PFA Player of the Year Odds

The PFA Men’s Player of the Year will be announced in a ceremony on the 9th June 2023 at 7 pm.

This award recognises the most outstanding performers in the Premier League during the campaign, with the players themselves voting for the winner. The PFA Men’s Player of the Year award has had 49 editions since it was inaugurated in the 1973/74 season, with Leeds’ United legend Norman Hunter winning the first edition (old Division One), while Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah is the holder.

Mark Hughes become the first player to win this prestigious award twice, with no player yet to beat this record set in 1990/91, despite several players such as Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Kevin De Bruyne and Salah all winning two themselves.

As a nation, England have inevitably won this award the most of any, doing so on 18 occasions, however, Wayne Rooney was the last English winner, doing so in the 2009/10 season. Wales are second and have managed to win it six times, doing so with Ian Rush, Hughes (2), Ryan Giggs and Gareth Bale (2).

In terms of clubs, Manchester United lead the way with 11 wins, but like England, have not had a winner since the days of Rooney, while Liverpool are second with nine wins, winning it five times in the Premier League era through Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Salah (2) and Virgil van Dijk.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland leads the way according to the bookmakers, following a sensational debut season for the Premier League champions.

The 22-year-old joined from Borussia Dortmund in the summer and had managed to score 25 league goals in 19 Premier League appearances, including four hat-tricks. This goal tally would see the Norwegian beat each of the last four Golden Boot tallies, with the season only 19 matches old.

Haaland will be keen the beat Salah’s record of 32 goals in a Premier League season since the 20-team format was introduced in 1995. On top of this, there is a chance that the City man could defy the odds and beat Andy Cole and Shearer’s all-time record of 34 goals in a single Premier League campaign, despite there being four fewer fixtures.

Arsenal playmaker Martin Odegaard has earned many plaudits, having played a key role in the Gunners’ early season dominance, as Mikel Arteta’s side sits top of the Premier League with 50 points at the halfway stage.

The ex-Real Madrid man has been instrumental, having scored eight goals and created five assists in 18 matches. Odegaard has created ten big chances in the Premier League which is a superb rate in itself, however, it is his overall play that makes Arsenal tick, playing just in front of Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka, providing runs and creativity to help Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Co flourish.

If either Haaland or Odegaard are to win this award, then they would become the first Norwegian to do so, despite English football previously being the home of many legendary players from this nation.

De Bruyne will be looking to win the PFA Player of the Year award for a third time, which would make him the first-ever player to achieve this feat.

The 31-year-old Belgian also plies his trade at Manchester City and is the only player from the club to receive this prestigious award. So far, during the 2022/23 Premier League campaign he has scored three goals and created 11 assists in 19 matches.

On top of this, De Bruyne will feel unlucky to only have 11 assists to his name, having created a total of 20 big chances. There is the potential that as the season progresses, the former Chelsea man’s odds will become smaller and potentially even overtake Odegaard. The Belgian is on course to have made the most assists in a single Premier League season.

Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka is another player having an immense campaign, as the 21-year-old has played a major part in the Gunners’ challenge for their first Premier League title since the 2003/04 season.

Saka has shown a tremendous amount of maturity for a player of his age, improving his numbers year on year, as last season, the Arsenal youth academy product managed 11 goals and seven assists, while this season, he already has seven goals and seven assists after just 19 matches.

Could Saka be the next English player to win the PFA Player of the Year award? Robin van Persie was the last Arsenal player to win this award back in 2011/12, while the Gunners themselves are yet to have an English winner, having seen Liam Brady (Irish) and Dennis Bergkamp (Dutch) and Henry (2) receive the other four editions that they have been awarded.

Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford is having an excellent season under the tuition of Erik ten Hag, with striker coach Benni McCarthy also receiving praise for the work that he has done wth the 25-year-old.

Rashford has scored nine goals and created three assists in 20 Premier League appearances from a left inside forward position, while his overall tally across all competitions stands at 23 goal contributions in 28 matches.

Arguably, this is the best form that the United academy product has ever shown in his career, despite managing 36 goal contributions in 57 games during the 2020/21 season. The Three Lions man has shown good resilience and character following on from a disappointing campaign last season, when he managed just four goals and two assists in a turbulent time at the club as the reins passed over from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to Ralf Rangnick.

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