Each Premier League teams standout player so far this season

With the international break being with us for the next week or so we thought we'd sit back and look at the standout player for each Premier League club so far. We’ve chosen each player based on several factors, such as: the impact they’ve had on their teams season: their improvement since last season, and whether they’ve met or gone above the expectation set on them. Naturally, there will be a lot of varying opinions and disagreements regarding our choices but we’ve tried to be as fair and impartial as possible, the list isn’t necessarily about the most talented or high profile player for each team, but the one who has impressed us so far this season. And to be clear, we will be focusing on performances in the Premier League and not domestic or European cup competitions.

Starting off, we’ve got Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Aubameyang was a relatively easy choice considering the impact he has had for Arsenal this season as he is the clubs top goalscorer this season with 8 Premier League goals. Without Aubameyang’s goals this season, Arsenal would’ve have won only one of their 12 Premier League games this season and would be on 7 points, which is currently the same amount of points that 20th place Norwich have this season.

Aston Villa haven’t had the best start to their return to the Premier League as the Villans find themselves 17th in the Premier League and just 3 points off the relegation zone. One positive for Villa this season however has been John McGinn as the Scottish midfielder has comfortably adjusted to the Premier League from the Championship and has been impressive for Villa so far this season as he has been involved in 5 of Villa’s 17 Premier League goals this season and has shown that he is strong in defense as he is in attack as he has a tackle success rate of 67% this season, which is better than: N’Golo Kante, Fabinho and Wilfred Ndidi.

The first goalkeeper on this list is Bournemotuh’s Aaron Ramsdale as we believe he has been the Cherries’ standout player so far this season. Bournemouth find themselves in a good position after gameweek 12 as they are just 1 point behind Sheffield United in 5th place and are on the same amount of points as Manchester United and Wolves. Bournemouth highly owe their league position to Ramsdale as he has made the third most saves in the Premier League this season with 43, meaning he has kept more clean sheets than David De Gea and Bernd Leno.

Since Brighton were promoted to the Premier League in 2017, Lewis Dunk has constantly continued to perform and improve and it’s hard to believe that he is still at Brighton as he wouldn’t be out of place at a top 6 club. So far this season, Dunk has: made more interceptions than Harry Maguire, made more tackles than Virgil Van Dijk and has kept more clean sheets that Toby Alderweireld.

The second goalkeeper on this list is Burnley’s Nick Pope after his brilliant start to the 19/20 season. The clarets find themselves in 10th place and just 2 points off 5th placed Sheffield United, with Nick Pope being instrumental in their league position, making 37 saves and keeping 4 clean sheets, which is more than Kepa and David De Gea.

It was difficult to pick a single standout Chelsea player this season as Frank Lampard’s team have been very impressive this season with the likes of: Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Jorginho and Fikayo Tomori all having impressive starts to the season. However, we’ve gone for Tammy Abraham as Chelsea’s standout player this season as the young striker has taken his chance after various loan moves away from Stamford Bridge. Abraham finds himself as the Premier League second top goalscorer this season with 10 goals, which is more than Sergio Aguero, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Harry Kane. Abraham’s performances this season have earned him a call up to the England squad with many people thinking he should be the one to start up front for England.

For Crystal Palace’s standout player, we’ve gone for Jordan Ayew. Ayew has been responsible for some big Palace goals with his 4 goals this season, such as the opener in their 2-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, and the equaliser in their 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates. It’s Ayew’s goals that are responsible for Palace’s position in the league, as they are 2 points behind Arsenal and just 1 point behind Manchester United.

There’s a couple of choices when looking at Everton, as you could choose Dominic Calvert-Lewin for being Everton’s top scorer or Lucas Digne for providing the most assists. However, we’ve gone for centre-back Yerry Mina who in the eyes of many Everton fans has been their best player so far this season. To put Mina’s start to the season into perspective, he has made the same amount of tackles, interceptions and blocks and Virgil van Dijk and has won more aerial battles than Caglar Soyuncu.

Leicester was another tough pick considering their fantastic start to the season, we were considering the likes of Jamie Vardy, Ben Chilwell, James Maddison and Harvey Barnes as they have all been brilliant for Leicester so far this season. However, we’ve gone for Caglar Soyunu as our choice for Leicester’s standout player so far this season. After the sale of Harry Maguire to Manchester United last summer, it’s hard to believe that Leicester would look stronger at the back, but that’s strongly down to the arrival of Caglar Soyuncu, who since his arrival from Freiburg has fitted right into the Premier League and has displayed: good defensive positioning, willingness to score goals as well as confidence on the ball which is evident as he has made the fourth most passes in the Premier League this season.

There’s without a doubt going to be varying opinions regarding Liverpool’s standout player so far this season considering their almost perfect start to the Premier League season. Our choice is Fabinho. With the likes of Salah, Firmino and Mane being the main goalscorers for Liverpool, it’s easy to ignore the unsung hero that is Fabinho who possesses everything that you would want from a defensive midfielder as he is confident on the ball, defensively strong and good at reading the game. His performance in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Manchester City highlighted Fabinho’s talent and importance to Liverpool as he was instrumental in their adjustment from defense into attack by intercepting possession and playing the ball forward, as well as scoring the opener.

