Longest unbeaten runs in Premier League history

The longest unbeaten run in Premier League history is Arsenal's 49 matches, a streak that ran from 7 May 2003 to 24 October 2004 and was ended by a 2-0 defeat at Manchester United. No other club has come within five games of it. The run is famous for more than its length: it contains the only unbeaten season the Premier League has ever produced. It is also a record worth arguing with, because in the book of unbeaten runs a draw keeps the streak alive exactly as a win does, which tells you a lot about what this particular record actually measures.

The longest unbeaten runs in Premier League history, ranked

Only four clubs have ever put together a run of 30 or more matches without defeat in the Premier League, and two of them, Arsenal and Manchester City, have done it twice. The four longest are these:

Rank	Club	Matches	Run
1	Arsenal	49	7 May 2003 to 24 October 2004
2	Liverpool	44	12 January 2019 to 29 February 2020
3	Chelsea	40	23 October 2004 to 29 October 2005
4	Manchester City	32	December 2023 to November 2024

The gap between first and second is five matches, and the gap between second and third is four. Arsenal's record has stood since 2004, and the three longest runs behind it were all built by title-winning sides in the two decades that followed.

How the 49 was built: the Invincibles

Arsenal's 49 matches break down cleanly into three chunks: the last two games of 2002/03, all 38 games of the 2003/04 season, and the first nine of 2004/05. The middle chunk is the famous one. In 2003/04 Arsenal won 26 and drew 12 of their 38 matches, finished on 90 points, 11 clear of Chelsea, and became the first side in Premier League history to go a full season without defeat. The side was dubbed the Invincibles, and manager Arsene Wenger remains the only manager to have taken a team through an entire Premier League campaign without losing. We have the full story of that season in our guide to the Invincibles.

The season was not the whole record, which is worth stressing. The run began on 7 May 2003 with a 6-1 win over Southampton at Highbury and carried Arsenal through the 2003/04 title and into the autumn of 2004, breaking the old English top-flight record of 42 set by Nottingham Forest between November 1977 and November 1978 along the way. It ended at Old Trafford on 24 October 2004, when a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty and a Wayne Rooney goal gave Manchester United a 2-0 win.

The longest home and away runs

Separate the record by venue and it changes shape completely. Chelsea hold the longest unbeaten home run in Premier League history: 86 matches at Stamford Bridge from 21 February 2004 to 26 October 2008, a run that took in four managers, Claudio Ranieri, Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari, and was ended by a Xabi Alonso goal in a 1-0 win for Liverpool. Note the numbers inside that record: 62 wins and 24 draws. Nearly a third of the streak was draws, which is the quiet weakness of every unbeaten record.

Liverpool have the second-longest unbeaten home run, 68 matches at Anfield from 7 May 2017 to 21 January 2021, ended by a 1-0 defeat to Burnley. At their peak in that period Liverpool also put together the longest run of consecutive home wins in Premier League history: 24, from 9 February 2019 to 11 July 2020.

On the road the records are more modern. Manchester United went 29 Premier League away matches unbeaten, from 17 February 2020 to 19 September 2021, the longest such run. Manchester City won 12 consecutive away matches between 19 December 2020 and 14 May 2021, another record. For full-season perfection on the road, Arsenal did not lose away in 2001/02 or 2003/04, and Manchester United matched that in 2020/21.

Has anyone threatened 49 since?

The closest anyone has come is Liverpool, whose 44-match unbeaten run began on 12 January 2019 and did not end until 29 February 2020, when Watford won 3-0 at Vicarage Road. Liverpool arrived there having won 18 consecutive league matches, matching the Premier League record Manchester City had set in 2017, and the defeat was their first in the league in over a year. They still finished that season with 99 points.

Chelsea ran 40 matches unbeaten from 23 October 2004, the day before Arsenal's run died, to 29 October 2005, conceding only 19 goals across the whole stretch. The run was ended by a 1-0 defeat at Manchester United on 6 November 2005. Chelsea's 2004/05 season, the first under Mourinho, finished with 95 points and a single defeat.

Manchester City have the two most recent long runs: 30 matches unbeaten across 2017 and 2018, the streak that carried them into their record 100-point season, ended by a 4-3 defeat at Liverpool; and 32 matches from December 2023 to November 2024, begun after a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa and ended by a defeat at Bournemouth, with a fourth consecutive title won in the middle. Arsenal themselves had managed 30 in 2001/02, between December 2001 and October 2002.

Here is where the record needs some scepticism. An unbeaten run counts a draw as success, and that flatters sides who grind rather than dominate. Chelsea's 86 home games included 24 draws; Arsenal's 49 contained a season with 12 draws in 38 games. A side that drew 30 of 45 matches would outrank a side that won 35 of 40 in this particular book of records. Points, the thing the table is actually built on, and the tiebreakers that decide level finishes, tell you far more about a team's quality than the length of a streak. By that measure Manchester City's 100-point season and Liverpool's 99 are stronger evidence of greatness than several longer unbeaten runs.

So the answer to the longest unbeaten runs in Premier League history is Arsenal, and it has been for more than two decades. The gap to second place is five matches, and every challenger since, from Liverpool's 44 to Chelsea's 40 to Manchester City's 32, has fallen short of a streak built on the only unbeaten season the division has produced. Nobody has refused to lose quite like Arsenal did across 2003 and 2004, and the record is likely to outlast the sides chasing it.

FAQ

What is the longest unbeaten run in Premier League history? Arsenal's 49 matches, from 7 May 2003 to 24 October 2004, ended by a 2-0 defeat at Manchester United.

Did Arsenal go a full season unbeaten? Yes. In 2003/04 Arsenal won 26 and drew 12 of their 38 matches, finishing on 90 points, and became the only side in Premier League history to complete a season without defeat.

Who has the longest unbeaten home run? Chelsea, with 86 Premier League home matches without defeat at Stamford Bridge from 21 February 2004 to 26 October 2008.

What is the second-longest unbeaten run in Premier League history? Liverpool's 44 matches, from 12 January 2019 to 29 February 2020, ended by a 3-0 defeat at Watford.

Key takeaways

• Arsenal hold the Premier League record with 49 matches unbeaten, from 7 May 2003 to 24 October 2004.
• The run contained the only unbeaten season in Premier League history: 26 wins, 12 draws and 90 points in 2003/04.
• Chelsea went 86 home matches unbeaten from 2004 to 2008, with 62 wins and 24 draws.
• Liverpool came closest to 49 with 44 matches, ended by a 3-0 loss at Watford on 29 February 2020.
• Unbeaten runs count draws as success, so points per game is a fairer measure of quality than the length of a streak.