This Premier League season has brought many surprises and a lot of amazing performances. Three teams that had great highs but also endured heavy lows were Arsenal, Leeds United and Everton.
Both the Gunners and the Toffees missed the mark completely this season past. Both also displayed promising signings in the first parts of the campaign, only to fail miserably as the term wore on.
Leeds United, on the other hand, enjoyed a seesaw season back in the Premier League. One of the best-attacking sides was also one of the worst defensive sides.
Everton were arguably the greatest pretenders of the lot, thinking they won the league back in October already while mocking their Merseyside foes for being 10th at the time.
A top-10 finish can be taken as a positive by Marcelo Bielsa as not many promoted sides finish in the top half of the table.
With Everton sadly, “he who laughs last, laughs the longest”. That is truly the best way to depict how the Toffees’ promising start bombed out into a calamitous ending as they end the season in 10th.
From one of the strangest Premier League seasons, we have gone ahead and selected the best-performing player from each team and state why the individual is being named the MVP of their respective team.
Here we look at Arsenal, Leeds United and Everton’s best-performing outfielder.
Bukayo Saka – Arsenal
This was a very disappointing season for the Gunners, they did not perform at the level everyone expected them to; as a team or individually.
Almost none of the players had an acceptable run which resulted in poor performances almost week in and week out.
Saka was the only player who had a good season. The 19-year-old had the second-most minutes in the team with 2553, only behind the starting goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
The youngster played as a left-wing and as a left-back, being very efficient for Arteta in both positions. He scored 5 goals, assisted 3, and created 98 goalscoring opportunities.
This was Saka’s second season in the EPL and he displayed he is of Premier League caliber. If they want to keep their world-class potential, the Gunners must improve.
Another season without European competitions and Saka could be on his way out of the Emirates. Many clubs in Europe have shown an interest in the youngster as well as some Premier League rivals.
Stuart Dallas – Leeds United
Leeds United was the only team that got promoted last year that didn’t get relegated. This achievement is thanks to many factors but one of them is Stuart Dallas.
He was the heart, the balance, and the backbone of Marcelo Bielsa’s team. He played 38 games, which amounted to a total of 3409 minutes, being the player with the most minutes on the pitch.
Dallas scored 8 goals and delivered 2 assists. He played as a left-back, central midfielder, and on both attacking wings. Dallas completed 82% of his passes, created 74 goal opportunities and completed 59 interceptions all season.
He established himself as one of the most polyvalent players in the league and one of the reasons Leeds United squeezed into the top 10.
Honorable Mention – Patrick Bamford
Patrick Bamford also had a brilliant season where he scored 17 goals and assisted 7. The striker had an amazing start to the campaign where he scored 6 goals in his first 6 games.
He ended up 3rd in the Golden Boot race just behind Kane, Salah, and Bruno Fernandes. He proved he can be one of the most efficient strikers in the league and is another key piece in Marcelo Bielsa’s system.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin – Everton
After a solid start, Everton couldn’t carry their amazing form throughout the campaign and ended up in a very disappointing 10th place.
Calvert-Lewin had an amazing season, and at the start of it, he seemed like the favorite to get the Golden Boot.
He started the season with 7 goals in 5 games and Carlo Ancelotti’s side was looking very dangerous, sitting at the top of the Premier League standings.
The English striker ended the season with 16 goals and zero assists. He was the leading goal scorer for the Toffees.
This was Calvert-Lewin’s best scoring season of his career so far. The 24-year-old played a total of 2871 minutes and he won the Player of the Month award for the month of September.