The 2018–19 Premier League was the 27th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 120th season of top-flight English football overall. The season started on 10 August 2018 and concluded on 12 May 2019. Fixtures for the 2018–19 season were announced on 14 June 2018. The league was contested by the top 17 teams from the 2017–18 season as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers, Cardiff City and Fulham, who joined as the promoted clubs from the 2017–18 EFL Championship. They replaced West Bromwich Albion, Swansea City and Stoke City who were relegated to the 2018–19 EFL Championship.
Manchester City were the defending champions, and they won their fourth Premier League title, and sixth English top-flight title overall, retaining the title on the last day of the season with 98 points after winning their last 14 league games. Liverpool finished second with 97 points – the highest total in English top-flight history for a second-placed team.
Summary Manchester City claimed the league title on the last day of the season with a 4–1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion, finishing on 98 points after a run of 14 straight wins. Liverpool held a 7-point lead over Manchester City on 3 January, but finished runners-up with 97 points – the fourth highest total in Premier League history and the highest in English top-flight history for a second-placed team, having lost only one league match all season – to eventual champions City.
Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur claimed the other two Champions League berths, finishing in third and fourth place respectively. Tottenham were in third place for much of the season and were considered potential title challengers until a 1–2 loss to Burnley in February. Chelsea would go on to win the season's UEFA Europa League, defeating Arsenal in the final 4–1. Arsenal had gone on a fourteen-game unbeaten run near the start of the season and began April in third place, but a run of four points in six matches saw them drop to fifth place, finishing outside of the Champions League spots.
Manchester United's worst start to the season for 28 years and 3–1 loss to Liverpool led to the sacking of manager José Mourinho in December, with former player Ole Gunnar Solskjær replacing him, initially as a caretaker. Solskjær was appointed permanently after an impressive run of results which culminated in United's away goals victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League, but the team's poor form soon returned, and they eventually finished sixth after the team had won none of their final five league matches. Newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers achieved their highest finish since 1980 by finishing seventh, having taken points off every team in the league except Liverpool and Huddersfield Town. Their seventh-place finish was the highest for a newly promoted team since Ipswich Town finished 5th in the 2000–01 season.
Huddersfield were the first team to be relegated, following their 0–2 defeat at Crystal Palace on 30 March 2019, coinciding with victories for Burnley and Southampton. They were relegated with six games remaining. This made Huddersfield the second team in Premier League history to be relegated before March ended, following Derby County in 2007–08. Fulham joined them after a 1–4 defeat at Watford on 2 April, relegated with five games remaining. Cardiff City were the final team to be relegated following a 2–3 loss at home to Crystal Palace on 4 May with one game remaining.
The fastest goal in Premier League history was scored this season on 23 April by Shane Long in a 1–1 draw between his side Southampton and Watford after 7.69 seconds. On 4 May 2019, Fulham's Harvey Elliott became the youngest ever Premier League player at 16 years and 30 days. Tottenham Hotspur had a run of 28 games without a draw (20 wins, 8 losses), the longest ever recorded from the start of a Premier League season. Manchester City finished the season without a draw in any of their final 30 matches.
The season saw two aviation incidents involving Premier League personnel. On 27 October 2018, Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was killed in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium, shortly after a 1–1 home draw against West Ham United. Almost three months later, on 21 January 2019, Cardiff City player Emiliano Sala, en route to join the club following his record signing from Nantes, died on board a Piper PA-46 Malibu aircraft that crashed off Alderney.
Teams Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the Championship. The promoted teams were Wolverhampton Wanderers (returning after a six-year absence), Cardiff City and Fulham (both teams returning after a four-year absence). They replaced Swansea City, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion, who were relegated to the Championship after their top flight spells of seven, ten and eight years respectively.
