It has been quite the season in the Premier League.
At the summit, a fight to secure UEFA Champions League football in the next campaign broke out, lasting right up until the final day.
For the second consecutive year, the three teams promoted last summer were relegated back down to the Championship.
Add to that the rise of Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest (among others) and the struggles of Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, and there has been no shortage of talking points for fans and the media alike to chew on.
It is not only teams that have caught the eye, though.
Individual players have too, and it is them that this analysis will celebrate.
The scout report will select 11 players who have enjoyed stellar campaigns and assemble a Premier League Team of the Year (in a 4-3-3 format), using data to demonstrate why each player included deserves their place in it.
For fairness purposes, no more than two players will be selected per team.
Goalkeeper – Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest)
Several goalkeepers, starting at the very back of the lineup, have had strong seasons.
However, there were two who stood head and shoulders above the others, with Arsenal’s David Raya and Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels sharing the Premier League Golden Glove award at the weekend after picking up 13 clean sheets apiece.
Out of the two, though, the latter is the one selected for this team.
Sels consistently ranks at the top of the clean sheets list this season and is so being rewarded for that.
Matz Sels Statistics At Nottingham Forest 2024/2025
One of the reasons that the Belgium international has been such a tough player to beat this season is because he is more of a conventional goalkeeper, in that he doesn’t tend to move off his line and close the ball down and instead prioritises guarding his net at all costs.
This is reflected in the graphic, which makes it apparent that he ranks very low in the percentile bands for sliding tackles and is rarely seen making risky challenges against opposing attackers.
Because he desires to stay back, Sels constantly gives himself more time to assess what is happening around him and to react accordingly.
It, therefore, comes as little surprise that he ended the season with 75.9% of his saves being made through reflexes and sharp changes in body positioning.
This shows that teams can still benefit in the modern game from having goalkeepers who don’t adhere to the new norm of being good with their feet.
This is not to say that Sels has lacked quality when it comes to his distribution, though.
It is just that Nottingham Forest are not a side who want to possess the ball inside their own third for extended periods of play.
As a result, Sels has mainly focused on passing the ball across longer distances, ranking him highly compared to other goalkeepers in Tier 1 leagues for the ratio of long passes made per game.
He has thrived at this, too, with 66.6% of them finding their intended targets.
His inclusion may be a nod to the fact that modern goalkeeping beliefs do not always yield results.
Right-Back – Daniel Muñoz (Crystal Palace)
Keeping the ball out of the net is not solely the job of the player between the posts, though.
They need to have a formidable defensive line in front of them to assist them in keeping clean sheets.
The four chosen in this back line have all shown themselves to be capable of doing just that.
Daniel Muñoz Statistics At Crystal Palace 2024/2025
In the case of the full-backs, though, there is also the added bonus of them both being excellent at getting up the pitch and assisting in attacking situations.
That much is certainly true of the player selected at right-back.
When Daniel Muñoz first arrived at Crystal Palace from Genk, it is safe to say that not many would have been fully aware of just what he was capable of.
However, in the 18 months since he arrived in south London, the Colombia international has quickly established himself as one to watch.
It has proven to be the perfect fit for manager Oliver Glasner’s wing-back tactics.
His percentile statistics for the 2024/25 season reflect this, and the graphic clearly shows that he ranks highly across the board in both attacking and defensive areas.
The former is notable for his inclusion within the top two bands for touches inside the opposing penalty area per game (averaging 2.6 per outing in all competitions) and is above the median mark for goal contributions per game, having scored six goals and registered seven assists.
It is not hard to see why, considering how he is constantly seen running up the wing and providing his team with a forward outlet in wider spaces.
His pace has caught several teams off guard and allowed them to punish those full-backs who fail to track back quickly enough.
The FA Cup Final was a clear example of that, with Muñoz running ahead of striker Jean-Philippe Mateta before delivering the ball into the middle for Eberechi Eze to turn home.
He made one of 110 crosses this season, with a success rate of 37.3%.
