Manchester City’s dominance in the Premier League has lasted for five consecutive years now, with the Citizens producing the best player in English football’s elite league for four seasons in a row. In 2020, when Liverpool lifted the last “non-City” championship trophy, the Player of the Season was Kevin De Bruyne, followed by Ruben Dias, then again De Bruyne, before Erling Haaland, breaking the record for the most goals in a single season, deservedly earned the prestigious recognition. As things stand, there are pretty good chances that Manchester City will launch the laureate for the fifth consecutive year. The Premier League has revealed the names of the chosen eight, and the list includes City’s Phil Foden and Erling Haaland, then Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard as representatives of Arsenal, as well as Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Alexander Isak (Newcastle), and Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool).Both @ErlingHaaland and @PhilFoden have been nominated for the 2023/24 @premierleague Young Player of the Season award! 👏Tap below to vote for your winner 👇— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 9, 2024 PHIL FODENFoden has already been named the Player of the Year by the sports journalists of England. He has amassed 16 goals and eight assists, earning himself the nickname “Stockport’s Iniesta”. If City wins against Fulham, Tottenham, and West Ham in the last three matches of the season, the contribution of the English international will prove crucial for securing the fourth consecutive title. Only once this season, when Foden scored a goal, did City fail to win, and that was in early December 2023 against Tottenham in that crazy 3-3 draw.ERLING HAALANDDespite being the league’s top scorer with 25 goals in 28 matches (along with five assists), it seems that Foden deserves the award more than Haaland. It’s not excluded that the Norwegian will reach the 30-goal mark this season, but he has often disappeared in the most important matches for City this season. He has scored 13 out of his 25 goals, more than half, against clubs positioned 13th place or lower with two rounds to go.Martin Ødegaard and Declan Rice have been nominated for the Premier League Player of the Season Award 🤩Have your say below 👇— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 9, 2024 DECLAN RICEHe may have cost 120,000,000, but alongside Cole Palmer, he’s the best purchase of the Premier League for the 2023/24 season. A stabilizing factor in all of Arsenal’s matches this season, he’s a defensive anchor when the Gunners are on the back foot, a driving force when they attack the opposition’s goal, and on several occasions, an absolute hero for the London club, as in that match at Kenilworth Road when his goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time sealed Luton’s defeat and Arsenal’s 4-3 victory. Despite his focus often being on defense, the English international has managed to tally seven goals and six assists.MARTIN ODEGAARDHe wears the captain’s armband for Arsenal. The architect and the man who ensures that Arteta’s offensive patterns are implemented. In comparison to Foden – Haaland, it seems that he still deserves the award less than his teammate, as he wasn’t as dominant during the first half of the season as he has been since the beginning of 2024. Odegaard has collected eight goals and assists in 33 matches.Good ebening and goodbye Liverpool! Emery extends his Aston Villa contractOLLIE WATKINSThe star player of Aston Villa in a season where this club will almost certainly secure their first Champions League qualification! Besides scoring 19 goals, he was a nightmare for the London representatives of the big six – Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham. In the only match he missed this season, Villa suffered a defeat at the Etihad (4-1). Watkins is not only the league’s fourth top scorer after Haaland (25), Palmer (21), and Isak (20), but he’s also the Premier League’s top assist provider with 12 assists. With two rounds to go, he’s considered the player who has been involved in the most goals for a team this season.A dazzling debut season from our Cole. 💫Palmer has also been nominated for the @PremierLeague Player of the Season award. 🥶😍— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) May 9, 2024 COLE PALMERThe revelation of the season in the Premier League and the player without whom Chelsea would not only struggle to compete in Europe but might also find themselves deep in the bottom half of the table. He made his 21 goals and nine assists in 30 appearances look quite easy. When we divide his minutes played by the sum of goals and assists, we find that Palmer has been involved in a Chelsea league goal every 78 minutes! Some criticize him for scoring nine goals from penalties, but it’s worth questioning whether other Chelsea youngsters would have scored in the deep stoppage time against City for a 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge or stolen victory from United in London with goals in the 99th and 101st minutes.##NAJAVA_MECA_8088505##ALEXANDER ISAKThe third-top scorer in the league and the main threat for Newcastle. Just when he was gaining momentum, groin injuries would slow him down, but despite missing six matches due to this issue, he managed to score 20 goals. With slightly over 2,000 minutes played, he found the back of the net every hundred minutes. The chances of him being named MVP are not in his favor, but it’s worth noting that in the last nine matches for Newcastle, he scored 10 goals, helping the Magpies secure 19 out of a possible 27 points and position themselves nicely for a spot in Europe.Van Dijk: ‘Slot could be Liverpool’s coach’VIRGIL VAN DIJKAfter Liverpool dropped out of the title race, and considering that both Arsenal and City have statistically much tighter defenses than the Reds, it’s unlikely that Virgil Van Dijk will receive the award he deserved and won in 2019. The Dutchman has been and remains the cornerstone of Liverpool’s defense, keeping City at bay at both the Etihad and Anfield (both times ending in 1-1 draws), and even scoring and setting up two goals each. However, in such fierce competition, his chances are minimal. Nevertheless, it’s significant that he’s the only defender among the nominees, although Arsenal’s Gabriel or William Saliba could have been contenders based on that criterion.
