The first international window gives us time to take stock and make sense of what has happened in the early weeks of the Premier League season. Manchester City are the only team to have won all five of their matches. They have started life after Pep Guardiola in the best way possible on the pitch, opening a three-point gap over champions Arsenal, but how important is a fast start?
Of course, we do not yet know the punishment they may face for breaking the Premier League’s financial fair play rules so, for the purposes of this article, we will put that matter to the side. Enzo Maresca’s side became the 15th different team to win their opening five games of a Premier League season, and it’s the fourth occasion City have managed it. They have only won the title in one of the three previous seasons, though.
They won the league in 2023-24, but failed to capitalise on their five early wins in 2015-16 and 2016-17. That follows a wider trend across the league. Only four of the 14 teams that have won their first five matches of the season have gone on to win the title (29%): Manchester City in 2023-24, Liverpool in 2019-20, and Chelsea in 2009-10 and 2005-06.
Perhaps most importantly, all four teams went on to add to their winning streak to start those seasons. Chelsea in 2009-10 and Manchester City in 2023-24 extended their run by another game (six wins); Liverpool started with eight wins in 2019-20; and Chelsea (nine wins in 2005-06) went on the longest winning run to start a Premier League season. Tottenham hold the record for the most consecutive wins to start a top-flight league season.
They won their first 11 games in 1960-61 and, unsurprisingly, won the title that campaign. But a winning start does not guarantee success, as Manchester United found in 1985-86. Despite winning their first 10 games that season (and remaining unbeaten in their first 15) under Ron Atkinson, they collapsed and ended the season in fourth place.
It must be said, City have benefited from having an easy run of fixtures. According to the Opta Power Rankings, City had the second-easiest start this season, with their opponents having an average rating of 91.2. Only Liverpool (91.1) were handed a simpler start to the season by the Premier League fixture computer.
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