The greatest Premier League teams ever ranked: From Arsenal's Invincibles to Man Utd's treble winners!

Dilly ding, dilly dong, it's the modern-day miracle of Claudio Ranieri's Leicester City! One could try to argue that the Foxes don't rank as one of the greatest teams in Premier League history, given they won the title with just 81 points and did so during a season when nearly all of England's elite clubs underperformed. Obviously, the fact that Tottenham were Leicester's main challenges for the majority of the 2015-16 campaign tells you everything you need to know about the quality of the opposition.

Would Ranieri's side have beaten any other team on this list? Maybe not, but by God they wouldn't have made life very difficult for any of them. Leicester's defence was excellent, with goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel doing his father Peter proud behind an uncompromising back four led by the magnificent Wes Morgan.

Of course, their lives were made much easier by midfielder N'Golo Kante, who covered so much ground in front of them that he inspired his very own meme... Up front, meanwhile, Jamie Vardy ran riot, the main beneficiary of the wonderful wing play of young Riyad Mahrez, who was voted PFA Players' Player of the Year.

Leicester's game plan may not have been particularly complex, but it was exceptionally effective. They lost just one game during the second half of the season and effectively sealed the title with a run of seven clean sheets in nine games.

Of course, this 5,000-1 fairy tale was about more than Leicester's defensive discipline or clinical counter-attacks. It was a heart-warming story of unexpected success that inspired hope in countless other clubs across the globe, because it proved that even in an era almost completely dominated by money, it's still possible for a well-managed team to not just compete with the big boys, but beat them.

So, while there are indeed stronger sides on this list, there are none, not one, more emblematic of the essence of sport.

On a Friday afternoon in the summer of 1993, Nottingham Forest midfielder Roy Keane verbally agreed a deal with Blackburn Rovers manager Kenny Dalglish to move to Ewood Park. The only trouble was, the club office had already closed for the evening. Dalglish would have to wait until the following Monday for Keane to put pen to paper on a contract. It was at this point that Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson made his move, and effectively altered the course of Premier League history.

United had, of course, won the previous season's title - their first top-flight success for 26 years - but the British-record acquisition of Keane transformed a good team into a great one. Indeed, with Keane working in tandem with the equally combative Paul Ince, every midfield battle became a forgone conclusion, while teams were torn to shreds by the pace of Ryan Giggs and Andrei Kanchelskis out wide.

Mark Hughes battered nearly every defender that had the misfortune to mark him, leaving Eric Cantona free to focus solely on providing a little panache. The Frenchman was at the absolute peak of his powers during the 1993-94 campaign, scoring a career-high 25 goals in all competitions.

Of course, United could also count on a back five of rare character and quality featuring future Premier League legends like Peter Schmeichel and Denis Irwin, so it's easy to understand how Ferguson's first truly exceptional side ended up winning the league by eight points before then routing Chelsea in the FA Cup final.

It has to be said that United disappointed in Europe, knocked out of Champions League by Galatasaray after being welcomed to 'Hell' in Istanbul, but they would have won a domestic treble had they not been upset by Aston Villa in the League Cup final.

Still, a first-ever league-and-FA Cup double was an incredible achievement at the time, and a sign of things to come for a team that would go to a whole other level once Keane became captain in 1997.

This is obviously going to cause controversy. Liverpool's team of 2018-19 didn't actually win the Premier League title. But we're judging teams here on the performances in all competitions over a solitary campaign - and the Reds' results were extraordinary. Truly extraordinary.

The final points haul (97) was, at the time, the third-highest in Premier League history. They boasted two of the three players that shared the Golden Boot, in Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, while their Virgil van Dijk-led defence kept 21 clean sheets, conceding just 22 times in total, underlining just how complete a team this was.

Liverpool also only lost one league game - three fewer than eventual champions Manchester City - and were only pipped to the title by a solitary point, despite finishing the season with nine successive wins.

However, while Pep Guardiola's men managed to hold their nerve during the title run-in, nobody else in Europe could live with Jurgen Klopp's mentality monsters, who won the Champions League - thanks in no small part to the most extraordinary semi-final comeback the tournament has ever seen, with Liverpool overturning a 3-0 first-leg deficit against Barcelona on a famous, famous night at Anfield.

People can point to the lack of a league title all they want, then, because only the most prejudiced football fan could rationally claim that the Reds of 2018-19 shouldn't be regarded as one of the greatest sides of the Premier League era.

Pep Guardiola's strongest Manchester City side? Definitely not. But arguably one of his most remarkable.

Granted, City had added Jack Grealish to a title-winning team for a British-record £100 million transfer fee, but the former Aston Villa man contributed next-to-nothing to the team's 2021-22 success, as he himself admitted.

Raheem Sterling was also clearly on the slide, which led to him being sold to Chelsea at the end of the season, while Gabriel Jesus was also offloaded to Arsenal after proving more effective as a industrious winger than a prolific No.9.

And that brings us to the truly impressive thing about this City side - they managed to win the league without a proper goalscorer. After Sergio Aguero's emotional exit, the plan had been to bring in the multi-talented Harry Kane before the season began, but Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy refused to sell his most prized possession - even though the England international effectively went on strike at the start of the season.

It was thought that City might make a late bid for another forward, but Guardiola instead reasoned he could make do without an orthodox striker and, incredibly, he was right. Thanks to the industry and innovation of their vast array of attacking midfielders, City went top in December and stayed there right until the end of the season - despite intense pressure from a resurgent Liverpool.

Indeed, the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Mahrez, Ilkay Gundogan and even Rodri stepped up with big goals during the title run-in. It must also be said that Guardiola's use of Joao Cancelo as an auxiliary midfielder proved an inspired decision, with the Portuguese full-back playing a pivotal role in City retaining their Premier League crown.

City's Champions League dream was dashed by a heartbreaking - and still barely believable - collapse at the Bernabeu, but that only made their title triumph all the more commendable, given they managed to recover from that devastating blow - and going two goals down in their final game of the season against Villa - to win the league by a solitary point from Liverpool.

From a tactical and psychological perspective, 2021-22 was something of a masterpiece from Man City.

Antonio Conte is quite correctly copping some flak for the disastrous nature of his spell at Spurs, but he's not the first world-class manager to flop in north London and he won't be the last - certainly while Levy remains at the helm.

Furthermore, there is simply no tarnishing what the Italian achieved during his first season at Chelsea, in 2016-17. The Blues were coming off a calamitous campaign that had seen them finish 10th in the table - and that's exactly the same position they found themselves in six games into the new season, after back-to-back losses to top-four rivals Liverpool and Arsenal.

It was at this point that Conte made arguably the most significant tactical tweak in Premier League history, with his decision to switch to a 3-4-3 transforming Chelsea into unlikely title winners.

All of a sudden, David Luiz looked far more comfortable in the centre of defence, with the support of two centre-halves also freeing him to have a far greater influence on building play from the back, while Victor Moses proved a revelation as a wing-back.

Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Pedro also flourished as a front three, while it also obviously helped having Kante in the middle of the park, with the former Leicester man proving the driving force in a title-winning team for the second year in a row.

Obviously, having no European exertions helped (as it often does in Conte's case), but the formation change had undoubtedly been key, inspiring a record-equalling run of 13 consecutive victories that eventually led to Chelsea winning the title with 93 points - just two shy of the record at the time.

Conte's double dream was dashed by a 2-1 loss to Arsenal in the FA Cup final but, as Ranieri told the Gazzetta dello Sport, "It's not easy to get it at the first attempt, but Antonio passed his English exam with flying colours on his debut in Premier League football."

Obviously, this was more or less the same side that had won the treble the previous season (more on that later), but the class of 1999-2000 warrant inclusion for a fantastic Premier League campaign.

Their hopes of a second successive European Cup triumph were ended by Real Madrid at the quarter-final stage, with Raul netting twice in a 3-2 win at Old Trafford, while they didn't even get the chance to defend their FA Cup crown, after essentially being forced into competing in the Club World Cup in Brazil in order to boost England's hopes of hosting the 2006 World Cup.

However, United laid waste to their Premier League rivals, winning the title with 91 points (a Premier League record for a 38-game season) after concluding their campaign with 11 consecutive victories.

Defensively, it has to be said, they weren't all that great - they conceded 45 times - and that was mainly down to Ferguson's struggles to find a replacement for the legendary Peter Schmeichel in goal. Mark Bosnich disappointed upon his return to Old Trafford and, well, the less said about Massimo Taibi, the better...

