The countdown to the start of the 34th Premier League season is well under way and in 2025-26 Liverpool will be aiming to defend the title they won comfortably in May.
The Reds are one of just seven teams to have lifted the Premier League trophy, alongside Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Leicester City, Manchester City and Manchester United.
However, amongst those title winners, Chelsea, City and United are the only three teams in Premier League history to have ever retained their crown in the following season.
Here we take a look back at how some of the recent top-flight champions have fared in their title defence.
United’s dominance
Manchester United won seven of the first nine Premier League titles and the Red Devils made a successful defence of their top-flight crown at the first time of asking in the 1993-94 season.
Led by legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, United had won the inaugural Premier League title in the 1992-93 campaign and they followed up the very next season.
The Red Devils also won back-to-back top-flight titles in the 1995-96 and 1996-97 campaigns, and Ferguson’s side underlined their dominance when winning three consecutive championships in the 1998-99, 1999-20 and 2000-21 seasons.
United's hold on the trophy was snapped by Arsenal and Chelsea following those successes, but the Old Trafford side were able to pick up three more championships in consecutive seasons starting in the the 2006-07 season.
Liverpool will be out to match the dominance that their great rivals have shown in the past with the new term fast approaching.
Noisy neighbours make their mark
Manchester City won their first Premier League title in the 2011-12 campaign, following a dramatic final day of action, but the Citizens were unable to retain their crown the following year.
City slipped 11 points off the top of the table in their defence of the trophy and United were instead able to take the title away from the blue side of the city.
The Citizens returned to the summit of English football, though, in the 2013-14 campaign, but they once again failed to hold on to the trophy for more than a year and Chelsea took top spot from them the following season.
City went on to win back-to-back titles in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns and, more recently, Pep Guardiola's side have provided the blueprint in successful championship defences.
The Citizens won four consecutive Premier League crowns starting in 2020–21, and their dominance was only ended by Liverpool last term.
Now it’s over to the Reds to show they can emulate City’s success and hold on to their place at the top of English football.
Invincibility only lasts for one season
Arsenal’s fabled title-winning team of 2003–04 were named the Invincibles after going the entire 38-game campaign without losing a match, but the success was to last for only one season.
The Gunners lost five league matches in the following campaign and they were downed by a runaway Chelsea triumph.
The invincible title was the third of the Gunners’ top-flight victories, but the north Londoners have never been able to mount a successful defence of England's top division since the inception of the Premier League.
Liverpool have one fewer PL title than Arsenal, but the Reds have the chance to successfully defend the crown they won with ease last season.
Chelsea leave their rivals blue
Chelsea have won five Premier League titles, but the Blues have made only one successful defence of their crown.
That came in the 2005–06 season, where the Stamford Bridge side, inspired by Jose Mourinho, held off their rivals to repeat their success of the previous campaign.
On the flip side, Chelsea plummeted to a surprising low of 10th place in the season following their 2014–15 title-winning push, and the Blues could only finish fifth in the campaign after their 2016–17 success.
As the new season approaches, Liverpool will hope they can match Chelsea’s better efforts.
One-hit wonders failed to add to their success
Blackburn won their only Premier League title in the 1994-95 campaign, but the success was short lived.
Rovers finished 7th, 13th and 6th in the following three seasons, before they were relegated to the second tier at the end in spring 1999.
Leicester, meanwhile, provided the biggest shock in Premier League history when winning the title in 2016, but the Foxes could only manage a 12th-place finish next time around.
Leicester, like Blackburn, were eventually relegated to the second tier.
All eyes will now be on champion Liverpool when they kick-off the defence of their crown — and the new top-flight season — when they go up against Bournemouth at Anfield on Friday, August 15.
