Palmer, Foden and Saka star in Premier League Team of the Season
With the 2023/24 Premier League season now complete, we’ve taken a look back at the campaign’s standout performers. Represented in our Team of the Season are West Ham, Liverpool, Everton, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Crystal Palace.
Alphonse Areola (West Ham) - 6.96
West Ham stopper Alphonse Areola ends the season as the Premier League’s highest rated goalkeeper with a WhoScored rating of 6.96. The Frenchman, who averaged a league-high 4.5 saves per game, helped his side to four clean sheets, while he was also the only goalkeeper to have saved more than one penalty over the course of the campaign
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) - 7.12
Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold takes up the right-back spot in our Team of the Season, having been directly involved in seven goals, scoring three. Alfie Doughty and Kieran Trippier were the only defenders to have made more key passes than the Liverpool man, despite the Reds star missing out on 10 league games through injury. Defensively, the England international also contributed with 39 tackles, 31 interceptions and 42 clearances.
James Tarkowski (Everton) - 7.08
Everton defender James Tarkowski finishes the season as the Premier League’s second highest rated centre-back having helped the Toffees to an impressive 13 clean sheets across the campaign, a total bettered only by Arsenal. Over the course of the season, Tarkowski won more aerial duels (145) than any other player, while he also made an impressive 186 clearances, 56 interceptions and 61 tackles.
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) - 7.15
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was the Premier League’s highest rated defender in 2023/24. The Dutchman, who looked every bit back to his best for much of the campaign, ends the season with the best aerial duel win rate in the division (81.4%).
Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City) - 7.03
Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol takes up the left-back berth in our Team of the Season, having truly come to the fore as a key man for Pep Guardiola’s side in the title run-in over the last few weeks. After failing to find the net in the Premier League until April, Gvardiol scored five goals in the final seven league matches of the campaign, proving crucial as the Cityzens secured a fourth consecutive title.
Rodri (Manchester City) - 7.62
Manchester City maestro Rodri ends the season as the Premier League’s second highest rated player having reached new heights as the all-round midfield metronome at the heart of Pep Guardiola’s record-breaking side. Rodri broke personal records for both goals (8) and assists (9) in a single league campaign, while he also made at least 421 more passes than any other player.
With a WhoScored rating of 7.67, Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka is our Premier League Player of the Season for 2023/24. For the second campaign in a row, the England international improved on his scoring tally of the season before, netting 16 times while also providing nine assists. Across the season, Saka also registered more touches inside the opposition box than any other player in the division (287).
Chelsea star Cole Palmer was nothing short of a revelation in his first full Premier League campaign, netting 22 goals and providing 11 assists for the Blues, despite their shortcomings elsewhere on the pitch. The 22-year-old ends the season with more direct goal involvements (33) than any other player, while he was the only player to record a perfect WhoScored 10 rating on more than one occasion.
Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace) - 7.45
Crystal Palace attacker Eberechi Eze joins Palmer in the attacking midfield role in our best XI having gone one better on last season’s scoring tally by netting 11 times in the Premier League this term. The 25-year-old, who made just 27 appearances this season owing to injury issues, also provided four assists, and like many of his in-form Crystal Palace teammates, will surely have hoped the season could have continued for a few more weeks.
Phil Foden (Manchester City) - 7.55
Manchester City’s Phil Foden stepped up when his team needed him most to fire home a first-half brace in Sunday’s title decider against West Ham, those his 18th and 19th league goals of the season in a best ever campaign for the 23-year-old. The England international, who also laid on eight assists for his teammates across the season, was named the WhoScored Player of the Match more times (10) than any other player in the division.
Erling Haaland (Manchester City) - 7.40
Despite failing to live up to the astronomical standards set by himself in 2022/23, Manchester City striker Erling Haaland retained the Premier League’s Golden Boot, and makes our Team of the Season for the second year running. The Norwegian, who netted a record-breaking 36 times last year, found the target on 27 occasions this time around, with the two at Tottenham last week perhaps the most crucial of them all. Haaland also registered five assists and earned six WhoScored Player of the Match awards to end the season with an average rating of 7.40.
