Defence wins you titles? How recent Premier League Champions have fared after 11 games

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Is it always the best defence that wins you the title? And does it always show in the opening games of a season?

‘Attack wins you games, defence wins you championships,’ so the old saying goes. To win games you need to be good going forward though title winners are often renowned for having to scrap in one or two games when they’re not at their best. Then it’s usually the defence that is credited with getting them through and over the line.

11 games into this season and the current title race is developing into a fascinating one. There is a free-scoring Liverpool side that has kept just the one clean sheet this season. Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal all possess significant firepower – while the early games suggest that Tottenham may boast the best defence in the league this season. Manchester United seem to have the talent, but it doesn’t seem to have clicked at either end of the field yet.

Chelsea themselves seem to have got the mix right over the last five games – winning games, sometimes handsomely, without conceding.

But how have sides who have become Champions ended up starting their first 11 games? And when it comes to goals conceded and clean sheets, how does their record compare to other sides in the league?

2011/12:

Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero celebrates after scoring the third goal for his side with team mates

It was the most dramatic way the title was been won in the Premier League era – certainly since 1989. It ultimately came down to Manchester City scoring twice in stoppage time to beat Queens Park Rangers 3-2 to win the title on goal difference from their neighbours Manchester United.

Top sides for clean sheets and goals conceded after 11 games:

Top sides for clean sheets and goals conceded after 38 games:

The top two ended up having the two tightest defences in the division. United ended up keeping the more clean sheets but missed out, but City had the tighter defence in general. 17 and 20 clean sheets for the respective sides is impressive across the whole of the season, but in City’s case it could be argued that only letting the one goal in every now and then against sides suggested to other sides that chances would be more of a premium.

While the obvious outlier for United is the 6-1 defeat to their neighbours, it still offered hope to other sides that more chances would come their way. A loss to Blackburn at home that season is a good case in point.

However, given that Newcastle boasted the meanest defence after 11 games, it shows that you don’t have to necessarily be the strongest side at the back to start with – though it gave the Magpies a platform for an impressive fifth-place finish that season.

2012/13:

Manchester United champions 2013

Top sides for clean sheets and goals conceded after 11 games:

As you can see from this table, the eventual champions, or indeed runners-up are nowhere to be seen at this stage of the season. Stoke City boasted the best defence in the early stages of the campaign under Tony Pulis.

The company that Manchester United were keeping defensively at the early stage of the season wasn’t great:

One newly promoted side, and one side that would finish the season being relegated from the top flight had kept as many clean sheets, while Everton and Liverpool were hardly examples to follow in the back line in the early stages of the campaign.

However, United were managing to keep up the pace in the title race because they were pretty formidable going forward, largely thanks to the signing of Robin van Persie.

But fast forward towards the end of the season:

Top sides for clean sheets and goals conceded after 38 games:

At least three sides could boast having better defences in the division, but they all missed out on the title, while United didn’t. However, they did enough in terms of conceding 27 goals from 27 games from there on in, and kept 11 clean sheets for the remainder of the season. Some would say that conceding 43 goals – as much as seventh-placed Liverpool that season – is on the high side for title winners. But there is a case of just finding ways to wins enough games to be successful, regardless of any flaws.

2013/14 season:

Manchester City champions 2014

Top sides for clean sheets and goals conceded after 11 games:

The eventual winners – Manchester City – had their problems in the early stages of the campaign, but they weren’t leaking many goals – then nor were second-placed Liverpool. What happened throughout the season is probably the best example of an improving defence counting in your favour. The top two both scored goals for fun, but only one was really attending to matters at the back. It’s well-documented that Liverpool were in the driving seat, and a slip from Steven Gerrard against Chelsea put the destination of the title in City’s hands.

The following game for Liverpool saw them surrender a 3-0 lead against Crystal Palace while trying to close the gap to City’s goal difference.

Top sides for clean sheets and goals conceded after 38 games:

City’s defence showed improvement even if their defensive record wasn’t stellar, while Liverpool’s defence isn’t among the better records. While some will point to a moment that swung the pendulum one way, the Reds didn’t have that insurance policy of goal difference that their title rivals had.

One other way of looking at things is that Chelsea, with the best defence in the country that season, fell short because of a poor attack. They finished four points behind City which some put down to the lack of a regular, natural goalscorer. While the adage is that a defence can win you a title, the lack of a potent and ruthless attack can cost you one.

2014/15 season:

Chelsea’s John Terry celebrates with the trophy and team mates after winning the Barclays Premier League

The following season, Chelsea went on to win it – was their defence any better?

Top sides for clean sheets and goals conceded after 11 games:

Top sides for clean sheets and goals conceded after 38 games:

It truly was the season where the best defence won the title, though you could make the argument that Chelsea’s fast start to the season – which set them above everybody else – saw them a little more open as they scored more goals.

But they had that defensive bedrock to fall back on. One fewer clean sheet and only the five more goals conceded suggests a remarkable consistency from that particular side.

2015/16 season:

Leicester City’s Wes Morgan and manager Claudio Ranieri lift the trophy as they celebrate winning the Barclays Premier League

Top sides for clean sheets and goals conceded after 11 games:

It was one of the most remarkable seasons in living memory, and the biggest upset in terms of title winners since Nottingham Forest in 1978 as Leicester City lifted the title. But as is illustrated by the table above, you can see the Foxes are nowhere to be seen in terms of cleans sheets and goals conceded at this early stage of the season.

Here are their numbers:

Given that very few people, if any, believed that Leicester could sustain their good start, there was little scrutiny of their defence. For a title winning side, some would say that run was eye-watering, though the turnaround from then, is staggering.

Top sides for clean sheets and goals conceded after 38 games:

To keep 14 clean sheets from their remaining 27 games is a very impressive record – for 12 of them to come in their last 20 is all the more impressive. It suggests there was gradual improvement of their back line over the course of the campaign. Their succession of 1-0’s around around March and April proved key in getting them over the line.

But if you look at the table, it shows you don’t need to have the best defence over the course of the season, just one to be very good when you need it.

A lot is being talked about how strong or weak sides towards the top are at this stage of the season whether that’s defensively or going forward. All of the sides have illustrated that title winners tend to iron out whatever shortcomings they have throughout the campaign.