Defensively, he has proven just as useful, regularly positioning himself to make opponents’ lives difficult.
He might not be as strong in aerial or defensive duels as others in his position have been, with him ranking lower down in the bands for them.
However, the fact that he has still competed in a high percentile number and made 4.75 interceptions per game indicates that he continually backs himself and is determined to put everything on the line for his team.
Right Centre-Back – William Saliba (Arsenal)
Inside Muñoz, the central defensive duo selected in this team consists of two names that simply could not be left out.
When looking at the Premier League statistics for the season, they have been the best-performing players in their position across the board, with the first of those being William Saliba.
William Saliba Statistics At Arsenal 2024/2025
The Arsenal defender once again put on a multitude of outstanding displays as the campaign progressed, contributing both with and without the ball for his team and continually demonstrating why there is so much interest in him from elsewhere.
In possession, his passing statistics have made for excellent reading.
This graphic clearly shows how he ranks inside the top percentile band for received passes, passes made, and overall passing accuracy.
As such, alongside Gabriel Magalhães, he has been a key part of Mikel Arteta’s side’s ability to shift the ball through the thirds and into areas where they can test their opponents’ resolve.
It is what the France player does without the ball that really stands out, though.
What is also apparent is that he doesn’t tend to compete in many defensive or aerial battles compared to others in his role.
He wins a high percentage of the matches he engages in, which also leads to him scoring two goals at the other end of the pitch, indicating that he is a tough player to face in a one-on-one situation.
Instead, His game is more about getting into areas where he can disrupt play and sniff out opportunities to regain possession without making risky tackles.
This is evident in his success rate of 59.6% in loose ball duels this season while also conceding only 0.68 fouls per outing.
Left Centre-Back – Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
The other centre-back that had to be included is the one who has just lifted the Premier League trophy for the first time as a captain.
Virgil van Dijk’s leadership has certainly earned him a place in this team, but it is not the sole reason he has been given the nod.
Instead, there are other reasons that he, too, has earned a place among these 11 names.
Virgil van Dijk Statistics At Liverpool 2024/2025
One of those is Van Dijk’s aerial dominance, which stems from his natural height and strength.
It is worth noting that this has allowed him to offer a presence at both ends of the pitch.
Liverpool have been particularly indebted to him at times in the final third, with the Netherlands international scoring some vital goals to keep them ahead of the competition in the Premier League title race.
The visit of West Ham United to Anfield in April particularly comes to mind as one of those, with van Dijk meeting a late corner (one of five goals he scored in all competitions) to seal all three points for Arne Slot’s team, taking them potentially one win away from their 20th top flight triumph.
That aerial prowess is evident in this graphic, with van Dijk ranking within the top band for aerial duels won and within the top quarter for goal contributions, shots, and touches inside the opposing penalty area per game.
However, this does not mean that he only comes into play when the ball is in the air.
He succeeds in 68% of his aerial duels and 75.8% of his defensive duels.
At the same time, he has proven himself to be an adept passer, too, sitting in the top band for passes made and passing accuracy (the latter of which was 93.3%).
Therefore, he can not only win the ball but also use it to launch attacks from the back, which is another reason he has been pivotal in Liverpool’s campaign ending at the top of English football.
Left-Back – Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
Completing the back four is a player that not many would have perhaps considered a contender, yet he has enjoyed a strong campaign, one that has seen his team in the conversation for Europe right up until the final few weeks.
Whilst Fulham ultimately missed out on continental competition, Antonee Robinson has been a shining light for them and has grown in stock as the campaign has gone on.
Antonee Robinson Statistics At Fulham 2024/2025
When he first emerged onto the scene back in 2017, during a loan at Bolton Wanderers from boyhood club Everton, he established himself as an attack-minded full-back who wanted to offer himself as an offensive threat.
This is something that Wigan Athletic particularly valued in him, and Fulham have also appreciated it.
He has been given constant freedom to operate in attack and defence ever since he moved to Craven Cottage in 2020.
He especially caught the eye during the 2024/25 campaign, not scoring but contributing eight assists in all competitions.
