Southampton face a daunting task on Sunday afternoon as they welcome top-of-the-table Liverpool to St Mary’s.
Saints are rock-bottom of the Premier League having taken just four points from 11 games so far this season. Russell Martin is beginning to feel the pressure after his side threw away five valuable points at the death at home to fellow promoted sides Ipswich and Leicester.
By stark contrast, Liverpool are flying under Arne Slot, coming into the weekend after the international break five points clear with 28 points – 24 more than their opponents. The vast majority of football fans will have predicted a comfortable win for Liverpool – even without Trent Alexander-Arnold – but there are no guarantees.
Statisticians Opta report that there have only been 39 previous matches between teams starting the day in first place against those in last position in the history of the Premier League. The bad news for Southampton is that none of the last 14 such clashes have seen the bottom side come out victorious.
But Saints do at least have some experience of such games, having held Arsenal to a 3-3 draw in April 2023 – the last time top played bottom in the competition. If Martin is looking for any more inspiration then he can tell his players about the following four matches – the only time the Premier League’s bottom club has beaten those at the top since 1992.
Oldham 1-0 Manchester UnitedMarch 9, 1993
United visited Boundary Park just a point clear of Aston Villa at the top of the Premier League in the first year of the revamped competition. It looked like the perfect fixture for Sir Alex Ferguson ’s side to continue their momentum, but Oldham had other ideas.
Some shambolic defending from a routine corner allowed Neil Adams to head past a furious Peter Schmeichel, who had half come for the cross, in the 26th minute. United couldn’t find a response and left gutted at the missed opportunity.
Happily, the result worked out for both sides, with Oldham going on a brilliant run of form to stay up by taking 21 points from their final 12 games, while it was United’s last defeat of the campaign and they lifted the inaugural Premier League trophy anyway.
Wolves 1-0 Manchester UnitedJanuary 17, 2004
This looked like a complete mismatch on paper. Wolves were not only bottom, they had been dreadful and came into the match 35 points behind top side United. Ferguson’s side were in great form, with six wins and a draw from their previous seven matches and would have been confident of securing three points.
It was not to be. Kenny Miller ended the season with two goals in 25 league games for Wolves but scored against United to earn three points at Molineux. Wolves still finished bottom to be relegated straight back to the Championship, but they did succeed in derailing United. Ferguson’s side lost their form completely and ended up finishing in third, 15 points behind eventual winners Arsenal.
Image:
John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)November 1, 2008
Spurs were surprisingly bottom of the pile at the start of November in the 2008/09 season after a miserable start under Juande Ramos. The Spaniard was sacked shortly before the visit of Liverpool, handing over the reins to Harry Redknapp, who immediately made an impact.
Redknapp oversaw a 2-0 win over Bolton and a remarkable 4-4 draw against rivals Arsenal before welcoming a red-hot Liverpool, who had 26 points from a possible 30 under Rafa Benitez. Dirk Kuyt put the visiting team ahead early on, before it all went wrong.
Jamie Carragher netted one of his seven Premier League own-goals – remarkably one of three for Spurs – before Roman Pavlyuchenko netted the winner to take Spurs off bottom spot. They ended up climbing to eighth under Redknapp’s management while Liverpool finished second, four points behind champions United.
Image:
GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)February 5, 2011
The third time Ferguson’s United were on the receiving end of such a defeat – and this one was probably the most remarkable. United visited Molineux on a 29-match unbeaten run – their best run of results in the league since September 1999 – and were five points clear at the top of the table.
They were eyeing a club-record 30th league game unbeaten and went ahead early on through Nani before Wolves hit back. Mick McCarthy’s side responded with two goals from set pieces before half-time, from George Elokobi and Kevin Doyle and held on to record a crucial win.
Wolves managed to narrowly avoid relegation at the end of the season, while United recovered to clinch the title by nine points.
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