In Matchweek 12 bottom club Southampton host table-topping Liverpool. It’s not often a side bottom of the league win against the leaders, but the four previous instances may give Saints some hope, writes Matt Furniss of Opta Analyst.
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With 12,516 matches played in Premier League history as we head into Matchweek 12 of the 2024/25 season, it may come as a surprise to learn that only 39 previous matches have been contested between teams starting the day in first place against those in last position.
Less surprising is the fact that the top-placed teams have most often come out victorious, but there have been four shock results that Russell Martin’s Southampton can look back on for inspiration ahead of this weekend.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
16 | +20 | 39 |
| 2 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
17 | +18 | 35 |
| 3 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
17 | +18 | 33 |
| 4 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
17 | +4 | 31 |
| 5 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
17 | +6 | 28 |
| 6 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
17 | 0 | 28 |
| 7 |
Man City
MCI
|
17 | +4 | 27 |
| 8 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
17 | +6 | 26 |
| 9 |
Fulham
FUL
|
17 | +2 | 25 |
| 10 |
Brighton
BHA
|
17 | +1 | 25 |
| 11 |
Spurs
TOT
|
17 | +15 | 23 |
| 12 |
Brentford
BRE
|
17 | 0 | 23 |
| 13 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
17 | -1 | 22 |
| 14 |
West Ham
WHU
|
17 | -8 | 20 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
16 | -7 | 16 |
| 16 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
17 | -8 | 16 |
| 17 |
Leicester
LEI
|
17 | -16 | 14 |
| 18 |
Wolves
WOL
|
17 | -13 | 12 |
| 19 |
Ipswich
IPS
|
17 | -16 | 12 |
| 20 |
Southampton
SOU
|
17 | -25 | 6 |
While none of the last 14 top-versus-bottom clashes have seen the team propping up the league win, Southampton can take some inspiration from their 3-3 draw at Arsenal in April 2023 – the last time top played bottom in the competition.
To give Saints some more hope, we have taken a look back at the four times that a bottom-placed team have come out on top against the league leaders.
Top v bottom in PL history
| Total | |
| Wins for top team | 28 |
| Draws | 7 |
| Wins for bottom team | 4 |
| Goals for top team | 99 |
| Goals for bottom team | 29 |
9 March 1993 - Oldham 1-0 Man Utd
When Manchester United travelled to Boundary Park to face Oldham Athletic in a midweek Premier League clash in March 1993, the Red Devils sat top of the table, a point above Aston Villa with 11 matches to play.
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A fixture at bottom-of-the-table Oldham looked to be a great opportunity for United to stay top of the pile, but Joe Royle’s side had other ideas. Neil Adams’ 26th-minute goal was the difference as he headed past Peter Schmeichel from close range following a corner.
Royle was one of only 11 managers who oversaw a win over Sir Alex Ferguson at more than one club in the Premier League, adding another victory as Everton boss in February 1995.
Oldham’s win started a revival that eventually led to them surviving on the final day, despite being sat six points from safety on the morning of this match. Across their final 12 matches, Oldham picked up 21 points – the fourth most in the Premier League.
This defeat started a sequence of poor results for Man Utd, as they drew three consecutive matches following this loss.
However, a run of seven successive wins to finish the season saw United lift the inaugural Premier League title and their first league crown in 26 years.
17 January 2004 - Wolves 1-0 Man Utd
Heading into this clash at Molineux, Man Utd were top of the Premier League and 35 points better off than bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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Ferguson's men had the meanest defence (14 goals conceded), while Wolves had the leakiest (43 goals conceded) and Man Utd had dropped just two points in their previous seven league matches (W6 D1 L0). Naturally, this led to a shock Wolves win.
Kenny Miller scored the only goal in the 66th minute – one of only two that he netted across 25 matches in the Premier League for Wolves and his first in the competition after starting his Wolves’ career with a 12-match scoreless run in the top flight.
This was one of just seven league victories for Wolves in 2003/04, all of which came in front of their own fans.
This side is one of just six teams to fail to win a single away match in a full Premier League season and they could still replicate that unwanted feat in 2024/25.
United’s form plummeted following this loss. Including this encounter, they won just 25 points from their final 17 matches of 2003/04 – half the total they’d won in their opening 21 matches of the season (50), and 16 fewer than eventual league-winners Arsenal (41).
1 November 2008 - Spurs 2-1 Liverpool
No, it’s not an error. Tottenham Hotspur were bottom of the Premier League when they faced Liverpool at White Hart Lane in November 2008.
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A disastrous start to the 2008/09 season under Spanish boss Juande Ramos saw Spurs pick up only two points from their first eight matches (W0 D2 L6) before he was dismissed. It was their worst-ever start to a league season.
Harry Redknapp had been given the task of rescuing the club a week before this Liverpool match and had already began to turn their fortunes around.
He guided Spurs to a 2-0 home win over Bolton before a sensational late comeback in a midweek north London derby saw them earn a point from a 4-4 draw at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal.
Liverpool headed to Spurs with a 10-match unbeaten start to the 2008/09 campaign under Rafael Benitez.
With 26 points from a possible 30, the Reds had made their best start to a league season since 1990/91 (28 points), but their run came to an end in London.
A Dirk Kuyt goal after only three minutes would have had most people expecting Liverpool’s great form would continue, but an own goal from Jamie Carragher on 70 minutes followed by an stoppage-time winner from striker Roman Pavlyuchenko lifted Spurs off the bottom of the table.
For Carragher, it was one of seven own goals that he scored in the Premier League – only Richard Dunne (10) put through his own net more. In fact, the Liverpool defender scored as many goals for Spurs (three in 28 matches) in the competition as he did in 508 matches for the Reds.
5 February 2011 - Wolves 2-1 Man Utd
This was one of those Premier League days that lives long in the memory. Not only were 41 goals scored, making it the second-highest tally of goals on a single day of Premier League action, it was the day that witnessed the only four-goal comeback in the history of the competition. Newcastle United's 4-4 draw at home to Arsenal had seen the Magpies 4-0 down with 22 minutes remaining.
Wolves v Man Utd was the final match of the day. United travelled to Molineux with a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League and were on a 29-match unbeaten run – their best run of results in the league since September 1999.
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They hadn’t lost in eight months and knew that a victory in this clash would see them go 30 league matches without defeat for the first time in their history as a top-flight club.
An injury to Rio Ferdinand in the warm-up didn’t help but following Nani’s third-minute goal it seemed as if a routine United victory would follow. But Mick McCarthy’s Wolves had other ideas.
Ferdinand’s absence was felt as Wolves scored two goals from set-pieces – via George Elokobi and Kevin Doyle – before half-time. They then held on to their lead to secure a memorable win.
The victory helped Wolves avoid relegation by a single point, while United quickly got this defeat out of their system and went on to win the Premier League title by a margin of nine points.
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