When looking at his percentile statistics in this graphic, it is not difficult to see what led to his being such a threat in advanced spaces.
He sits inside the top two bands for touches inside the opposing penalty area per game and constantly moves off his wing to position himself in spaces that would allow him to influence proceedings.
It is not only when making inverted runs that he has been involved in attacks, though.
His ability to cross the ball is something else that Fulham came to rely on.
Across the campaign, he attempted 202 deliveries and saw 37.1% of them find a teammate, which was a key reason for Fulham wanting him to get as high up the pitch as possible.
Perhaps his defensive qualities stood out compared to others in his position (Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez was another to have a strong campaign).
In the modern game, it is easy for full-backs to engage in attacks but to slow down when the ball has been lost, but Fulham never had to worry about that.
Instead, whenever Marco Silva’s side were under pressure, it was common to see Robinson dropping back and engaging in 1-v-1 duels inside his own third, closing the ball down and limiting the angles his opponents had to work with.
This is reflected in his sitting inside the upper two bands for defensive duels he competed in (with him succeeding in 61.2% of them), while he also averaged 4.93 interceptions per game.
Therefore, the USA defender’s hard work, both with and without the ball, cannot be questioned, and it has led to him being given the final place in this back line.
Defensive Midfielder – Moisés Caicedo (Chelsea)
Switching now to the midfield, once again, there were a number of candidates who could have been awarded a position in this EPL Team of the Season .
However, as with the goalkeeper and defence, the three selected have demonstrated quality in abundance, and their contributions to their team’s performances mean that they simply couldn’t be left out.
Moisés Caicedo Statistics At Chelsea 2024/2025
The player who instantly stood out is Moisés Caicedo, beginning with the defensive midfielder.
Whilst he has endured a tough start to his Chelsea career after thriving during his time at Brighton and Hove Albion, this season has been one in which he has established himself as a key name in Enzo Maresca’s team.
Chelsea might have struggled for consistency overall, but Caicedo has been one of their better players, if not their best.
One of the main reasons for this has been his ability to dictate play from deeper areas, which has indeed been one of the main reasons Enzo Fernández has been given so much liberty to push further up the pitch.
This is reflected in Caicedo’s percentile statistics in the graphic, which clearly show that he consistently ranks highly across the board in passing.
With him registering a 90.9% overall passing accuracy, it perhaps comes as no surprise that he also sits high in the bands for passes received per game.
His teammates trust him to bridge different areas of the team together, and his ability to thread the ball through the lines was evident throughout Chelsea’s win at Nottingham Forest on the season’s final day.
The Ecuador midfielder’s influence has not waned whenever Chelsea has been without the ball, though.
It is also apparent that he is above the median mark both for defensive duels and aerial duels won.
At the same time, he positions himself well, giving himself and his team the best possible chance of halting opposing attacks in their flow.
Given this, it is perhaps expected that he averaged 3.76 interceptions per game and was successful in 63.85% of his defensive duels and 52.9% of his aerial battles.
His overall quality and importance to everything Chelsea wants to do on the field are undisputed.
Right Centre-Midfielder – Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Alongside Caicedo, Declan Rice is another player who has enjoyed a positive campaign and continues to improve.
The England international has undergone a positional adjustment this season at Arsenal, shifting from a defensive brief to a more attack-minded role within his team’s setup.
However, this has not phased him and instead has allowed him to demonstrate a different side to his game.
Declan Rice Statistics At Arsenal 2024/2025
This is reflected in his percentile statistics for the campaign, with it clear to see how he has been especially strong in the offensive side of his game and sits just outside the top two bands for goal contributions per game.
He does break into those bands for shots while he is inside the top band for touches in the opposing penalty area per game, and that, therefore, reflects the freedom he has been afforded this season to get into more advanced spaces (which resulted in him scoring nine goals in all competitions).
Despite this, he remains a midfielder and has had to assist in moving the ball around the field.
However, this has also been one of his strengths: his ability to connect the dots, which is also indicated in the graphic by his high passing accuracy.
