https://www.worldfootball.net/schedule/eng-premier-league-1998-1999-spieltag/19/
We actually were 3rd 2 points off the top.
We then got back to #1 at the end of Jan and held it up until April unrivaled.
You brought up the treble winning season to correlate to our current woes.
Would anyone say we would be champions during Christmas in 98/99? Pretty sure many would and did - Arsenal double winning side was always behind us and our biggest rivals for the title at the time were Chelsea and Villa.
Would anyone say we would win the FA cup at the time? We won it 2 times in the last 4 years so pretty sure we could.
CL - sure we were under performing at the time, but the domestic double was clearly on the cards at the time and if someone said we could win it all he wouldn't "have been carted away by the men in white coats and put in a padded cell for their own protection "....