Some of the best players in 2020
In the past year we have seen a number of players light up the league with their wonderful footballing ability. It was Kevin De Bruyne who won the PFA Player of the Year award for the 2019-20 season but has he been the best player for the entire calendar year? I'm going to rank the four players I feel have been the most impactful this year.
4. Harry Kane
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The Spurs ace was injured for a while earlier in this year but when the season had been temporarily suspended in March, it gave Harry Kane a great opportunity to get back to full fitness. He returned in time for when the rest of the 2019-20 campaign continued and finished with 18 league goals.
But his electric performances this season have really reminded people just how dangerous a player he is. Kane has already been well-known to be a lethal marksman as he proved again by scoring 9 league goals in 15 games so far this season, where he has also reached a landmark 150 goals in his Premier League career (currently 152 goals thus far). But it's been his playmaking abilities that have particularly stunned spectators.
He is the only player to be in double-figures for assists this season (10) and did so astonishingly in only 11 games. Only Mesut Ozil has ever reached 10 assists in as few games into a season ever in the league's history. He has recorded 26 combined goals and assists this year, only bettered by Mo Salah and Bruno Fernandes who have 32 each. Kane still has another 23 games remaining to break the single season assist record of 20 that was set by Thierry Henry in 2003 and matched by Kevin De Bruyne earlier this year.
Kane could be in for a season to remember.
3. Mo Salah
Picture from The Metro
The prolific winger has been in rich form this season scoring a league-high 13 goals but he has been magnificent over the course of the whole year. He is the Premier League's top scorer this calendar year with 23 goals to his name and comfortably has 5 more than anyone else.
His ability to either find the back of the net or play a teammate through on goal has been ridiculously consistent this season too. He has only failed to either score or assist in 4 league games this season, excluding the fixture vs Leicester which he didn't play in. Two of those games have been in Liverpool's most recent games where they've drawn to West Brom and Newcastle, respectively.
Before that, he had been enjoying a 4 game scoring run with 5 goals and 2 assists in that time. Including a clinical display against Crystal Palace where he came off the bench to score twice and assist one an was only on the pitch for 33 minutes. His goals are a key reason Liverpool are top of the table at the moment, and his form will be vital to their hopes of retaining the Premier League trophy.
2. Kevin De Bruyne
Picture from Eurosport
The brilliant Belgian midfielder has rarely had a poor run of form this past year as he earned numerous individual accolades along the way. The pick of his memorable moments this year was equalling Thierry Henry's long standing record for most PL assists in a season with 20. It was the first time in 17 years that a player had reached 20 assists and if you add that with his haul of 13 goals from midfield, it was hard to argue anyone had outplayed him throughout the 2019-20 season.
It could even be argued had Man City's Sergio Aguero been fit to play in more games last season, he really ought to have broken the record. His playmaking hasn't slowed down this season either as he has 7 PL assists already and has the joint-second most in the league. At the time of writing, he is Top 5 in the league for most shots (44), hitting the woodwork the most times (3), most through-balls (6) and is Top 10 for crosses (82).
Even though he has only scored twice this season thus far, the stats don't lie: De Bruyne is an offensive juggernaut. His team haven't been at their best this season as they currently lie in 8th and had they been playing to their usual standards, De Bruyne may have been higher up in the list.
1. Bruno Fernandes
Picture from Sportskeeda
It was a tough decision. But it was too hard to overlook how irresistible the Man United talisman's form has been throughout 2020. It can hardly be debated if any other player has single-handedly transformed a team's fortunes in the manner Fernandes has managed to since he signed for the club in January from Sporting Lisbon.
It seems a long ago time now- when Man United had suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Burnley, at the time leaving them a staggering 14 points behind Leicester who were in 3rd place. In comes Bruno Fernandes, a day before the January transfer window closed and things didn't take long to change. Fernandes only missed 67 minutes of United's 14 game unbeaten run to finish the 2019-20 season in 3rd, where he scored or assisted in all but 4 of the games.
Fernandes's creativity, shooting ability and dynamic movement has improved his team's attacking style so much and his performances this season have perhaps gone up even further. Since his debut, no player in the league has recorded more assists (14) or been directly involved in more goals (32) than Fernandes. Only Salah has managed to score more goals than him in that time, and his 18 premier league goals are the second most of any player in 2020.
To put into perspective how outstanding he has been, Fernandes has won the most 'Player of the Month' awards out of any other player in the last 4 years. It's a mind-blowing stat considering the Portuguese international only made his Premier League debut in February this year!
It is no coincidence that Man United now look like title-challengers for the first time in years. Before Fernandes' arrival, it seemed like a far away dream with the results they were getting. Now only Liverpool sit above United in the current league table and with United having a game in hand- look to Bruno Fernandes to most likely inspire his team to go on a charge for top spot.
(Lead Image Credit: William Okafor-Oregan)
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