Throughout the history of the Premier League, there have been some unbelievable title races that have gone down to the wire, leaving some fans absolutely devastated whilst other fans jump for joy.
Generally, such title races are between two or three great teams who have a great rivalry and are of a similar standard.
Whilst there have been many spectacular seasons, there are a few which stand out. Among these, Manchester United and Arsenal had a great rivalry in 1998-99, as did Manchester City and Liverpool in both 2013-14 and 2018-19. The eventual winners in both of these (both Manchester teams) ended up taking home the chocolates by two points.
However, by far the best title race of all time came in 2011-2012 between Manchester City and Manchester United. Coming into the final day, City needed to beat a struggling QPR in order to secure the league whilst Manchester United had to hope for a better result than their cross-town rivals.
In extraordinary scenes, City found themselves down 2-1 heading into stoppage time before late goals from Dzeko and most notably Aguero gave the Blues a 3-2 lead and in turn the league title. It could potentially be the best game of all time given the ramifications, the drama and the emotion surrounding the game.
If there were to be a fantastic title race in the modern-day Premier League, it would have to include one of the following: Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal or Tottenham.
Although we are just 16 games into the 2021-22 Premier League season, it is blatantly obvious that the title race will be between three sides; Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool - in no particular order.
Since these three sides are out of the six above, in order for this race to be one of the greatest ever, it must include two or three high-quality even sides.
In order to check how good these sides are, we must have a look at the quality of their coach and players as well as how well they have performed in Europe's top league.
Let's have a look at each of the three sides:
Chelsea
Not much has to be said about the Blues other than the fact that they won the Champions League last season with a squad that is now even better with the inclusion of Belgian superstar striker Romelu Lukaku.
Coaching-wise, Thomas Tuchel proves again and again why he is one of the best coaches in the world with how he is able to change games around at half-time to suit his side.
Put all this together with one of the best goalkeepers and the world and world-class midfielders and defenders and you have yourself a magnificent team.
Out of all three, they would also have to bat the deepest since their bench could beat most teams in England.
Liverpool
Moving to the opposite side of England, Liverpool has been a world-class team for the last few years. Not only do they have one of the best managers in the world in Jurgen Klopp but they also have some of the best players in the world.
For example, Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Robertson and Salah are all arguably the best players in the world for their respective positions.
Not only do the Reds perform well in England but they have also been simply brilliant in the Champions League in the last four years, having made three out of the last four semi-finals. Not to mention they have also won a Champions League.
Manchester City
If you don't think Liverpool or Chelsea have the best coach, then you surely must think that Pep Guardiola is numero uno.
He has formed two of the most dominant teams in the last couple of decades in Barcelona and now Manchester City, outcoaching many masterminds, such as Sir Alex Ferguson, along the way.
As for their squad, five out of the 11 players in the Premier League team of the season last year came from the Sky Blues. Such a side saw the club from The Etihad go on to win the Premier League and narrowly miss out on the Champions League trophy having lost 1-0 in the final to Chelsea.
From this analysis, I think it is quite clear that all three sides are of a very high standard.
However, in order to be one of the best title races ever, the question of whether or not these teams are of an even standard must be addressed.
In order to check this, it is important to observe the most recent results between these three giant clubs as well as how they have performed with their current squads and/or coaches.
So far this season, Liverpool has drawn at home in their encounters with Chelsea and City, whilst City got the line at Stamford Bridge. Whilst these results aren't as even as they possibly could be, the results certainly seem even enough to suggest that all these teams are at a similar level.
When checking for this year's Premier League, the race really couldn't be any closer after 16 games, with all three teams within two points of each other.
However, since 16 games probably aren't enough to judge teams, it would also be useful to see how these teams have gone in past seasons.
Manchester City have won two Premier Leaguestitle in three years whilst making a Champions League final once. Liverpool has won Champions League and Premier League trophies, whilst Chelsea won a Champions League despite Tuchel only taking over six months prior.
By ticking off all of these criteria, the race can automatically be established as one of the greats. However, to be the greatest we must compare it to other great battles.
When comparing Manchester United's eventual treble year of 1998-99 to this year, there is no doubt that Manchester United classify as a fantastic side as seen by their plethora of trophies throughout this period.
Whilst Arsenal were still a great team, exemplified by a title the year, they were not quite as good as United.
Furthermore, unlike the teams of today which have at least one player in the World XI, none of the Arsenal players from their 1998-99 side would have made the esteemed side.
Instead, with Wenger at the wheel, Arsenal managed to win several games by pure tactical nous. Because of this, this year will be ruled out of contention.
Whilst the 2013-14 season ended off in spectacular fashion between Man City and Liverpool, the Reds seemed to have quite a lucky season since they never made the top five in the four seasons prior to this season and the two after. Hence, since they do not fulfil the criteria as a really high-end team, this race doesn't qualify for the best either.
The 2018-19 season saw Manchester City and Liverpool fight it out once again. This time, however, the issue is not how good the teams were but rather how they compare to today.
Whilst Liverpool has kept almost the exact same team, apart from a few upgrades such as Diogo Jota and Thiago Alcantara, Manchester City is a better side now than they were in this particular season. Illustrating this is the fact that gun Portuguese defenders Ruben Dias and Cancelo, who made last year's Premier League Team of the Year.
Lastly, we move to the 2011-12 season which gave us the most incredible finish to a season that there ever was or will be. This would easily win if it came down to the most exciting ending. However, we are looking at the race itself, not just the finish.
2011-12 finished with both Manchester sides finishing on 89 points. Astonishingly, this is the number of points that the three Premier League giants of today are projected to get if they keep at this pace.
Whilst there were so many amazing players on the pitch when these two sides met such as Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, David Silva, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney, none of these guys made it to the World XI.
Compare this to today where either Eduoard Mendy or Alisson will be in goals, Virgil Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold should be in defence and Jorginho, Kevin De Bruyne and N'Golo Kante should make the midfield.
Such a difference elucidates the gap in the level of play between now and the 2011-12 season.
Not only is the level of play higher in the Premier League nowadays, but there are also three absolutely amazing teams compared to just two in 2011-12.
Therefore, we believe that we are in for the best Premier League race of all time. So if you're a fan of one of these teams, strap yourself in for the ride. Otherwise, as Martin Tyler famously said after Aguero's title-winning goal, "drink it in."
