Top 5 surprises of the 2017-18 Premier League season

And yet another Premier League season has come to an end. It was Manchester City who lifted the precious trophy at the end of the season, while Swansea, Stoke and West Brom were relegated.

Mohamed Salah went home with the Golden Boot as his record-breaking goal tally of 32 was two better than Harry Kane. Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne was awarded the playmaker award for his 16 assists.

We also witnessed the emotional culmination of Arsene Wenger's 22-year reign at Arsenal. Considering the point that there is very less chance for the legendary manager to stay in England, truth be spoken he will be missed regardless of the teams we support. Merci Arsene.

As things are all wrapped up, teams are looking forward to what is ahead of them. The Gunners will be preparing for a new era under a new manager. Liverpool will be preparing for their UEFA Champions League final showdown with Real Madrid. Swansea, Stoke and West Brom will be preparing for their life in the Championship.

There are actually a lot of exciting things coming up including the World Cup but before we turn our eyes to the future. Let us take a look at this Premier League season for one last time.

Here are five top surprises of the Premier League season:

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#5 The Eagles stay up

Zaha was Crystal Palace's best player this season

At the end of the 2016-17 season, Crystal Palace made a bold decision by appointing Frank de Boer as their manager. However, the plan didn't go well as the Eagles had planned and four games into the season they had lost all four without scoring a single goal.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that many had already confirmed the first club to be relegated just one month into the season, but the club's hopes didn't fade away.

Boer was given the sack and Roy Hodgson replaced him at the helm. Even this appointment was mocked by many.

Fast forward to the end of the season, not only did Crystal Palace survive relegation but also they finished 11th on the table.

Hodgson's achievement has been rewarded with a nomination for the Barclays Manager of the Season award. However, he is not the only one the Eagles' fans should thank, credit must be given to Wilfried Zaha for his contributions as well.

#4 Defending champions Chelsea fail to finish in the top 4

2017/18 was a disappointing one for Conte

Antonio Conte announced his arrival in the Premier League by winning the title in his first season and was expected to compete again this season.

However, there seemed to be a tension between the officials and Conte even before the season started following the reports that the manager was not backed in the transfer market. This looks to have heavily impacted the Blues' campaign as they failed to finish in the top four.

Chelsea will be playing in the Europa League along with rivals Arsenal and Burnley next season, while Conte's future at the club will probably be discussed in the coming days and it remains to be known what the future holds for him.

The Londoners have a FA Cup final coming up against Manchester United this weekend.

#3 Sean Dyche's Clarets to play European football next season

Sean Dyche has lead Burnley to the Europa League

In their first season after being promoted to the Premier League in 2016, Burnley managed to finish 16th on the table just six points above the drop zone.

Keeping that in mind, no one would have even thought that Burnley will be qualifying for European football this season.

The Clarets' goalscoring tally of 36 is the least by any team in the top 10, but it was their stern defence that only conceded 39 goals (Arsenal conceded 51, Chelsea and Liverpool conceded 38 and Tottenham conceded 36) that was the reason for this tremendous achievement of theirs.

A nice transfer kitty and it will be exciting to see how Sean Dyche and co. fare in Europe next season.

#2 Manchester City hit 100 points

Gabriel Jesus celebrating the goal that took Manchester City to 100 points

Coming into season Manchester City were definitely one of the favourites to win the league, but it was completely unexpected that Pep Guardiola's men would dominate so much.

A 94th-minute winner by Gabriel Jesus against Southampton in the final gameweek of the season saw the Sky Blues end the season with a ton of points in the bag, a whole new Premier League record.

This is only one of the major accolades City have had this season. Some of the other records the club set this season are: most goals (106), most away points (50), most points ahead of second (19), most wins (32), most away wins (16), best goal difference (+79), most consecutive victories (18).

This season is the proof that Guardiola leaves a mark wherever he goes and it won't be surprising if the Spaniard leads the club to back-to-back league triumphs next season.

#1 Mohamed Salah breaks the individual goalscoring record

Salah with his golden boot that he deservedly won

Mohamed Salah returned to the Premier League with the intention of proving Chelsea wrong for selling him without exploring his potential, but no one including Salah himself would have believed that he would break a record held by world-class players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and Alan Shearer.

The former Basel has been on fire since his Liverpool debut, bar a few games. His form saw him score 32 goals in the league beating Harry Kane for the golden boot and also breaking the individual goalscoring record in a 38 game Premier League season.

Salah's season could get even better if the 25-year-old along with his teammates, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, could lead Liverpool to a victory against Real Madrid in less than two weeks.

Winning the UEFA Champions League trophy would make the winger a strong contender for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award.

One season, which saw Salah take the footballing world by storm, has taken him from just a 'Chelsea reject' to the 'Egyptian King'.