5 records broken in the 2016-17 Premier League season

The 2017-18 Premier League season is approaching and clubs are busy strengthening themselves given the huge amount of funds they possess. In the 2016-17 season, Chelsea were back as league winners under new coach Antonio Conte while it was a topsy-turvy season for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur also finished in the top 4 with Arsenal and Manchester United having to settle for the 5th and 6th places respectively. Manchester United under Jose Mourinho won the Europa League which earned them a direct qualification into the Champions League.

Here in this article we take a look into 5 records that were broken last season in the Premier League :

#5 Heaviest defeat suffered by the current league champions (Leicester City 1-6 Tottenham Hotspur)

The 2015-16 Premier League Champions had a rough start to their title defending campaign with the minnows suffering one setbacks after another and ended up hovering near rock bottom of the table. This eventually led to the sacking of Italian manager Claudio Ranieri. His replacement, Craig Shakespeare, took the team out of trouble and guided them safely away from relegation.

This, however, was not enough as they were thrashed at home by Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur in the penultimate league game of the season. Harry Kane was as usual on song but this time he went a bit futher and found the back of the net 4 times with Son Heung-Min netting another 2 to complete the rout. The win was also Tottenham Hotspur’s biggest ever away victory in the Premier League.

#4 Tottenham Hotspur finishing above Arsenal for the first time in 22 years

Mauricio Pochettino played a key role in Tottenham's success last season

2016-17 was a really good season for Tottenham as their performances gave the fans quite a few reasons to be proud of their team. One of the biggest of these reasons was finishing above Arsenal who succumbed to 5th place in the table due to intense competition for the top 4.

Having been in the shadow of the Gunners for all these years, Tottenham put up a massive fight for the league title but eventually a consistent and patient Chelsea side ended up being the winners.

The North London club beat Arsenal at home in the second half of the season which ensured their finish above their local rivals. This occurred for the first time since 1994-95 season when they finished 7th with the Gunners finishing 12th.

#3 Arsenal and Manchester United together finish outside of top 4

Surpisingly neither Arsenal or Manchester United could not make it to the top 4 last season

A very surprising fact to look at, Manchester United and Arsenal have been amongst the most consistent sides in the Premier League era. Jose Mourinho led Manchester United finished 6th while Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal finished 5th. The last time such a thing happened was way back in 1979, when neither Sir Alex Ferguson nor Arsene Wenger had stepped into England.

Quite a few negative factors coupled with inconsistency and no breathing space from the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur led to their not being in the top 4. Manchester United’s lack of squad depth also proved crucial as they could not keep up with their rivals through the course of the season.

#2 A Mourinho-led team finishing outside the top 3

Jose Mourinho's Manchester United finished 6th in the league

Having coached the likes of Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid earlier in his career, a Jose Mourinho led team finished outside the top 3 for the first time ever.

Despite winning 2 trophies and gaining an indirect entry into the Champions League, nothing could mask the poor displays in the league. The hectic fixture list coupled with their run to the Europa League final showed that they lacked squad depth and hence, Manchester United have been pretty much active in the transfer window to reinforce their squad and plug in as many holes as they can to garner better results in the upcoming season.

Injuries to key players also proved to be a crucial factor for their dismal performances in the league.

#1 Most wins by a title winning side - Chelsea with 30 wins

Conte showed his tactical masterclass in Chelsea's league victory campaign

Chelsea, under Antonio Conte, surprised everyone by displaying a consistent and effective gameplay throughout the season. Kept on their toes by Tottenham Hotspur, they were officially announced the champions a few weeks before the last matchday.

After a relatively slow start, with losses to Arsenal and Liverpool early, Chelsea slowly picked up their rhythm and then there was no looking back for them. They registered a record breaking 30 wins and the remaining 8 matches consisted of 3 draws and 5 losses.

Manchester United and Crystal Palace caused some late upsets which made the title race towards the end of the season a bit interesting but Tottenham failed to capitalise and eventually the Blues deservedly won the league.