Manchester United won the 1998-99 Premier League title and relegation race on 79 points, 1 point ahead of Arsenal. It came down to the final days: Manchester United did not lead for good until May 9, 1999. Charlton Athletic, Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest finished in the relegation places.
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English Premier League standings, 1998-99
Team
W
D
L
GD
PTS
L10
Streak
Manchester United (MUN)
22
13
3
+43
79
6-4-0
W1
Arsenal (ARS)
22
12
4
+42
78
8-1-1
W1
Chelsea (CHE)
20
15
3
+27
75
6-4-0
W1
Leeds United (LEE)
18
13
7
+28
67
5-4-1
D1
West Ham United (WHU)
16
9
13
-7
57
5-2-3
W1
Aston Villa (AVL)
15
10
13
+5
55
3-2-5
L3
Liverpool (LIV)
15
9
14
+19
54
4-3-3
W1
Derby County (DER)
13
13
12
-5
52
3-2-5
L1
Middlesbrough (MID)
12
15
11
-6
51
4-3-3
L2
Leicester City (LEI)
12
13
13
-6
49
4-3-3
L1
Tottenham Hotspur (TOT)
11
14
13
-3
47
3-2-5
L1
Sheffield Wednesday (SHW)
13
7
18
-1
46
3-2-5
W2
Newcastle United (NEW)
11
13
14
-6
46
1-5-4
D1
Everton (EVE)
11
10
17
-5
43
4-0-6
L1
Coventry City (COV)
11
9
18
-12
42
3-3-4
D2
Wimbledon (WIM)
10
12
16
-23
42
0-2-8
L3
Southampton (SOU)
11
8
19
-27
41
4-3-3
W3
Charlton Athletic (CHA)
8
12
18
-15
36
2-3-5
L1
Blackburn Rovers (BLB)
7
14
17
-14
35
1-6-3
D2
Nottingham Forest (NFO)
7
9
22
-34
30
4-1-5
W3
The dashed line on the chart is the relegation line: the pace of the best team in the drop zone.
Turning points
The lead changed hands 18 times.
Manchester United trailed by as many as 6 points on September 8, 1998.
Manchester United took first place for good on May 9, 1999.
Leeds United won 7 games in a row from February 17, 1999 to April 3, 1999, the longest run of the race.
Aston Villa led by 6 points as late as October 16, 1998.
The top two ended the day within three points of each other on 70 of the 104 days played.
Eight teams held first place.
Aston Villa held first place for 91 straight days, the season's longest run.
Manchester United spent 93 of the season's 275 charted days in first place.