Months ago, many would have expected Sunday night's game between Manchester City and Arsenal to be a probable title decider. Instead, it was simply a clash between the best of the rest, given Leicester's clinching of the Premiership crown the week earlier and Spurs holding on to second place.

Leicester's amazing and improbable run to the title has been the talk of the town, even the world, with writers in danger of running out of platitudes to describe it. Beyond the shock and quality of Leicester's triumph, it also showed up the usual Premiership powers - all with lofty records and powered by billionaire owners and oil sheikhs - who found themselves left in the dust. However, besides this, there are other compelling story lines that have been overlooked.

First, the rise of lesser clubs was not limited to Leicester. Tottenham are set for their best placing in decades, while West Ham have mounted a credible challenge for fourth place. Spurs have been under the radar a bit, but they have been Leicester's most consistent pursuer ­given Arsenal and Manchester City both fell out of the title chase a while ago. While they have seemed to run out of gas in their last few games,  losing on Sunday to Southampton and imploding in last Monday's memorable 2-2 draw against Chelsea that saw multiple brawls, Spurs will be favorites for next season.

West Ham have played well throughout the season, beating Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. They inexplicably lost at home 4-1 to Swansea on the weekend, however, but do face Manchester United, the side in front of them, this week. Even Premiership new boys Watford and Bournemouth, whose home stadium seats less than 12,000 fans and who many expected to go right down, will finish safe.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, there is a tight three-way dogfight that will probably go down to the final weekend. Aston Villa may have sealed the bottom spot a very long time ago, but Newcastle, Sunderland and Norwich have been in an almighty tussle to avoid the other two relegation spots.

Norwich lost 1-0 to Manchester ­United in a low-key affair, but Sunderland showed some mettle with a come-from-behind 3-2 win against Chelsea. Newcastle played to a 0-0 draw with relegated ­Aston Villa, a game in which the fans in attendance deserve significant sympathy.

The title chase may be over, but the contests for the Champions League ­places near the top and the desperate quest to stay in the Premiership at the bottom are still very much on.

The author is a Hong Kong-based freelance writer. hcpyip@gmail.com