However, United were magnificent in midfield (David Beckham, Keane, Paul Scholes and Giggs) and fearsome up front, with Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer providing more than capable back-up for Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole.

Nobody could live with them - as underlined by a record-breaking 18-point margin of victory which has only since been bettered by Man City (more on that later too!).

After clinching the title with a victory over Southampton on April 22, a proud Ferguson enthused, "I think this is the best Manchester United team we've ever had!"

Jose Mourinho said he was "special" in his very first press conference as Chelsea manager - and boy did he prove that in his very first season in England.

This particular team's attacking prowess is often unfairly overlooked. They may not have scored a colossal amount of goals (72), but Frank Lampard contributed a staggering 19 from midfield, while the pace of Arjen Robben and Damien Duff meant the Blues were lethal on the break. And while Didier Drogba didn't exactly set the world alright in his first season at Stamford Bridge, Eidur Gudjohnson was excellent, with the Iceland international proving a wonderfully elegant and effective link-man.

However, there is simply no getting away from the fact that Chelsea's record-breaking haul of 95 points was primarily down to arguably the greatest defence English football has ever seen. Yes, they were impeccably protected by Claude Makelele, but Paolo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho made for outstanding additions from Mourinho's former club Porto, William Gallas excelled at left-back, John Terry was a colossus in both boxes and Petr Cech proved almost unbeatable in goal.

Indeed, Chelsea conceded just 15 goals over the course of an extraordinary campaign - a record that nobody really believes will ever be beaten.

Mourinho is still bitter about the fact that Chelsea's hopes of also winning the Champions League were undone by Luis Garcia's 'ghost goal' at Anfield, but he rightly remains immensely proud of this defensive masterpiece.

A season like no other, as best underlined by Liverpool winning the Premier League both earlier than any previous champions - and later. With Alisson in goal, Van Dijk marshalling the defence, and Mane, Salah and Roberto Firmino forming one of the finest attacking triumvirates in history, Klopp's rampant Reds effectively had the title wrapped up by February, after an astonishing undefeated run of 26 victories from 27 games that is unlikely to ever be bettered.

A shock loss at Watford ruined their hopes of going the whole season undbeaten and then, soon after, the Covid-19 pandemic struck, forcing a suspension of play that even prompted calls from rival clubs for the entire campaign to be declared null and void.

Luckily for Liverpool, football eventually resumed in most major European Leagues, and the Merseysiders went on to claim their first top-flight title since 1990 - in June, with a record-breaking seven games to spare. There are those that believe their belated championship success should have an asterisk beside it because of the pandemic but, in truth, the break actually hurt Liverpool more than most. Before the suspension, they were on course to smash the 100-point barrier, but they fell short after losing two of their last seven games.

Not that losing out on that little bit of history made any difference to Liverpool, who had also shrugged off a shock Champions League last-16 elimination by Atletico Madrid at Anfield. Both Klopp and his captain Jordan Henderson were visibly overwhelmed with emotion after sealing a historically dominant and long overdue title win that meant so much to everyone connected with the club.

"I'm so happy for all the boys, the fans and the city," a tearful Henderson told Sky Sports. "It is another moment in our lives that we will never forget."

There is an argument to be made that the 2007-08 iteration was Ferguson's finest United side. They may not have won a treble, but they conquered both England and Europe, and with the kind of attacking verve for which the Scot was renowned.

It's certainly hard to find any flaws in the strongest starting 11, other than maybe Wes Brown at right-back. But he played his part in United's success, even chipping in with an assist in the Champions League final.

And besides, the rest of the back five was brilliant. Edwin van der Sar was a truly great goalkeeper, Patrice Evra an outstanding modern full-back, and Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic the most wonderfully complementary centre-back pairing. The midfield three of Michael Carrick, Scholes and Giggs was also well-balanced, and as for the front three, well, they had it all.

Inspired by Luciano Spalletti's striker-less Roma, Ferguson put together a forward line that lacked a recognised No.9 but never wanted for goals or inspiration. Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were all versatile and all excellent, with the latter pretty much unplayable that season and a fully deserved winner of a first Ballon d'Or after scoring 42 times in 49 games in all competitions.

United only won the Premier League title by two points from Avram Grant's Chelsea and arguably got slightly lucky against the same side in Moscow, with Blues captain Terry squandering the chance to win the penalty shootout.