It is worth noting that he has not only been scoring goals but also creating them, assisting eight in all competitions.
At the same time, he saw 90.2% of his passes find their intended targets, so his quality on the ball cannot be underestimated.
The only downside to his new role is that he no longer offers the same defensive presence whenever Arteta’s side lose the ball, with it apparent how that aspect of this graphic does not read as favourably.
However, the simple fact is that this is no longer his priority around the field, and there are now others who can bring that to the team, so it should not be held against him.
Therefore, considering everything, Rice’s campaign has been another outstanding one that has allowed him to cement his reputation as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders.
Left Centre-Midfielder – Mikkel Damsgaard (Brentford)
The final name in the central three of this Premier League Team of the Year is another player that not many would have considered, yet he has been intrinsic to everything that his side have done well.
Brentford have enjoyed yet another pleasing Premier League campaign and were, in the closing stages of the season, an outside bet to compete in Europe next time out.
Whilst they, too, ultimately fell short of achieving that feat, there has once again been a lot to like about how Thomas Frank’s side have approached the season.
The presence of Mikkel Damsgaard was certainly critical to that.
Mikkel Damsgaard Statistics At Brentford 2024/2025
It is easy to forget that Brentford are a team and are not simply made up of their front two, with Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo scoring 19 and 20 goals, respectively, in the Premier League and attracting all of the headlines, proving there to be no hangover from Ivan Toney’s departure to Saudi Arabia last summer.
However, for them to be the prolific finishers that they were, others had to continually provide them with opportunities and cover for them around the field.
That is where the likes of Kevin Schade and Damsgaard have played their part.
Schade, in particular, has enjoyed his best season for the London club, but Damsgaard, too, deserves a lot of credit for his efforts and versatility.
He alternates between attacking midfield, winger, and forward roles to accommodate others in the side.
This has allowed the Denmark international to show different sides of his game, and one area that has really thrived is his link-up play.
In the weekend’s final match of the season at Wolverhampton Wanderers, he was constantly seen making runs into spaces and connecting the dots for his side.
Through balls and progression were his key focus on the day.
This graphic reflects his strength in this area, with him ranking highly in percentile terms for positioning and passes made.
With an overall passing accuracy of 77%, he may not be the best player in his role compared to others.
However, he has worked hard for his team and has been instrumental in ensuring that Brentford can continually stay on the front foot.
It is worth noting that he registered nine assists this season after picking up only one in each of his previous two campaigns for his current side.
Defensively, he has been just as critical to what Brentford has sought to do.
It is clear that he has competed in a high number of defensive duels and has succeeded in over half of them (both in percentile terms).
Given that he has been chiefly used in the attacking midfield role, this may reflect Frank’s desire to see his side press from the front whenever they lose possession.
It is yet further evidence of Damsgaard’s importance to everything that Brentford have tried to do.
Therefore, whilst Mbeumo and Wissa have been the ones that most people have talked about, Damsgaard has undoubtedly proven himself to be a vital cog in the machine.
Right-Forward – Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Three forwards need to be chosen to complete this Team of the Season, and this is perhaps where the easiest decisions can be made.
Two of the three players selected pick themselves, but the third is one where there could be some debate and some players may feel aggrieved at being left out.
Mohamed Salah Statistics At Liverpool 2024/2025
The first of the obvious candidates to be included is Mohamed Salah, who has had yet another standout campaign for Liverpool and whose exploits earned him both the Premier League Player of the Season and the Golden Boot.
However, whilst his goals have once again been the talk of the town, the 2024/25 Premier League season has been one in which other aspects of his play have really come to light.
This is due to his role altering under Arne Slot, which saw him become more of an orthodox winger instead of the wide forward that he had been playing as under Jürgen Klopp.
As a result, it perhaps comes as no surprise that, alongside his 34 goals in all competitions, he also registered 21 assists and has a high percentile ranking in this graphic for goal contributions per game.
In short, he has combined his ability to score with a desire to find others around him to set up shots.
