Poll: Who Would Get Your Vote for PFA Player Of The Year?

For the immediate future, the coronavirus-induced pause in the EPL’s season has left us with no matches to look forward to. The game’s passionate fans crave food for conversation though, so with the campaign on hold it’s natural for us to turn our gaze backwards at the portion of the season that has already unfolded.

One question that emerges from that glance in the rear-view mirror is this: which player has had the best season so far? Let’s run the rule over the leading candidates for the 2020 PFA Player Of The Year award.

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Virgil van Dijk

Liverpool’s £75M defensive talisman is widely-regarded as the best defender in the world. But his contributions to the league’s stingiest back line extend beyond his ability to mark and tackle: His commanding leadership provides organization and cohesiveness that extend beyond his individual talents. The Dutchman won the PFA Player of the Year award as well as the UEFA Player Of The Year award last year, and he’s a strong contender to win the PFA PotY award once again. If he does, he would be only the third player in the history of the league to do it back-to-back, the other two being Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo.

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Kevin De Bruyne

Although Manchester City won the domestic treble last year (Premier League, League Cup, FA Cup), KDB’s season was hampered by injury. Manchester City will not win the Premier League this season, but their Belgian midfielder reminded us that, when fit, he ranks among the very best players in world football. He has sparkled in the No. 10 role and currently leads the league in assists with 16. That’s already equal to the number he accumulated over the entire 2017-18 season, in which he was just barely pipped by Mo Salah for the PotY award. Indeed, it is only four short of the league record.

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Sadio Mané

Liverpool’s Senegalese winger enjoyed an electric start to the season, scoring 12 times in the first 18 matches to help the Reds build their all-but-insurmountable lead over the rest of the league. He has fallen off that pace due to injury and a cooling of form, and has now been surpassed by Mo Salah as the club’s leading scorer. But his 14 goals and 7 assists have been crucial to Liverpool’s dominance, particularly during periods of quiet from the Egyptian. Named the 2019 African Footballer of the Year, Mané could soon add PFA PotY to his trophy case as well.

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Jordan Henderson

In a star-studded side like Liverpool, it may seem strange that Jordan Henderson has emerged as a candidate for Player of the Year. The club’s 29 year-old captain lacks the guile of Mo Salah, the explosiveness of Sadio Mané, or the movement of Roberto Firmino, but he is no less important to Liverpool’s success than any in the front trio. Shifted into a more attacking position this season, the Englishman has become the beating heart of the Reds’ engine room. His role in Liverpool’s runaway assault on the league title has been indispensable. Before his recent injury, Liverpool hadn’t lost all season and had kept clean sheets in 10 of their previous 11, but while he was sidelined they conceded six goals over three games and suffered their first defeat. The mighty Reds are a depleted side without Henderson in it, and the odds-makers understand that very well: He is one of their favorites to take Player Of The Year honors for 2020.

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So who’s your nominee for PotY? Who else deserves honorable mention? And how are you and yours managing these unusual times? Please share in the comments, and also join us this Saturday for another virtual pub (20:00 UK time, 13:00 Pacific).

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