Stadia and locations
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order. Team Location Stadium CapacityArsenalLondon Emirates StadiumBournemouthBournemouthDean CourtBrighton & Hove AlbionFalmerFalmer StadiumBurnleyBurnleyTurf MoorCardiff CityCardiffCardiff City StadiumChelseaLondon Stamford BridgeCrystal PalaceLondon Selhurst ParkEvertonLiverpool Goodison ParkFulhamLondon Craven CottageHuddersfield TownHuddersfieldKirklees StadiumLeicester CityLeicesterKing Power StadiumLiverpoolLiverpool AnfieldManchester CityManchester City of Manchester StadiumManchester UnitedManchester Old TraffordNewcastle UnitedNewcastle upon TyneSt James' ParkSouthamptonSouthamptonSt Mary's StadiumTottenham HotspurLondon Wembley StadiumLondon Tottenham Hotspur StadiumWatfordWatfordVicarage RoadWest Ham UnitedLondon London StadiumWolverhampton WanderersWolverhamptonMolineux Stadium
Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (chest) Shirt sponsor (sleeve)Arsenal PumaFly EmiratesVisit RwandaBournemouth UmbroM88Mansion GroupBrighton & Hove Albion BrunoNikeAmerican ExpressJDBurnley PumaLaBa360AstroPayCardiff City AdidasTourism MalaysiaJDChelsea NikeYokohama TyresHyundaiCrystal Palace PumaManBetXDongqiudiEverton UmbroSportPesaAngry BirdsFulham AdidasDafabetICMHuddesfield Town UmbroOPE SportsLeisu SportsLeicester City AdidasKing PowerBia SaigonLiverpool New BalanceStandard CharteredWestern UnionManchester City NikeEtihad AirwaysNexen TireManchester United AdidasChevroletKohlerNewcastle United PumaFun88–Southampton Under ArmourVirgin MediaTottenham Hotspur NikeAIAWatford AdidasFxProMoPlayWest Ham United UmbroBetwayBasset & Gold AdidasW88CoinDeal
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner ofdepartureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentArsenal Retired13 May 2018Pre-season 23 May 2018Everton Sacked16 May 2018 31 May 2018West Ham United End of contract16 May 2018 22 May 2018Chelsea Sacked13 July 2018 14 July 2018Fulham 14 November 201820th 14 November 2018Southampton 3 December 201818th 5 December 2018Manchester United 18 December 20186th 19 December 2018Huddersfield Town Mutual consent14 January 201920th 21 January 2019Leicester City Sacked24 February 201912th 26 February 2019Fulham 28 February 201919th 28 February 2019
League table
Results
Season statistics
Scoring Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Pierre-Emerick AubameyangArsenal22 Sadio ManéLiverpool Mohamed SalahLiverpool4 Sergio AgüeroManchester City215 Jamie VardyLeicester City186 Harry KaneTottenham Hotspur17 Raheem SterlingManchester City8 Eden HazardChelsea169 Callum WilsonBournemouth1410 Raúl JiménezWolverhampton Wanderers13 Alexandre Lacazette Arsenal Glenn Murray Brighton & Hove Albion Paul PogbaManchester United RicharlisonEverton Gylfi SigurðssonEverton
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Ref Manchester City Huddersfield Town 6–1 (H) Chelsea Cardiff City 4–1 (H) Liverpool Bournemouth 4–0 (A) Liverpool Arsenal 5–1 (H) Wolverhampton Wanderers Leicester City 4–3 (H) Manchester City Arsenal 3–1 (H) Manchester City Chelsea 6–0 (H) Watford Cardiff City 5–1 (A) Manchester City Watford 3–1 (H) Tottenham Hotspur Huddersfield Town 4–0 (H) Newcastle United Southampton 3–1 (H)
Notes (H) – Home team(A) – Away team
Clean sheets
RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 AlissonLiverpool212 EdersonManchester City203 Kepa ArrizabalagaChelsea14 Jordan PickfordEverton5 Hugo LlorisTottenham Hotspur126 Martin DúbravkaNewcastle United117 Neil EtheridgeCardiff City10 Kasper SchmeichelLeicester City9 David de GeaManchester United7 Łukasz FabiańskiWest Ham United Ben FosterWatford Vicente GuaitaCrystal Palace Rui PatrícioWolverhampton Wanderers
Discipline Player
Most yellow cards: 14 Étienne Capoue (Watford)
Most red cards: 2 Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Southampton) Wes Morgan (Leicester City)
Club Most yellow cards: 77 Watford
Most red cards: 5 Leicester City
Awards
Monthly awards
MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthGoal of the MonthReferencesManagerClubPlayerClubPlayer ClubAugust Javi GraciaWatford Lucas MouraTottenham HotspurFulhamSeptemberWolverhampton Wanderers Eden HazardChelsea Daniel SturridgeLiverpoolOctober Eddie HoweBournemouthArsenal Aaron RamseyArsenalNovember Rafael BenítezNewcastle United Raheem SterlingManchester City Son Heung-minTottenham HotspurDecember Jürgen KloppLiverpool Virgil van DijkLiverpool Andros TownsendCrystal PalaceJanuary Ole Gunnar SolskjærManchester United Marcus RashfordManchester United André SchürrleFulhamFebruary Pep GuardiolaManchester City Sergio AgüeroManchester City Fabian SchärNewcastle UnitedMarch Jürgen KloppLiverpool Sadio ManéLiverpool Anthony KnockaertBrighton & Hove AlbionApril Pep GuardiolaManchester City Jamie VardyLeicester City Eden HazardChelsea
Annual awards Award Winner Club Premier League Manager of the Season Pep Guardiola Manchester City Premier League Player of the Season Virgil van Dijk Liverpool Premier League Goal of the Season Andros Townsend Crystal Palace PFA Players' Player of the Year Virgil van Dijk Liverpool PFA Young Player of the Year Raheem Sterling Manchester City FWA Footballer of the Year Raheem Sterling Manchester City PFA Fans' Player of the Year Eden Hazard Chelsea PFA Team of the Year Goalkeeper Ederson(Manchester City) Defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold(Liverpool) Aymeric Laporte(Manchester City) Virgil van Dijk(Liverpool) Andy Robertson(Liverpool) Midfielders Bernardo Silva(Manchester City) Fernandinho(Manchester City) Paul Pogba(Manchester United) Forwards Raheem Sterling(Manchester City) Sergio Agüero(Manchester City) Sadio Mané(Liverpool)
Attendances
References
External links
Official website League and cup results for all the 2018/19 Premier Division clubs at footballsite