Whoscored.com have released their statistical Premier League Team of the Season and it stars a number of surprising names.
It features four players in common with the PFA Premier League Team of the Season - Branislav Ivanovic, Alexis Sanchez, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa.
In goal is perhaps the most unexpected inclusion - Costel Pantilimon. Many would have expected David De Gea, Manchester United's Player of the Season, but the stats say the big Romanian gets the nod. Pantilimon started the season as second choice behind Vito Mannone but established himself following a poor run of form by the Italian. In the end, he was key in keeping Sunderland in the Premier League. His save success rate was actually much higher than David De Gea, 78.4% compared to 69.4%.
Despite having a horrible start to the season, Chris Smalling makes the team. He was probably Manchester United's best defender of 2014/15. In particular his form picked up following a red card in a 1-0 loss to Man City in November.
Nacho Monreal is another player who did not start the season as first choice, but once given his chance, quickly nailed his spot down as Arsene Wenger's favoured left-back ahead of Kieran Gibbs.
[Guardian]
