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The PFA Player of the Year award is a prestigious award given to the best performer in English football over the course of a season. Some of the recent recipients of the award include world class players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Gareth Bale, Robin van Persie and Eden Hazard. A quick glance at the list of winners tells us that the player needs to be extraordinary to win the award and that is why it is not easy to win it.In the ongoing season, after ten match days, we have seen some noteworthy performances from many individuals. Some of these individuals have been pivotal to the brilliant form of their respective teams so far and if they can keep this up, they are sure to be named in the shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year award at the end of the season.
#1 Jamie Vardy - Leicester City
After ten league games, the top scorer of the Premier League season so far is Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy. The Englishman scored five league goals last season, which was also his first season in the Premier League, but this time around he has already doubled that tally scoring a goal a game.
Vardy scored his first league goal in Leicester’s opening day win over Sunderland. The 28-year-old didn’t score in the next three games, but he assisted Riyad Mahrez’s goal against Tottenham to help the Foxes salvage a point. In a game against Bournemouth, Vardy scored his second of the season to win a point for his side. He then followed this up by scoring in the next six league games.
This run of seven successive league games in which he found the back of the net includes braces against Arsenal and Southampton. And the latter one came very late in the game and rescued a point for his side from the jaws of defeat.
Vardy’s latest goal came against Crystal Palace and it took his tally to ten for the season and increased the gap at the top of the Premier League top scorers chart. His closest competitors for the Golden Boot are Sergio Aguero, Alexis Sanchez and Georgino Wijnaldum with six goals each.
#2 Dimitri Payet - West Ham
West Ham United are one of the surprise packages of the season and currently sit third in the league table with 20 points. They have already defeated top guns Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool (away) and Chelsea (at home) so far. One of the main architects behind their brilliant form is their summer signing Dimitri Payet, who is also turning out to be the signing of the season.
The Frenchman started the season by assisting Kouyate’s opening goal against Arsenal on the opening weekend. He followed this up scoring a consolation goal against Leicester in the very next game. Payet later scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Newcastle to give the Hammers’ their first home win of the season.
The 28-year-old also provided assists in the games against Manchester City and Norwich City, before scoring one apiece against Crystal Palace and Sunderland to take his tally to five goals and three assists in just ten games.
Even when Payet is not scoring or assisting, his nifty footwork and dribbling often troubles the opposition and creates space for his teammates. Payet’s vision and set-piece ability have played a crucial role in West Ham’s dream start to the season.
#3 Mesut Ozil - Arsenal
Mesut Ozil has often been the subject of unfair criticism during his two-year stay at Arsenal. But the German International has stepped up his game by a notch and silenced many of his critics. He currently leads the assists charts not just in the Premier League, but also among all the Top 5 leagues in Europe, with seven assists to his name.
The 27-year-old assisted Arsenal’s first goal of the Premier League season, which was scored by Olivier Giroud against Crystal Palace. Later he provided assists in the games against Stoke City and Leicester City. But his best performance of the season came against Manchester United where he scored one and assisted one. He followed this up by providing two assists against Watford and one against Everton to take his tally of assists to seven.
To be fair to Ozil, his seven assists doesn’t do justice to the work he has put in on the pitch as he has created considerably more chances and provided more key passes than the likes of David Silva, Douglas Costa, Raffael and Kagawa – who are right behind him in the assists chart for the Top 5 leagues in Europe.
# | Player | Club | Chances created | Key Passes | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesut Ozil | Arsenal | 42 | 35 | 7 |
| 2 | David Silva | Manchester City | 16 | 10 | 6 |
| 3 | Douglas Costa | Bayern Munich | 22 | 16 | 6 |
| 4 | Raffael | Borussia Monchengladbach | 20 | 14 | 6 |
| 5 | Shinji Kagawa | Borussia Dortmund | 27 | 22 | 5 |
#4 David Silva - Manchester City
Statistically speaking, in the 2014/15 season, David Silva was as good as Eden Hazard, who won the PFA Player of the Year award. But surprisingly, Silva was neither considered for the PFA Player of the Year award nor was he included in the PFA Team of the Year.
Silva has only played five league games this season due to an injury, but his performance in those six games were good enough to predict that he will be in the shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year award towards the end of the season.
The 29-year-old started the season with a goal and assist against West Brom on the opening weekend. He followed this up with an impressive display against defending champions Chelsea where he provided the assists for two out of the three goals scored by City. Silva also gave an assist in the game against Watford and two more in a 6-1 win over Newcastle.
The Manchester City midfielder is currently the second highest assist provider among Europe’s Top five leagues, despite sitting out of the last four league games due to an injury. His return to the team could spark more life into the City attack which seems lost on occasions without his presence.
#5 Chris Smalling - Manchester United
Chris Smalling has turned his career around under Louis van Gaal after getting sent off against Manchester City last season in a very stupid manner. The Englishman is the only Manchester United player to have played every minute of every single Premier League game so far for the Red Devils and has shown that he is easily one of the best centre backs in the league on current form.
Smalling has helped Manchester United keep six clean sheets in 10 games of which three came with Sergio Romero in goal. United’s tally of six clean sheets is currently the league highest along with neighbours Manchester City. In addition to this, United have only conceded eight goals this season, which is also the joint-best record in the league along with Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Manchester United man has made 17 tackles, 20 interceptions, 4 blocks and 67 clearances in the 10 league games he has played so far and these figures are quite impressive for the 25-year-old who has been a rock at the back.
