Following Leicester City’s rise to the pinnacle of the Premier League in the first half of the season, many have begun to tout the Foxes as strong contenders for the title and with good reason, as their recent performances and Premier League history suggests.
The Premier League title has been won by the team on top of the League by Christmas a staggering 11 times, and with the way Leicester’s going this season might be the 12th time a team’s won it from being top at Christmas unless the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal think otherwise.
But with all that said let’s take a look at the 11 times when winter champions went on to win the tittle.
4Manchester United (Five times)
Manchester United achieved this incredible feat a record five times in the Premier League era under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.
United first won the League after being top at Christmas in the 1993-94 season, which was also the second season of the Premier League after its introduction in 1992.
They were top of the pile from the fourth game onwards and ended up winning the league by eight points over nearest rivals Blackburn Rovers.
The second time came in the 2000-01 season when they won the league for the third successive season although they failed to replicate the success in other Cup competitions.
The third was in the 2006-07 campaign which saw United win the League by a six point margin over title rivals Chelsea. United were also dominant at the individual level with no less than eight players earning a spots in the PFA team of the year along with Cristiano Ronaldo winning numerous awards.
The fourth was the 2010-11 season when United came close to becoming the first top-flight side in 119 years to win every single home league match during the season, but a draw against West Bromwich Albion early in the campaign cost them that record.
The League victory was inspired by impressive performances from the likes of Dimitar Berbatov and Nemanja Vidic as Berbatov went on to be United’s highest Goalscorer of the campaign.
The most recent time United won the league after being first at Christmas was the 2012-13 season. It was quite a historic season for United as it was their 20th Premier League title victory and the club’s final season under their longest serving manager Sir Alex Ferguson as he announced his retirement towards the end of the campaign.
Robin Van Persie was crucial in the campaign as he fired United on with an impressive tally of 26 goals in the League and 30 in all competitions.
United mathematically won the league on April 22, 2013, following a Van Persie hat-trick against Aston Villa.