There are a few options to pick from when looking at Manchester City as well, however our choice for their standout player is Raheem Sterling as he has continued his incredible form from last season into the start of this season, scoring 7 goals in 11 appearances for the current Premier League Champions. Despite only registering 1 assist in the Premier League so far this season, Sterling has continued to show his creative impact in the City team by creating 7 big chances in their opening 11 games, and his pace and positioning gives him the ability to completely change a game, which was the case during City’s win over Aston Villa where he positioned himself just behind Gabriel Jesus to give him enough space to run through on goal and put City 1-0 up.

Despite spending big money on the likes of Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the summer, the player who has impressed us most this season is Daniel James. When the winger arrived from Swansea for £15m last summer, the transfer was met with confusion, with many people struggling to believe that James had the ability to play in the Premier League and improve Manchester United. That was soon put to bed as James scored minutes into his Manchester United debut against Chelsea as well as scoring 2 more goals in United’s following 3 games. The pace of the young winger is a constant threat to the opposition defense and works well with the likes of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial who both possess the pace to keep up with James and break teams on the counter.

Newcastle have had a mixed start to the season as they have experienced a tough 5-0 defeat to Leicester, but also recorded big wins against Manchester United and Tottenham so far. One player who has stood out for Newcastle this season, like he did last season, is defender Fabian Schar who has continued his impressive form from last season. To put into context how impressive he’s been, this season Schar has made the same amount of: blocks, interceptions, tackles and clearances as Virgil Van Dijk, and has made more: tackles, blocks and clearances than Harry Maguire.

Norwich have had a miserable return to the Premier League as despite their victory over Manchester City, they find themselves bottom of the Premier League. Despite not scoring or assisting since gameweek 5, without Teemu Pukki Norwich would be in an even worse position as he has contributed to 8 of Norwich’s 11 goals this season. So for that reason, we believe that Teemu Pukki is Norwich’s standout player so far this season.

Sheffield United’s start to the 19/20 season has been nothing short of incredible as Chris Wilder has taken the blades to 6th place in the Premier League after 12 games. One player who has been instrumental in that success is goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who after being instrumental in their promotion from the Championship, has stepped up and continued his form into the Premier League. No keeper has kept more clean sheets than Henderson so far this season, which is due to his 34 saves this season. Henderson’s form has resulted in calls from fans to see him regularly picked for the England squad, calls which are justified considering he has kept more clean sheets and conceded less goals than Pickford, Pope and Heaton.

It’s been a season to forget for Southampton and we’re not even halfway through, a 9-0 defeat to Leicester put Southampton on the wrong side of history as they suffered the joint worst defeat in Premier League history and the biggest Premier League home defeat of all time, that on top of other results sees Southampton at 19th in the table on 8 points. Considering that, it’s difficult to find a Southampton player who has stood out for the right reasons, but we’re going for Danny Ings as if it wasn’t for his 5 Premier League goals this season, Southampton would be bottom of the table and in a far worse position than what they are now.

Considering that Tottenham finished 4th and reached the Champions League final last season, as well as strengthening with the signings of Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon, it’s a surprise how poor Tottenham’s start to the season has been as they find themselves 14th having won only 3 of their opening 12 league games. Despite Tottenham’s dip in form, one thing that has stayed the same is Harry Kane and it worrying to think where Tottenham would be without his 6 league goals this season.

We’ve gone with another goalkeeper on this list as we believe that Ben Foster has been Watford’s standout player so far this season. We know what you’re thinking, “How can a keeper who let in 8 goals in a single game be Watford’s best player?”, to which we say that the entire Watford team was terrible that day and the result can’t solely be blamed on Foster. Since the 8-0 defeat, Watford have struggled to improve their form as their first win of the season came during gameweek 12 when they beat Norwich 2-0. Foster on the other hand has put the defeat behind him and has stepped up for Watford and has made the 4th most saves in the Premier League this season (41), and if it wasn't for a great save by Kepa, Foster would've scored a diving header against Chelsea to give Watford a 2-2 draw.

The final goalkeeper on this list is West Ham’s Lukasz Fabianski. Despite only playing 7 of West Ham’s 12 Premier League games this season, Fabianski has kept 3 clean sheets which is more than David De Gea and Bernd Leno. Since Fabianski suffered an injury, West Ham have lost 4 of their last 5 games and have conceded 11 goals. It’s clear that Fabianski is missed be West Ham.

Despite not winning any of their opening 6 Premier League games, Wolves’ recent form has brought them up to 8th place in the Premier League and are level on points with Manchester United after gameweek 12. For us, Adama Traore has been key in Wolves’ good form this season as he has been involved in 4 of their 16 Premier League goals with 2 goals and 2 assists, with his 2 goals coming as a brace in their 2-0 win over Manchester City.