#2 Arsenal, 1998/99
Trending
After overhauling Man United to win the league in the previous season, Arsenal went into 1998/99 on a high and added Swedish star Freddie Ljungberg and Nigeria’s Nwankwo Kanu to their ranks for another title push. And basically, they were still brilliant. Unfortunately for them, Man United – strengthened by the signings of Jaap Stam and Dwight Yorke – were somehow even better.
Arsenal pushed and pushed throughout the season, despite a slow-ish start that saw them draw four games in a row. They defeated United 3-0 at Highbury with goals from Ljungberg, Tony Adams and Nicolas Anelka, and only lost four games all season.
February’s 5-0 win over Leicester seemed to point to another title run and despite a draw in the next game against Newcastle, they then won eight of their next nine games, scoring five past Derby and six past Middlesbrough. But United were equally good, equally prolific, and equally unbeatable.
A loss to Leeds in the penultimate game of the season effectively torpedoed Arsenal’s title hopes and although they won their final game, they finished the season just one point behind United, who then went on to secure a historic treble. In any other season though, this Arsenal side would definitely have retained their crown.
