Premier League players of the season so far

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The Premier League is a little under a third of the way through the season and thus far, it has produced some fantastic displays of football.

While it looks like Liverpool have had a stranglehold at the top of the Premier League table, the Reds have hardly been the only team to have exceptional play during this young season. Let’s take a look at some of the best performers on this young season so far:

Credit: Liverpool FC / Twitter

Fabinho

To truly highlight the significance of the Brazilian defensive midfielder has had for the league leaders, you should focus on one statistic: Liverpool have not lost any of the 30 matches that Fabinho has started during his tenure in the Premier League.

Described by the Red’s assistant manager, Pepijn Lijnders, as being “like a lighthouse inside the organised chaos” of Liverpool’s heavy metal style of play. The former Monaco midfielder, signed last year on a £43 million pound transfer, has not only served as a defensive stalwart in front of the Merseyside club’s back four. He also has been a key figure in pushing the ball forward to the Red’s three headed attacking monster in Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.

This mixture of defensive prowess and attacking instincts have helped lead Liverpool to a 2.5 goals per game average with him in the lineup and only a 0.7 goals against average. Anfield’s attacking trio may garner the headlines but the steady play of their Brazilian defensive midfielder has been the key to a charmed season so far in Liverpool.

Credit: Getty Images

Raheem Sterling

The 24-year-old winger has been a world class goal scorer this season, notching 14 goals in 16 appearances across all competitions. The former Liverpool forward has always had the physical tools to be a fantastic one, with an explosive burst of pace to shake off markers and threaten opposing defences.

What Sterling lacked was spatial awareness and a finishing touch in the box. Under Pep Guardiola’s tutelage, Sterling has fine tuned his game to take advantage of his breathtaking pace, drawing out defenders and then bursting by them into a favourable space in the box.

To put Sterling’s greatness in context, the England International’s 55 combined goals and assists in 2019 lead all players in Europe. Yes, even more than the likes of Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, and Cristiano Ronaldo. At just 24-years-old, the Manchester City winger is just now reaching his prime and if this season is any indication, the best may be yet to come.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold

It is a difficult choice to choose which of Liverpool’s star full-backs should be listed here, Alexander-Arnold or left-back Andy Robertson. While both have been phenomenal, Alexander-Arnold has been Liverpool’s leading chance creator this season.

The 21-year-old full-back has created 42 chances this season, which is good enough for second in the Premier League behind Kevin De Bruyne. What is especially fascinating in how excellent Alexander-Arnold has been is his effectiveness with both long and short passes.

While the young Englishman has been known for his pinpoint passes whipped in from out wide, his ability to wander inside and deliver accurate passes in more compact areas to Liverpool’s big three (Salah, Firmino, Mane) or even back out wide to an advancing Robertson, has given the Merseyside club many more opportunities at finding vulnerabilities in opposing defences. Alexander-Arnold, while less heralded in the attack than Liverpool’s big three, has been the creative engine that has pushed the club to the top of the league table.

Credit: Premier League

Wilfred Ndidi

At the beginning of the season, you would be hard pressed to find any pundit who expected Leicester City to be second in the Premier League table. The last time they were this far up the table, they shocked the world and won the league, with a team that was anchored by one of the best defensive midfielders in the world – N’Golo Kante.

While they likely won’t win the league, the Foxes are once again anchored by another fantastic defensive midfielder in the form of Wilfred Ndidi. The league leader in both tackles and interceptions, Ndidi has been the defensive backbone that has allowed the Leicester attack to flourish.

Sitting just in front of the Foxes back four in manager Brendan Rodgers’ 4-1-4-1, the Nigerian international’s defensive prowess and willingness to cover a lot of ground, has allowed midfielders James Maddison and Youri Tielemans to be much more aggressive. This has allowed the East Midlands club’ attack to total 29 goals on the season, second only to Manchester City.

Ndidi is a player destined for big things and at just 22 years of age, Leicester will hope that he sticks around at the club for a long time.

Credit:Reuters/Carl Recine

Tammy Abraham

Coming into the season, saddled by a transfer ban and the loss of their best player in Eden Hazard, hopes were not high at Stamford Bridge. Club legend and new manager, Frank Lampard, was forced to go into the season relying on a group of talented but very young and unproven prospects, if they were to have any chance at success this season.

12 matches into the season, after a sluggish start, Chelsea’s young prospects have flourished. Tammy Abraham, the 22-year-old London born prospect, has particularly prospered. After a brilliant year in the Championship for Aston Villa, Abraham’s return to the Premier League has looked fantastic. The Blues’ striker has 10 goals in the Premier League season and has even notched his first Champions League goal.

Abraham’s production is evidence of his goal scoring instincts and work rate coming to fruition. So far this season, Abraham is one of the league leaders in shots per 90 minutes and has the most shots on target with 20 – one ahead of Mohammed Salah.

Credit: Reuters

Kevin De Bruyne

The Belgian midfielder has been playing as well as he ever has before. His passing vision and ability to actually complete those picture perfect passes can make the Manchester City midfielder, at times, unstoppable. De Bruyne has the singular ability to make all of the passes effortlessly, whether it be a cross, a through ball, a set play or even a strike on goal from distance.

The former Wolfsburg midfielder leads the league with nine assists and its not even close: the Belgian more than doubles the second ranked player, Leicester’s Harvey Barnes. De Bruyne is currently on course to break Thierry Henry’s league record assist total of 20. The Premier League was robbed of much of KDB’s brilliance last year, due to a knee injury, but De Bruyne is once again showing us why he is arguably the best player in the league.