You can say that there has been only one team deserving of the title this season, especially when they have set a record for topping the table for most number of days. Manchester City may have come close a few times while Arsenal may have played the best football towards the end of the season, but there was only one winner since the first ball was kicked in mid-August. Right from the moment, Fabregas provided that beautiful assist to Andre Schurrle at the beginning of the season, we knew that Chelsea were in for something special this season. By the end of the season, Chelsea had only lost three games (including one after the title was decided) and finished the season a whopping eight points over second placed City.

The English Premier League – Final standings review

At the start of the season, all eyes were on Manchester United and their new manager Louis Van Gaal and how they bounce back from the lows of the previous campaign. While United did achieve their minimum target of qualifying for the Champions League, it must be said that there were certain high and certain low points for the Dutchman’s team throughout the season. While the high was definitely brushing aside Spurs, Liverpool and City within the space of a month and go to touching distance of the second spot, the low was definitely the three consecutive defeats to Everton, Chelsea and West Bromwich.

Tottenham did well to improve on their previous finish of sixth, but eventually missed out on the Champions League spot again. Spurs’ season was bundled with inconsistency and the distraction of the Europa League certainly didn’t help matters. Liverpool, on the other hand, had a nightmare of a season as compared to the second place finish last season. The new buys couldn’t cover for the loss of their star, Suarez, and the 6-1 humiliation at the hands of Stoke on the last day of the season, summed up their season. Southampton, once again, continued to win hearts with yet another impressive season despite having to sell half their stars to bigger clubs in the summer. Ronald Koeman’s team were one of the respected teams throughout the season, and only Chelsea having conceded lesser goals, they were rewarded with a spot in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League next season.

Garry Monk’s Swansea did an incredible job of finishing eighth and just short of a Europa League slot. The high point of Swansea’s season was the double over Manchester United while they did well to cover for the loss of Wilfried Bony, who was sold to City in January. Stoke moved out of their boring long-ball physical game this season and that reaped big rewards as they finished in the top 10 along with Crystal Palace, who had a turnaround of fortunes with the appointment of Alan Pardew.

Everton, for me were one the most disappointing sides of the season. The Toffees couldn’t handle the midweek Europa League fixtures alongside the league and they slumped to a lowly 11th place. West Ham, on the other hand, began the league in style and was sitting in fourth position in December. While the fans dreamt of European football, the new year brought a downfall in the fortunes of the Hammers. Injuries to their strikers and central defenders saw West Ham finish in a disappointing 12th place but earned a Europa League qualifying spot as a result of topping the Fair Play table.

Tony Pulis once again wove his magic to pull West Bromwich out of the relegation zone, and they finished the season on a high with back to back wins over Manchester United and Chelsea.

Leicester, who were languishing in bottom for most part of the season, had the most amazing run at the end of the season, winning seven out of their last eight games. Newcastle were in the relegation battle until the last day of the season. The Magpies’ form dipped terribly after they decided to part ways with Alan Pardew and they needed a last day win over West Ham to ensure top flight football next season. Jonas Gutierrez’s life came a full circle as he fought cancer, and then scored a survival day goal to keep Newcastle in the Premiership. The goal not only ensured survival, but also made sure that Newcastle finished over Tyneside rivals Sunderland in the final standings. The Black Cats’ season hit an all time low after the 8-0 loss to Southampton in the early part of the season, but a resurgent fight and a change of goalkeeper helped Sunderland to stay afloat in the Premier League.

Aston Villa found scoring goals to be a trouble this season. Only a now-relegated Burnley scored fewer goals than Villa this season and Villa were lucky to just stay above the drop season. Danny Ings and Charlie Austin were the finds of the season but couldn’t save their respective teams from relegation. Steve Bruce’s Hull managed to stay in the relegation fight until the last day of the season, but they will have to ply their trade in the Championship next season.

Manchester City may have only finished second in the table but they ended up as the league’s highest scoring team with 83 goals, 10 more than Chelsea. Sergio Aguero won the Golden Boot for the first time in his career and City completed their double as Joe Hart won the Golden Glove for a record fourth time. Amongst others, Harry Kane finally got an extended run in the team and he proved his worth with 21 goals in the league, just one more than Chelsea’s Diego Costa. Alexis Sanchez, the Premier League’s signing of the season also netted 16 goals for the Gunners while Eden Hazard, the Player of the Season ended with 14 goals and 9 assists to his name.

Tags: Arsenal, Champions League, Chelsea, English Premier League, EPL, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspurs