It has been one of the great Premier League seasons, with another titanic tussle between Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, and a huge scrap to avoid the drop.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Plenty is left to be decided in the last week of the term – but who makes the team of the season?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aaron Ramsdale – Arsenal<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n While the Brazilian duo Alisson and Ederson have collected 20 clean sheets apiece, the signing of Ramsdale from Sheffield United has had a transformative impact on Arsenal’s fortunes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His first season with the Gunners has not been error-free, but Ramsdale being comfortable on the ball is a huge plus for Mikel Arteta, and there have been a string of stunning saves to boot.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n He may be yet to break into the England team, but Alexander-Arnold is the league’s outstanding right-back, having amassed 12 assists this season – the second-most in the Premier League.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While the odd defensive lapse can still be costly, Alexander-Arnold’s range of passing continues to develop. Adding the FA Cup to his list of medals means he has already won it all at just 23.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Declan Rice – West Ham<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Perhaps it is cheating a bit to pick Rice as a defender, but a lack of outstanding candidates in this position coupled with his incredible campaign for West Ham is worth bending the rules.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rice has taken his game to new levels this season and it would be no surprise to see West Ham’s resolve to keep their star man tested by a series of mega-bids from elite clubs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Still the outstanding defender in the country, if not the world, Van Dijk is a lock for the team.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The commanding Dutchman is undoubtedly back to his best after a long spell out with injury.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joao Cancelo – Manchester City<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nobody has touched the ball more times in the league than Cancelo, whose seven assists from the back have been a defining trait of another superb season for Manchester City.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Often asked to fill in at left-back, a problem position for City is no longer that due to Cancelo.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n James Ward-Prowse – Southampton<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Probably the best free-kick taker in Premier League history, Ward-Prowse’s decision to stay at Southampton instead of leaving last year has been rewarded with another stellar season.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With nine goals and five assists in the league, Ward-Prowse is virtually certain to go to the World Cup with England later in the year and not just due to his incredible set-piece prowess.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mason Mount – Chelsea<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Only a few players have registered double figures for goals and assists in the league this season, with Chelsea’s star performer Mount among them. It may have been a disjointed campaign for the Blues amid off-the-field drama surrounding the club’s ownership, but Mount has been a model of consistency in midfield, with a missed penalty in the Cup final a rare error.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was a slowish start to the season for De Bruyne, but in recent weeks he has been superb. A four-goal haul at Wolves recently – the first three goals coming via the Belgian’s supposedly weaker left foot – helped to ensure this has been his most prolific goalscoring season so far.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jarrod Bowen – West Ham<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n A heel injury blocked Bowen’s maiden England call-up in the spring, but it is surely a matter of time before the West Ham winger gets his chance to represent the Three Lions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With 12 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League, Bowen nudged out some bigger names to earn the first place in our front three.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Heung-min Son – Tottenham<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The fact Son does not take penalties and yet could still win the Golden Boot for the first time shows what a remarkable season it has been for the South Korean superstar.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Like De Bruyne, Son is having his best goalscoring season and he has also chipped in with seven assists to boost Spurs’ push for Champions League qualification under Antonio Conte.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mohamed Salah – Liverpool<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Though his form has faded over the second half of the season, Salah’s goalscoring exploits – he is also top of the assist charts – mean it is impossible to leave him out of the team of the year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Over 20 league goals for the fourth year out of his five at Liverpool – he only managed a mere 19 in the 2019-20 season – Salah’s excellence has taken the Reds to the brink of the quadruple.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Substitutes<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n As always, some brilliant players narrowly missed out, with Cristiano Ronaldo<\/strong> and Harry Kane<\/strong> both perhaps unfortunate not to be included after hitting 18 and 16 league goals respectively.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With 15 goals apiece for Liverpool, both Sadio Mane<\/strong> and Diogo Jota<\/strong> were close as well. The terrific Crystal Palace duo of Wilf Zaha<\/strong> and Marc Guehi<\/strong> deserve some recognition here too.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n James Maddison<\/strong> has enjoyed a return to top form with 10 goals and seven assists a great haul, while Rodri <\/strong>adding goals to his game has been crucial to City’s push for the league title.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Also in midfield, the impact of Christian Eriksen’s<\/strong> arrival on Brentford in the second half of the season is impossible to ignore. His return to action has been one of the stories of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It has been one of the great Premier League seasons, with another titanic tussle between Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, and a huge scrap to avoid the drop. Plenty is left to be decided in the last week of the term – but who makes the team of the season? Aaron Ramsdale – Arsenal While the Brazilian duo Alisson and Ederson have collected 20 clean sheets apiece, the signing of Ramsdale from Sheffield United has had a transformative impact on Arsenal’s fortunes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[272,174,76],"class_list":["post-49761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport","tag-featurehome","tag-news","tag-premier-league"],"yoast_head":"\n