This adapted role has facilitated the tactic of deploying Luis Díaz more centrally than he had been previously.
The fact that Salah sits inside the top band for dangerous passes also indicates how his season has been about more than simply providing the decisive touch.
Centre-Forward – Alexander Isak (Newcastle United)
Alongside the Egypt forward, Alexander Isak is the other nailed-on player to be included.
The Sweden striker continues to flourish at Newcastle United and has spearheaded their return to the Champions League next season, which is a just reward after a season in which they have once again proven to be stiff competition for those around them.
Alexander Isak Statistics At Newcastle United 2024/2025
Whilst Isak’s 27 goals have been the main event, there has been more to his game that has led to him being so pivotal to everything that Eddie Howe’s team do well.
To begin with, his game has always required mobility, with it never being his desire to be an out-and-out figurehead at the top of the field.
As such, it has been common to see him drop into deeper areas and help progress the ball around the pitch, creating opportunities (and assisting five goals in the process) and fashioning gaps for teammates to exploit.
He did this frequently at his previous club, Real Sociedad, and for that reason, his creative side is reflected well in his percentile statistics.
As with Salah, he ranks especially highly in the bands for dangerous passes made per game, while also exceeding the median mark for progressive passes made and passes received per game.
His passing accuracy of 75.6% is further proof of the fact that he can be just as effective in deeper areas when threading the ball through the lines, and it has given Howe flexibility when deciding where to deploy him.
As such, it has been common to see him on the wing (as was the case partway through the weekend’s final match at home to Everton, once Callum Wilson had been introduced from the bench) and as a playmaker, and that too has led to him becoming such a highly-valued player in the Newcastle ranks.
Left-Forward – Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace)
The final player to be included in this Team of the Season is the aforementioned Eze, who was perhaps the one of these three who needed to fight off competition to secure his inclusion.
However, when compared to others in his position, there is no doubt that he has been one of the Premier League’s most influential players this season and someone who has rarely put a foot wrong.
He more than deserves his place in this side.
Eberechi Eze Statistics At Crystal Palace 2024/2025
When watching the England player on the field, what immediately comes to mind is balance, with Eze not simply a creative player, a goalscorer, or someone who progresses the ball around the field, but a combination of all three.
As games progress, he demonstrates an instinctive understanding of when to retain the ball, when to pass it to a teammate, and when to shoot at goal, which has led to him being one of the most sought-after players in the English game.
There is no doubt that Crystal Palace’s 3-4-2-1 system has enabled him to flourish around the field.
He can stay further inside the pitch and operate in close proximity to Mateta at the top of the field.
However, he still displays innate intelligence, both with and without the ball, and constantly makes opponents’ lives tough.
Given that he knows when to try his luck and when to search for a teammate, it is perhaps expected that he ranks within the top band in this graphic in percentile terms for shots per game and passing accuracy.
This demonstrates his ability to make informed decisions at every stage of the game, which is one of the primary reasons he scored 14 goals and contributed nine assists across all competitions, with 82.9% of his passes reaching their intended targets.
Put all of this together, and Eze is rapidly becoming the complete player, with a bit of everything in his game.
This has led to much speculation over his future this summer, although Glasner’s team will no doubt be keen to keep him as they embark on their maiden European campaign next season, courtesy of their FA Cup triumph.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this tactical analysis has examined the 2024/25 Premier League season in greater detail, reflecting on some of the campaign’s key stories and using them to form a Team of the Season.
The data analysis has sought to show how each of the 11 players selected in the team has played a paramount role in their teams’ tactics as the weeks and months have gone on, and how each can continue to in the future.
Each has enjoyed different fortunes, with some ending the season as champions, some qualifying for Europe and some missing out on continental competition altogether.
However, each has been thoroughly enjoyable to watch as the games have gone by.
Fans of their clubs will now no doubt be eager to see them stay in their current surroundings as they hope to witness their magic once again when the 2025/2026 Premier League campaign gets underway in a few months’ time.
It certainly makes for an interesting summer ahead.
