Manchester City’s victory over Swansea in the FA Cup established a new record for consecutive victories for an English top-flight side across all competitions.
Here, we look at the details behind the record-breaking run.
City’s streak
Pep Guardiola’s side have won 15 successive games in all competitions, starting with their 1-0 Premier League victory at Southampton on December 19th. The run includes further league victories over Newcastle, Chelsea, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, West Brom, Sheffield United, Burnley and Liverpool, Carabao Cup successes against Arsenal and Manchester United and FA Cup wins over Birmingham, Cheltenham and Swansea.
The records beaten
The previous best run of consecutive victories had been 14, achieved by Preston in 1891-92 and Arsenal in 1987. Preston’s sequence, three years after their ‘Invincibles’ season, featured 12 league wins in succession followed by two FA Cup victories between October 1891 and January 1892. They eventually finished runners-up in the First Division to Sunderland and were beaten in the FA Cup third round – then the quarter-finals – by Nottingham Forest.
Arsenal’s run came after they made an indifferent start to the 1987-88 season, winning just one of their opening five games. George Graham’s side hit form in September, winning 14 in a row until mid-November. Ten of the wins came in First Division fixtures, with the other four being in the League Cup. They finished sixth in the table that season and lost to Luton in the League Cup final.
League comparison
18 wins in a row 😁
15 points clear 😆#nufcvcity recap: https://t.co/DXPHfDDh0Q pic.twitter.com/3PncO6x9vH— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 27, 2017
City’s run is not to be confused with their 18-match Premier League winning sequence in the 2017-18 campaign. That, at the time, was also a new record. It was matched by Liverpool last season. Their current run of successive league wins stands at 10 following last weekend’s success at Anfield.
Other facts
City’s run featured nine wins in January. Admittedly the condensing of the fixture list due to the coronavirus pandemic was a factor, but it was the most by any side in the top four tiers of English football in any single calendar month. In the 15 wins of the record-breaking sequence they have kept 10 cleans sheets and conceded just five goals. Overall, City’s unbeaten run now stretches to 22 games since a 2-0 defeat on November 21 at Tottenham – who they host in the league on Saturday.
