2018–19 Premier League
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. 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.
Defending champions Manchester City won their fourth Premier League title, and sixth English top-flight title overall. They won their last 14 league games and retained the league title on the final day of the season, finishing on 98 points. Liverpool finished runners-up 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 final day of the season with a 4–1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion, finishing on 98 points after a run of 14 wins. Liverpool held a 7-point lead over Manchester City on 3 January, but finished runners-up with 97 points – the third 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 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 2000-2001 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, the longest ever recorded from the start of a Premier League season. Manchester City did not draw 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, Cardiff City and Fulham. They replaced Swansea City, Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion, ending their top flight spells of seven, ten and eight years respectively.Stadiums and locations
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Arsenal | London | Emirates Stadium | |
| Bournemouth | Bournemouth | Dean Court | |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Brighton | Falmer Stadium | |
| Burnley | Burnley | Turf Moor | |
| Cardiff City | Cardiff | Cardiff City Stadium | |
| Chelsea | London | Stamford Bridge | |
| Crystal Palace | London | Selhurst Park | |
| Everton | Liverpool | Goodison Park | |
| Fulham | London | Craven Cottage | |
| Huddersfield Town | Huddersfield | Kirklees Stadium | |
| Leicester City | Leicester | King Power Stadium | |
| Liverpool | Liverpool | Anfield | |
| Manchester City | Manchester | City of Manchester Stadium | |
| Manchester United | Old Trafford | Old Trafford | |
| Newcastle United | Newcastle upon Tyne | St James' Park | |
| Southampton | Southampton | St Mary's Stadium | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | London | Wembley Stadium | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | London | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | |
| Watford | Watford | Vicarage Road | |
| West Ham United | London | London Stadium | |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | Wolverhampton | Molineux Stadium |
Personnel and kits
Managerial changes
League table
Results
Season statistics
Scoring
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 |  Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Arsenal | 22 |
| 1 |  Sadio Mané | Liverpool | 22 |
| 1 |  Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | 22 |
| 4 |  Sergio Agüero | Manchester City | 21 |
| 5 |  Jamie Vardy | Leicester City | 18 |
| 6 | Harry Kane | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 |
| 6 | Raheem Sterling | Manchester City | 17 |
| 8 |  Eden Hazard | Chelsea | 16 |
| 9 | Callum Wilson | Bournemouth | 14 |
| 10 |  Raúl Jiménez | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 13 |
| 10 |  Alexandre Lacazette | Arsenal | 13 |
| 10 | Glenn Murray | Brighton & Hove Albion | 13 |
| 10 | Paul Pogba | Manchester United | 13 |
| 10 |  Richarlison | Everton | 13 |
| 10 |  Gylfi Sigurðsson | Everton | 13 |
Hat-tricks
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref |
| | Manchester City | Huddersfield Town | 6–1 | 19 08 2018 | |
| | Chelsea | Cardiff City | 4–1 | 15 09 2018 | |
| | Liverpool | Bournemouth | 4–0 | 08 12 2018 | |
| | Liverpool | Arsenal | 5–1 | 29 12 2018 | |
 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Leicester City | 4–3 | 19 1 2019 | |
| | Manchester City | Arsenal | 3–1 | 3 2 2019 | |
| | Manchester City | Chelsea | 6–0 | 10 2 2019 | |
 | Watford | Cardiff City | 5–1 | 22 2 2019 | |
| | Manchester City | Watford | 3–1 | 9 3 2019 | |
| | Tottenham Hotspur | Huddersfield Town | 4–0 | 13 4 2019 | |
| | Newcastle United | Southampton | 3–1 | 20 4 2019 |
Top assists
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Eden Hazard | Chelsea | 15 |
| 2 |  Ryan Fraser | Bournemouth | 14 |
| 3 | Trent Alexander-Arnold | Liverpool | 12 |
| 3 |  Christian Eriksen | Tottenham Hotspur | 12 |
| 5 | Andrew Robertson | Liverpool | 11 |
| 6 |  Leroy Sané | Manchester City | 10 |
| 6 | Raheem Sterling | Manchester City | 10 |
| 8 | Paul Pogba | Manchester United | 9 |
| 8 | Callum Wilson | Bournemouth | 9 |
| 10 | Sergio Agüero | Manchester City | 8 |
| 10 | Alexandre Lacazette | Arsenal | 8 |
| 10 | João Moutinho | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 8 |
| 10 | Matt Ritchie | Newcastle United | 8 |
| 10 | Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | 8 |
| 10 | David Silva | Manchester City | 8 |
Clean sheets
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Alisson | Liverpool | 21 |
| 2 | Ederson | Manchester City | 20 |
| 3 | Kepa Arrizabalaga | Chelsea | 14 |
| 3 | Jordan Pickford | Everton | 14 |
| 5 | Hugo Lloris | Tottenham Hotspur | 12 |
| 6 |  Martin Dúbravka | Newcastle United | 11 |
| 7 |  Neil Etheridge | Cardiff City | 10 |
| 7 | Kasper Schmeichel | Leicester City | 10 |
| 9 | David de Gea | Manchester United | 7 |
| 9 |  Łukasz Fabiański | West Ham United | 7 |
| 9 | Ben Foster | Watford | 7 |
| 9 |  Vicente Guaita | Crystal Palace | 7 |
| 9 | Rui Patrício | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 7 |
Discipline
Player
- Most yellow cards: 14
- * Étienne Capoue
- Most red cards: 2
- * Pierre-Emile Højbjerg
- * Wes Morgan
Club
- Most yellow cards: 77
- * Watford
- Most red cards: 5
- * Leicester City
Awards