Premier League champions Manchester City reign supreme with six players in the 2020-21 PFA Team of the Year, including four of their back five. Goalkeeper Ederson is joined by Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, John Stones at the back, while Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan make the midfield from Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side.
City won the league by 12 points to secure their third title in four seasons, as they recovered from a slow start to win 15 games on the trot between December and March. Dias is widely regarded to be the signing of the season and transformed a shaky City backline, while Stones has emerged from the wilderness this season as his perfect partner. He now looks set to play a key role for England at Euro 2020.
Elsewhere, Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes are the Manchester United representatives while Tottenham duo Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min also make the eleven. Shaw has thrived this season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer while Ferndandes continued his fantastic start to life in Manchester, ending the season with 18 goals and 12 assists this term.
For Kane and Son, in a turbulent season at Spurs, they were the shining lights. In what could be Kane’s final season in north London, he won his third Golden Boot with 23 league goals, while he also linked up perfectly with the South Korean as the pair broke Chris Sutton and Alan Shearer’s long-standing record for the most Premier League goal contributions.
Liverpool’s disappointing season sees their representation drop from five players last season, to just one this time around. Mo Salah, who missed the PFA Team of the Year last season, joins Kane and Son in the front three, having scored 22 league goals this term as Liverpool finished third. Despite his heroics at the Hawthorns, there is no place for goalscoring keeper Alisson.
City’s representation in defence makes sense given they have conceded a league low of just 32 goals in 38 games but there are some notable omissions, given the side is made up of players from just four teams. Emiliano Martinez, Aston Villa’s keeper kept 15 clean sheets in comparison to Ederson’s 19 but made 73 more saves than the Brazilian in a much poorer team.
Jack Grealish had a sensational season, registering 10 assists but his injury issues seem to have stopped him getting into this side, while Youri Tielemans also shone for Leicester. There is also no room for any West Ham players despite their surprising season that saw them qualify for Europe. Although David Moyes certainly built a unit rather than relying on one individual player, the likes of Czech duo Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek certainly should have been considered.
Newly-promoted Leeds had an exceptional season, finishing 9th, as Patrick Bamford scored 17 goals yet once again the players from the bigger clubs seem to have been preferred. No players from European champions Chelsea may be a surprise at first glance, but this is the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, meaning their Champions League heroics are unfortunately irrelevant.
