Biggest Winning Margins In Premier League History

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Man Watching Football Match in Disbelief

Manchester United fans had dared to believe their team was starting to return to some semblance of greatness for the first time since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson. They’d just landed the League Cup and were well-established in the top four in the Premier League… and then they went and got walloped 7-0 by bitter rivals Liverpool at Anfield.

That 7-0 defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s Reds on 5th March 2023 was United’s worst defeat to Liverpool ever (surpassing the 7-1 loss they suffered to their rivals way back in the 1895/96 season). It was also the Red Devils’ worst defeat overall since going down by the same scoreline against Wolves back in 1931. But, as bad as that hammering was (from a Manchester United perspective at least) it is by no means the biggest winning margin we’ve seen in the Premier League era. In fact, that 7-0 scoreline doesn’t even make it into the top 10!

So let’s take a look at the biggest wins, or losses if you prefer, since the Premier League opened for business in the 1992/93 season.

Top 10 Biggest Winning Margins in the Premier League

Date Home Score Away
4th March 1995 Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town
25th October 2019 Southampton 0-9 Leicester City
2nd February 2021 Manchester United 9-0 Southampton
27th August 2022 Liverpool 9-0 Bournemouth
19th September 1999 Newcastle United 8-0 Sheffield Wednesday
22nd November 2009 Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic
9th May 2010 Chelsea 8-0 Wigan Athletic
23rd December 2012 Chelsea 8-0 Aston Villa
18th October 2014 Southampton 8-0 Sunderland
21st September 2019 Manchester City 8-0 Watford

As you can see, Southampton have been on both sides of the coin, tasting horrendous defeats twice but also savouring the joy of a truly emphatic victory. Manchester United have also shown their ability to put sides very much to the sword by posting two 9-0 victories in the Premier League, most recently in 2021. But let’s take a closer look at those four record-breaking 9-0 triumphs.

Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town, 4th March 1995

The first club to win by a nine-goal margin in the Premier League was Manchester United, who are still the most successful Premier League team by some margin. The Red Devils have won 13 Premier League titles compared to six for Manchester City, five for Chelsea, three for Arsenal and one each for Blackburn, Leicester and Liverpool… so United fans can at least throw that back at Liverpool fans gloating about the recent 7-0 triumph!

Back to this match though and Alex Ferguson’s United side featured the likes of Peter Schmeichel (who was something of a spectator to be fair), Roy Keane, Paul Ince, Mark Hughes and Andy Cole. It was Cole who starred too, becoming the first player to score five goals in a Premier League game. The other goals came from Keane, Ince and Hughes (who scored twice). Despite this massive victory, United missed on out the title by a single point to Blackburn, with many pundits suggesting the Red Devils’ crucial defeat came later in the same month as this match… a 2-0 loss to Liverpool!

Southampton 0-9 Leicester City, 25th October 2019

Southampton’s first taste of losing by nine goals in the Premier League came in 2019 when they hosted Leicester City. It’s still the only time a side has lost at home by that monstrous margin, and the Saints’ cause wasn’t aided when Ryan Bertrand was sent off after just 12 minutes. The home side were already a goal down by that point, but things went from bad to worse as Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes ran riot. The goals came thick and fast with Jamie Vardy and Ayoze Perez each bagging hat-tricks.

Manchester United 9-0 Southampton, 2nd February 2021

The Saints didn’t have to wait too long to experience another 9-0 hammering, this time at Old Trafford against Manchester United. This massive victory came as United were looking like they might mount a real challenge for the title (as it was, they finished second to Man City by a 12-point margin). Unlike United’s first 9-0 triumph in the Premier League back in 1995, the goals were spread between eight players this time around with Aaron Wan-Bissaka getting the ball rolling, so to speak, after 18 minutes, before the likes of Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani added to Southampton’s pain.

As when they lost 9-0 to Leicester, the Saints made things easy for their opposition with an early sending-off, as Alexandre Jankewitz was given his marching orders after just two minutes. They had a second player dismissed late on, but by then the game was dead, buried and decomposed. Anthony Martial was the only United player to score more than one goal.

Liverpool 9-0 Bournemouth, 27th August 2022

The most recent nine-goal victory in the Premier League (at the time of writing) came at the start of the 2022/23 season as Liverpool dismantled Bournemouth at Anfield. This emphatic victory came just five days after Liverpool suffered a 2-1 defeat to Man United (though, as we have seen, the Reds got revenge for that and then some in the return fixture!). Somewhat surprisingly, it was Liverpool’s first league win of the season after opening the campaign with two draws.

There were few mistakes for Klopp’s men in this one though as the Reds raced to a 2-0 lead within minutes of kick-off thanks to goals from Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott. Roberto Firmino scored twice for the home side, while Trent Alexander-Arnold scored what could have been the pick of the goals with a long-range strike into the top corner, leaving Bournemouth keeper Mark Travers with no chance. Interestingly, Mohamed Salah – who became Liverpool’s top Premier League scorer when he surpassed Robbie Fowler’s record in the aforementioned Man United game – didn’t score a single goal (or get any assists) in this one against Bournemouth, despite playing the full match.