But all great sides need that little bit of luck - and these particular double winners were most definitely a great side. "I think there was a bit of fate about it," Ferguson said afterwards. "I'm delighted for everyone. It's an amazing achievement. We deserve it." No arguments there.

The legitimacy of Manchester City's record-breaking campaign has obviously been called into question, with the high-spending, state-backed club having been charged with more than 100 breaches of the Premier League's financial regulations between 2009 and 2018, and we're still awaiting the final ruling.

However, no matter what happens, what we can say for certain is that Pep Guardiola's side played fantastic football, maybe the best the English game has ever seen. With Fernandinho holding down the fort in front of the back four, De Bruyne and David Silva worked their magic in midfield, while Sterling and Leroy Sane provided goals, and assists for Aguero.

What really set City aside from all of their rivals, though, was a level of squad depth that had never been seen before in England, or arguably anywhere else in the world. Jesus, Bernardo Silva and Gundogan weren't even guaranteed starters!

The net result was City becoming the Premier League's first centurions with a historic 19-point margin of victory. The only surprise was that City failed to turn their unprecedented domestic dominance into European success, and that was because of a local rival, with Liverpool beating them home and away in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

However, many fans and pundits would quite understandably argue that Guardiola's first group of title winners at the Etihad was his best, on account of their style and consistency. The man himself also argued that their 100-point haul "will stay for a long time". And it will.

In truth, the record is likely to remain with City forever - unless the Premier League eventually rules otherwise, of course...

Ah, 'The Invincibles', Arsene Wenger's wondrous work of art at Arsenal. Because lest anyone forget, the Gunners weren't just unbeatable in the Premier League, they were also a joy to behold at times, primarily because of the beauty, elegance and interplay of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires.

It's worth remembering, too, that Arsenal had gone into the 2003-04 season on the back of a demoralising end to the previous campaign, which had seen them finish second to Manchester United after blowing an eight-point lead, prompting allegations of 'bottling' the title.

What followed, though, was a truly remarkable show of steel, thanks in no small part to the intimidating duo of Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva in midfield, and Ferguson effectively conceded the title in March because of the "great determination" with which Wenger's side was playing.

Even after satisfyingly clinching the title at the home of their north London rivals, Tottenham, with a 2-2 draw, Arsenal refused to relent, safely navigating their final four games to enter the history books.

Wenger did have one significant regret: Arsenal's Champions League quarter-final exit, which came after a shock 2-1 loss at home to Chelsea. And the trophy was undeniably there for the taking, given most of Europe's traditional heavyweights suffered shock exits, resulting in the final being played between Monaco and Porto.

However, Wenger nonetheless argued that Arsenal's flawless league campaign was an ever greater achievement, the "greatest" of his managerial career in fact. "It was always my dream to go through the whole season unbeaten," he explained, "because there's not much anyone can do to beat that."

And he had a point. It's a feat that still hasn't been equalled, and probably never will be.

The standard by which success is measured in England. Some may argue that Manchester United's treble-winners weren't the very best team the top flight has ever witnessed, but they had a plethora of players that would challenge for a place in an all-time Premier League XI, including Keane, Beckham, Giggs, Peter Schmeichel, Scholes and Irwin.

And, at the end of the day, their unprecedented achievement speaks for itself. They didn't just win the title, the FA Cup and the Champions League; they did it all in the most thrilling of fashion. Indeed, there's 'never-say-die' spirit and then there's the frankly crazy level of character and Ferguson-like stubbornness that got United over the line in three separate competitions.

They went undefeated in the league after Christmas and yet still only won the title by a point from Arsenal on the final day, after coming from behind to beat Tottenham at a raucous Old Trafford.

Their FA Cup final win over Newcastle was relatively routine by comparison, but it only arrived after a dramatic late comeback against Liverpool in the fourth round and then, a truly epic encounter with Arsenal in the semi-finals that was only settled by a stunning solo strike from Ryan Giggs in extra-time of the replay.

Incredibly, even better was to come against Bayern Munich at Camp Nou, as United won their first Champions League under Ferguson with two injury-time goals, from Sheringham and Solskjaer.

One can obviously argue about quality of eras and opposition when it comes to determining the greatest team in Premier League history, but Manchester United's treble-winners of 1999, bloody hell!