The previous season saw Arsene Wenger's Arsenal team lift the Premier League trophy for the first time.
Manchester United were eager to retake control of the Premier League having previously won 4 titles since its establishment in 1992.
Alex Ferguson spent heavily to achieve success. £28 million was spent on Dwight Yorke, Jaap Stam and Jesper Blomqvist.
The battle at the bottom was less competitive then previous years had been.
Nottingham Forest had finished with 30 points and were relegated for the third time in seven seasons. The season included a 8-1 drubbing at home to Manchester United.
With Pierre Van Hooijdonk going AWOL and the sale of Kevin Campbell, Forest struggled for goals.
Dave Bassett was sacked and replaced by Ron Atkinson but he was unable to save them.
Second from bottom were Blackburn Rovers who had finished 6th the previous year and newly promoted Charlton Athletic joined them in dropping to Division One.
Sunderland were crowned First Division Champions and returned to the Premiership alongside runners-up Bradford City and Watford.
Newcastle failed to improve on last years 13th place position and replaced Kenny Dalglish with Ruud Gullit.
A host of new signings were brought in to compliment the goalscoring ability of Alan Shearer.
Gary Speed, Nolberto Solano and Dietmar Hamann were amongst the new faces at St James Park.
They did however qualify for Europe after a 2-0 defeat by Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
Tottenham were the winners of the League Cup after a 1-0 victory over Leicester City.
George Graham's Spurs team and Martin O'Neill's Leicester both impressed finishing in 11th and 10th respectively.
With Newcastle and Tottenham qualifying for the UEFA Cup via domestic cup success, West Ham United and Leeds United secured the final two European spots.
West Ham under manager Harry Redknapp were building an impressive side around star asset Rio Ferdinand.
Having sold John Hartson to Wimbledon, they used the money to replace him with controversial Italian striker Paolo Di Canio from Sheffield Wednesday.
Leeds had replaced George Graham with assistant David O'Leary and under the Irishman mounted a slight challenge for the title.
Chelsea who were managed by Gianluca Vialli, achieved a third place finish and would play Champions League football the following year.
Arsenal finished 3 points above their London rivals in second place and Manchester United were again crowned Champions after finishing above Arsenal by virtue of 1 point.
Their success didn't stop there. Having already won the FA Cup they also won the Champions League after a thrilling 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich.
Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scoring 91st and 93rd minute goals.
| # | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man Utd | 38 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 80 | 37 | 43 | 79 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 38 | 22 | 12 | 4 | 59 | 17 | 42 | 78 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 38 | 20 | 15 | 3 | 57 | 30 | 27 | 75 |
| 4 | Leeds | 38 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 62 | 34 | 28 | 67 |
| 5 | West Ham | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 46 | 53 | -7 | 57 |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 51 | 46 | 5 | 55 |
| 7 | Liverpool | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 68 | 49 | 19 | 54 |
| 8 | Derby | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 40 | 45 | -5 | 52 |
| 9 | Middlesbrough | 38 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 48 | 54 | -6 | 51 |
| 10 | Leicester | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 40 | 46 | -6 | 49 |
| 11 | Spurs | 38 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 47 | 50 | -3 | 47 |
| 12 | Sheff Wed | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 41 | 42 | -1 | 46 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 48 | 54 | -6 | 46 |
| 14 | Everton | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 42 | 47 | -5 | 43 |
| 15 | Coventry | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 39 | 51 | -12 | 42 |
| 16 | Wimbledon | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 40 | 63 | -23 | 42 |
| 17 | Southampton | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 37 | 64 | -27 | 41 |
| 18 | Charlton | 38 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 41 | 56 | -15 | 36 |
| 19 | Blackburn | 38 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 38 | 52 | -14 | 35 |
| 20 | Notts Forest | 38 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 35 | 69 | -34 | 30 |
| Rank | Scorer | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink | Leeds United | 18 |
| Michael Owen | Liverpool | 18 | |
| Dwight Yorke | Manchester United | 18 | |
| 4 | Nicolas Anelka | Arsenal | 17 |
| Andy Cole | Manchester United | 17 | |
| 6 | Hamilton Ricard | Middlesbrough | 15 |
| 7 | Dion Dublin | Aston Villa | 14 |
| Robbie Fowler | Liverpool | 14 | |
| Julian Joachim | Aston Villa | 14 | |
| Alan Shearer | Newcastle United | 14 |
Source: DSG
