Premier League team of the season so far: From Huddersfield’s Jonas Lossl to Romelu Lukaku – who makes our XI?
Manchester United new boy Lukaku is in, but who is partnering him up top?
Manchester United new boy Lukaku is in, but who is partnering him up top?
The Premier League season is only seven games old but already it is shaping up to be a classic with the Manchester sides going toe-to-toe and a clutch of big-name strikers looking to out-score one another.
Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus have powered Manchester City to the summit while Romelu Lukaku has made the perfect start to life at Manchester United.
Elsewhere, Alvaro Morata has replaced Diego Costa at Chelsea with ease, Harry Kane is in stunning form for Tottenham and Mo Salah has been Liverpool’s shining light.
But who has impressed the most?
Our friends at Football Whispers have compiled the Team of the Season so far.
Putting Saturday’s 4-0 demolition by Tottenham aside, Huddersfield have been one of the Premier League’s surprise packages so far.
Back-to-back wins to open the season were the perfect start for the Terriers and Danish stopper Lossl, who joined on a season-long loan from Mainz in the summer, has kept four clean sheets for the newly-promoted side.
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The early weeks of the season have been a test for the Blues’ backline with Gary Cahill and David Luiz both spending time suspended. Holding it altogether has been the ultra-consistent Azpilicueta.
The former Marseille man, who joined for a bargain £7m in 2012, has played everywhere across Chelsea’s back four and always been dependable. This season the Spaniard has averaged 2.3 tackles per game and 1.3 interceptions per game in the league.
Protecting Lossl in the Huddersfield goal has been German defender Schindler. Signed last summer from 1860 Munich, Schindler is a cult hero at the John Smith’s Stadium after scoring the winning penalty in the playoff final win over Reading in May.
He has handled the step-up to the Premier League impressively, Saturday’s aberration against Tottenham aside, averaging 2.6 interceptions and 3.7 tackles per game – the most of any Premier League defender this term.
The Argentine has come in for plenty of criticism since moving to Manchester City in 2015 and with some justification, at times his performances have been well below the levels he showed at Valencia.
But this season the 29-year-old has come into his own as the defensive lynchpin in Pep Guardiola’s defence – with John Stones unconvincing and Vincent Kompany injured – making 1.7 tackles and two interceptions per game on average.
At one time the Ecuadorian was a flaky winger in and out of the side at Old Trafford. But under Louis van Gaal he reverted to playing at right-back and has stayed there ever since.
The former Wigan Athletic wideman has continued at right-back or right wing-back under Jose Mourinho – who has made him captain in Wayne Rooney’s absence – but with the licence to go forward, evidenced by his Goal of the Month strike against Everton.
The silky Spaniard often goes under the radar, thanks to his unfussy style and personality, but he is one of the most important players in Guardiola’s system and has been at his imperious best this season.
The World Cup winner leads the way for assists with six in seven games – the most in the top flight – and also boasts a pass completion rate of 89.4% while supplying 3.3 key passes per game.
Playing deeper in City’s midfield than he did under Manuel Pellegrini, the Belgian maestro has shone alongside Silva and scored the winner in Sunday’s victory at Chelsea to open his account for the season.
Last season de Bruyne recorded 20 assists for City in the Premier League, the most in the Premier League era for the club. He has three already this term as well as supplying 3.4 passes per game and 2.7 crosses.
The Welshman has been a surprising creative force down Spurs’ left-hand side this term, scoring twice and providing two assists already, including in Saturday’s thrashing of Huddersfield.
Davies is only playing regularly because Manchester United transfer target Danny Rose has been injured since last season, and he has taken his chance with both hands.
The Argentine has not always been Guardiola’s first-choice striker but had made himself undroppable by hitting 20 Premier League goals last season and following that up with six in six this term.
However, last Thursday the former Atletico Madrid forward was a passenger in a car accident in Amsterdam after attending a gig and has been ruled out for the next two months. He will be missed by City.
With seven goals in his first seven Premier League outings for United the former Chelsea and Everton striker has answered any critics in spectacular fashion – even Mourinho admitted he has been taken by surprise.
The £75m United paid to snare Lukaku from Everton now looks a snip and in scoring in each of his first six games for the Red Devils he became the first player to do so since Louis Saha.
Debate rages on about whether the England international is world class but his statistics suggest there is little doubt about that fact after hitting 13 goals in September – as many as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have managed in a month.
A brace in the win at Huddersfield means he has now scored six goals in seven Premier League starts, 11 in all competitions, and 36 in 2017 – more than Bournemouth, West Ham, Southampton, Swansea, Burnley, Watford, Stoke, West Brom and Crystal Palace.