A brief history of blowing leads in the Premier League

Liverpool are eight points clear of their closest challengers in the Premier League as they chase a first league crown since 1990. The Reds downed defending champions Manchester City 3-1 at Anfield on Sunday and lead them by nine points.
Leicester and Chelsea are both a point better off than City going into the international break and right now Liverpool look on course to win their first league title of the Premier League era.
Pep Guardiola said he “does not know” if his City side can still catch the pacesetters but Liverpool’s lead is not necessarily decisive because teams have blown bigger advantages over the years.
Newcastle United 1995-96
Newcastle had a 12-point lead in January and added Colombian superstar Faustino Asprilla to their ranks for the final months of the season.
It appeared certain the Magpies would claim their first top-flight title since the 1920s but it wasn’t to be.
Manager Kevin Keegan gave his now infamous ‘I would love it’ rant to the TV cameras and that gave Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United all the inspiration they needed to hunt them down and take the title.
Arsenal 2002-03
An eight-point lead in November is an incredible advantage but an eight-point lead in March should be unassailable.
That is what Arsenal enjoyed in 2003 but somehow they ended up missing out on the title. Fergie’s United won 15 of their last 18 games and finished five points ahead of Arsene Wenger’s Gunners.
Arsenal’s heartache was short lived,though, as the following year their ‘Invincibles’ side lifted the title without losing a single Premier League game.
Liverpool 2013-14
Last season deserves a mention from a Liverpool perspective as they were seven points ahead going into January. However, the one that will really stick in the throats of the Anfield faithful came under Brendan Rodgers in the 2013-14 season.
The title race was nip and tuck for much of the campaign but with eight games to go the Reds moved to the summit and stayed there for five weeks. With just three games to play, Liverpool had a three-point lead over City.
In the first of those games, Liverpool lost 2-0 to Chelsea as club legend Steven Gerrard slipped over, allowing Demba Ba to score.
The Merseyside outfit then managed to throw away a 3-0 lead at Crystal Palace to hand the initiative to City and a final-day win over Newcastle wasn’t enough to end their long wait for a title.