Ferguson, by contrast, had never finished lower than third.

Rio Ferdinand would later admit in his autobiography that Moyes created a "negative vibe" in the dressing room by "setting us up not to lose". Some 12 years on, United are still waiting to taste Premier League glory again. Perhaps that wouldn't have been the case if they'd gone for another serial winner to fill Ferguson's shoes.