Staff Poll: September EPL Player of the Month

Each month the outstanding player from England’s top league is recognized with the EA SPORTS Premier League Player of the Month award. The nominees for September 2021 are:

• Joao Cancelo (Man City)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Man United)
• Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea)
• Allan Saint-Maximin (Newcastle)
• Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
• Ismailia Sarr (Watford)

We’ll have to wait a little while longer to learn the official winner, but for now we want to know who you think should win.

Below, some of our staffers share their opinions.

David

Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford has been sensational, Allan Saint-Maximin and Ismailia Sarr look like their teams’ best hopes for Premier League survival, while Joao Cancelo and Antonio Rudiger have been standouts for the two best defensive units in the EPL.

But Mo Salah scored in each of Liverpool’s September league games, something none of these other men did for their clubs. (BTW, Mo also scored in the last game of August and the first game of October!).

His attacking menace constantly unbalances opposing teams in ways that are often intangible, and his goals are a very concrete reason that Liverpool went undefeated last month. I’m sure Ronaldo will be aghast at my vote, but I’m casting it for Salah.

Grady

If we’re talking fantasy EPL, Mo Salah is such an automatic pick that you are essentially picking a starting ten each week. I can’t say the same about Ronaldo. For me, it’s Mo and it’s not remotely close. Personally, heat maps are just a tool in the box as an FPL manager, but just look at the threat he poses. Mo is on fire and possibly the best player in the world at the moment.

sofascore.com

Dhivakhar

Although all the nominees had a fantastic September (GW-4 to GW-6), I’ll have to agree with Grady on this one, Mo Salah it is. Recency bias, after Salah’s jaw-dropping performance against Manchester City, might have swayed my vote towards the Egyptian, but his stats don’t lie — Salah is arguably the best player in the world, let alone the Premier League. Scoring three goals in three league appearances in September, Salah is #1 in the premier league for goals + assists and is also #1 in the league for xG+xA. Both expected and actual stats seem to agree with the fact that Mo Salah is the best attacker in the premier league and who am I to go against the numbers?!

Stall

In September, Mo Salah scored three goals, provided an assist and captured two bonus points for 27 FPL points. For comparison:

• Ronaldo: three goals + three bonus for 21 FPL points
• Sarr: three goals + five bonus for 26 FPL points
• Rudiger: one goal + two CS + two bonus for 21 FPL points
• ASM: one goal + one assist + five bonus for 21 FPL points
• Cancelo: three CS + two assists + six bonus for 30 FPL points

Mo Salah maybe the most in form player in the world at the moment, and if his wonder goal against City had happened in September, then I would have leaned towards him. It didn’t though, and when you include that Cancelo had a 12 point showing at title favorite Chelsea at a cost of only 6m, he is the clear winner for me.

Olakunle

Mo Salah is the obvious stand-out Premier League player for the month of September. He was consistent all through the month which saw him accumulate 27 FPL points. His performance in the clash against Man City also shows the stratospheric level he’s currently playing at. While players like Cancelo, Ronaldo, and Sarr deserve a shout, Salah remains the obvious September player of the month.

Jeff

• Cancelo: Steady at both ends; my runner-up
• Ronaldo: Two good games, but silent in loss to Aston Villa
• Rudiger: Yellow card dud vs Man City
• ASM: An assist or goal (for a weak team) in all three weeks
• Salah: A goal per week plus a fantasy assist and constant threat
• Sarr: Finished white hot, but was a dud in Watford’s GW-4 loss

It’s Salah for me — Maybe it’s down to the high quality support surrounding him, but his lesser two weeks look as good as other players’ best two. It’s hard to compare offense to defense, so maybe I’m unfair to Cancelo and his three clean sheets, but if I were to choose a defender, I’d want the hypothetical TAA who didn’t get sick in GW-5 and miss the tasty fixture at Palace. But he did, so Salah it is.

Paul

My head wants to go with Salah, especially with all the hype recently: Chris Sutton referred to him as better than Messi and Ronaldo on current form, and he’s right. But I will be going with Ismaila Sarr because I’ve been seriously impressed with the Watford forward. We all know how dangerous he can be, and he’s an exciting watch. His four goals in September (that’s more than Salah!) say it all, and if Watford stands any chance of staying up, it’ll be down to Sarr. Even though I don’t wish the Hornets to be relegated, if that happens I’d love to see Sarr jump ship to a club that plays European football. His talent is worthy of that level of competition.

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What do you think of our staffers’ rationale? What can you add? What do you think of EA’s nominees? Whom else would you have put on their list? Should there have been a keeper there? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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