Is Man City the best Premier League team ever?

On Sunday, Manchester City beat West Ham 3-1 — and, in so doing, clinched its fourth straight English Premier League title, edging out Arsenal for the top spot.

Man City’s dominance is striking. They have now won 6 of the last 7 EPL titles. Since the start of the 2013-2014 season, they have also won the Champions League (best team in all of Europe), two FA Cups (best team in England) and six other assorted league cups.

Last year, Man City won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup — the so-called “treble” — in a single year, becoming only the 2nd team to ever do so. (The first was the 1998-1999 Manchester United team.)

It’s a record that no modern club in England can match. As City’s iconic manager Pep Guardiola said after securing the fourth straight title: “No team has done it. That shows how hard it is. Liverpool in the 1980s, Alex Ferguson's United in the 1990s. Chelsea with (Roman) Abramovich and Jose (Mourinho), Arsenal with (Arsene) Wenger didn't do it.”

All true! So, is this incarnation of Man City the single greatest soccer dynasty in the history of English football? Let’s dig in!

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Here are the contenders:

Manchester United (1999-2009)

The closest thing — in recent memory — to the Man City dynasty is across town at Manchester United. Led by the legendary gaffer Sir Alex Ferguson, Man United won three straight EPL titles from 2007-2009. And, a decade prior, Man United won the title four of five years from 1999-2003.

Man United teams won the Champions League in 1999 and 2008. United also won the FA Cup in 1999 and 2004.

They had legendary players like Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo and a (very young) Wayne Rooney.

And Goal.com, ranked the 1998-1999 team as the best EPL side ever, writing:

They didn't just win the title, the FA Cup and the Champions League; they did it all in the most thrilling of fashion. Indeed, there's 'never-say-die' spirit and then there's the frankly crazy level of character and Ferguson-like stubbornness that got United over the line in three separate competitions.

They went undefeated in the league after Christmas and yet still only won the title by a point from Arsenal on the final day, after coming from behind to beat Tottenham at a raucous Old Trafford.

Liverpool (1976-1984)

In the span of 9 seasons in the top league, Liverpool won 7 championships — a stunning string of sustained success.

The team also won the Champions League in 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1984.

It was led by “King Kenny” — Kenny Dalglish, widely considered to be the greatest Liverpool player ever.

As These Football Times wrote in 2016:

Quite simply, success breeds contempt, and for 20 years throughout the 1970s and the 80s, no team in English football was more successful than Liverpool Football Club. Dominant just doesn’t quite cut it: American sports refer to this kind of success as a dynasty, and Liverpool were certainly that…

…The what-if question is how good would they have been in Europe? At the time English teams were banned from European competitions following the Heysel disaster in 1985, and you have to wonder if they would be remembered more fondly amongst the general public – much like the 1999 Manchester United team or the old Liverpool European Cup-winning sides – if they had played in Europe.

For more on the Heysel disaster, watch this:

Arsenal (2001-2004)

It was a brief run for Arsene Wenger’s Gunners — but oh what a run!

In the 2001-2002 season, Arsenal won the double — taking the Premier League title and the FA Cup.

But it was the 2003-2004 season where they staked their claim to greatness. Arsenal didn’t lose a single game in the Premier League that season. The team became known as “The Invincibles.” (The team actually went unbeaten for 49 straight EPL games from May 7, 2003 – October 16, 2004.)

Goal.com ranked them as the 2nd best EPL team ever, writing:

Ah, 'The Invincibles', Arsene Wenger's wondrous work of art at Arsenal. Because lest anyone forget, the Gunners weren't just unbeatable in the Premier League, they were also a joy to behold at times, primarily because of the beauty, elegance and interplay of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires.

It's worth remembering, too, that Arsenal had gone into the 2003-04 season on the back of a demoralising end to the previous campaign, which had seen them finish second to Manchester United after blowing an eight-point lead, prompting allegations of 'bottling' the title.

What followed, though, was a truly remarkable show of steel, thanks in no small part to the intimidating duo of Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva in midfield, and Ferguson effectively conceded the title in March because of the "great determination" with which Wenger's side was playing.

This clip on “The Invincibles” is so so good.

Who did I miss? And is Man City better than all of them? (I think so!)