Premier League team of the season: Chelsea and Tottenham players dominate best XI

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Chelsea, the Premier League champions, and Tottenham Hotspur, runners-up to Antonio Conte’s side, boast four players each.

Swipe left/right on your browser to see who else made Richard Jolly's team of the season. The formation is 4-2-3-1.

Goalkeeper: Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City)

The place in the Professionak Footballers’ Association team rather surprisingly went to David de Gea, a brilliant keeper but one who has had better seasons. There is a case to pick Thibaut Courtois, maybe a bigger one to select the underrated Hugo Lloris. But this vote goes to Schmeichel: partly for his heroics in the Uefa Champions League, including penalty saves in each leg against Sevilla, and partly for making arguably the stop of the season, with a remarkable block from Andy Carroll. Craig Shakespeare kept Leicester up but so, too, did Schmeichel, one of the few champions to maintain his form.

Right-back: Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)

Began the season at left-back and excelled as the right of three centre-backs but could slot in at right-back with quiet competence in this side. The Spaniard played every minute of every league game, an indication of how he retained both form and fitness while putting in a series of almost flawless performances. With a rookie wing-back, in Victor Moses, outside him, it was imperative Azpilicueta was reliability personified. He allied defensive class with an ability to step into midfield to show his talents on the ball.

Centre-back: Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham Hotspur)

With every year, his personal record gets more remarkable. In every season of his career, at four clubs in three countries, Alderweireld’s team have had either the best or the second-best defensive record in their league. It is no coincidence. A model of consistency helped Spurs get still better at the back, adapting seamlessly to playing as one of two or three centre-backs. A classy passer is also a remarkably clean player: Alderweireld completed the Premier League campaign with a solitary booking to his name.

Centre-back: Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham)

There may be reasons to pick David Luiz, who has been a revelation on his return to Chelsea, but Antonio Conte has prospered with a back three. This team has a back four. Vertonghen has shown he can excel in either shape. The Belgian is consistently good in possession and increasingly reliable out of it. A man-of-the-match display in the win over Arsenal, which guaranteed Spurs would finish ahead of their neighbours, may have been the highlight of his season, but he often impressed.

Left-back: Marcos Alonso (Chelsea)

If attention initially focused on Chelsea’s other, more unlikely wing-back, in Moses, Alonso went on to deliver more crucial contributions for the eventual champions. A pivotal double at Leicester City secured one of Chelsea’s more important wins. He provided the important opener against Arsenal. He got assists in wins over both Manchester clubs, setting up Pedro’s first-minute opener against United. He started 30 league games. Chelsea took 80 points from a possible 90 in them, a sign of his importance.

Centre midfield: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)

A hugely adaptable player adopted a deeper role at times this season and does so in this team. De Bruyne’s goal return – a mere six in the league – was a disappointment to Pep Guardiola, among others, but as he hit the woodwork a further nine times, it hinted at his menace. But his tally of 18 assists showed his creativity and fell only two short of Thierry Henry’s divisional record. De Bruyne has been a set-piece specialist, a brilliant crosser and a player who showed an ability to thread delightful through passes.

Centre midfield: N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)

There are ways of measuring Kante’s importance. One is to look at his current and former employers: with him, Chelsea got 43 more points than last season; without him, Leicester got 37 fewer. The Frenchman is not the sole factor for an 80-point swing but he has been a catalyst for both clubs. Energetic, ubiquitous and indefatigable, he makes others play better. It is why he was a deserving recipient of the individual awards.

Right wing: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)

Admittedly, Sanchez spent very little of the season on the right wing. Equally, it is impossible to omit him and the fact that Arsenal finished fifth should not deflect attention from his colossal contribution. He scored 24 league goals and made another 10. He delivered the winner in the FA Cup semi-final and the opener in the final in a man-of-the-match display. More than anyone else, he saved Arsenal’s season.

No 10: Dele Alli (Tottenham)

A man who epitomised Spurs. If there were questions of a team who had improved so dramatically last season, he provided an emphatic answer in the affirmative. Even accounting for the way Alli almost operated as a second striker at times, his return of 18 league goals was remarkable. It was telling, too, that he struck twice in January’s 2-0 defeat of Chelsea. It confirmed that the precocious Alli is often the man for the big occasion.

Left wing: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)

Provided the moment that probably summed up Chelsea’s dominance of the Premier League, slaloming through the Arsenal defence to score a superb solo goal. It highlighted the way that Hazard, like Chelsea, rebounded after an awful season last year. An eventual tally of 16 goals was an indication of his impact. The Belgian seemed open, generous and content with life, an attitude that reflected in excellent performances, and which highlighted Chelsea’s change in mindset under Conte.

Striker: Harry Kane (Tottenham)

The eventual statistics were remarkable: 29 Premier League starts, 29 goals. Kane’s extraordinary end to the season, with seven goals in four days against Leicester and Hull City, secured him a second successive Golden Boot and made his case for inclusion unarguable. Which, considering the form of Romelu Lukaku, Diego Costa, Sergio Aguero and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is saying something. Kane is a relentless advertisement for self-improvement and an unassuming phenomenon. Imagine how many goals he would have scored had he been fit all season.

Five subs

■ Jordan Pickford (Sunderland, pictured)

A heroic effort in vain. Sunderland’s season would have been even worse had David Moyes signed Joe Hart or Vito Mannone not got injured.

■ Virgil van Dijk (Southampton)

Would have been in the starting XI if his season had not ended in January. Seemed to be man of the match in virtually every game he played.

■ Victor Wanyama (Tottenham)

Only Kante kept him out of this side and perhaps only Kante denied him the title of the signing of the season. A colossal, powerful figure.

■ Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City)

Swansea would have been doomed without Sigurdsson. He scored nine goals and finished with 13 assists, all for a struggling side.

■ Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

Catalytic, prolific and incisive. Another who might have been in the side had he been available for the whole campaign.