Premier League 2017-18: Best player from each of the Top 6

Manchester City have dominated the league and clinched the title a few weeks ago when Manchester United failed to beat West Brom. Apart from their blitzkrieg, the rest of the top 6 sides have been close proximity in terms of points collected this season.

Though the gap between the champions and the sixth-placed Arsenal is a steep 33 points, each team has gone through their own set of challenges to earn a respectable finish. Here, we look at one best player from each of the top-six clubs in the league table.

#6 Arsenal: Nacho Monreal

Arsenal have endured a horrific Premier League season. They have been inconsistent, and now only a Europa League triumph can allow them to qualify for the Champions League next season. Hence, their players have been accordingly inconsistent too, and that makes it difficult to figure out one player who can be lauded for good performances over the course of the season.

In such case, Nacho Monreal comes up as a notable option for this list. The Spaniard has been a constant presence in an oft-rotated Arsenal backline and has regularly inspired the other players with his outings on the field. He has made good use of his game-awareness to thwart off attacks, while he promotes Arsene Wenger’s ideology of playing out from the back too. Another fascinating aspect of Monreal this season has been his constant goal-scoring ability.

His tendency to play the ball out from the back is visible from his 89% passing accuracy; something that goes on to solidify the fact that he hardly misplaces a pass or gives the ball away to the opposition. Almost 69% of his passes have been forward passes and that highlights Monreal's ball playing abilities too. Monreal has played both as a left-sided centre-half and also as a traditional left back too.

He has scored five goals this season; to put that into perspective, Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck have scored just four and five goals respectively despite being traditional forwards. Arsenal’s backline needs some dire reinforcements, but Nacho Monreal’s future should be secured in the club due to his somewhat heroic performances this season.

Honourable Mentions: Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey

#5 Chelsea: Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard has been criticised for not maintaining a sustained standard of performances regularly, but little could be done about it when he plays in a team like Chelsea who themselves are far too inconsistent. After winning the Premier League title last season, the team weren't expected to defend their title after City and United's lavish spending.

However, they had a good enough team to make it into the top four, something that hasn't been the case this season. Unlike the 2015/16 season, Hazard has tried his best to influence the proceedings in a positive way this time as he has regularly tried to save his team from the blushes. If they had the presence of someone like Diego Costa, maybe the Belgian could have had a better season as he can't do it all on his own.

Alvaro Morata has messed up the heaps of chances that he has created and Conte even played Hazard out of his position as a false 9 for a significant period of time this season.

Even then, Hazard has scored 12 goals in 30 Premier League appearances whilst having created 77 goal-scoring opportunities too. Four of those opportunities resulted in assists but the numbers could have been a lot better had his teammates been more clinical in front of the goal.

Hazard has had an 82% success rate while taking on the opponents, something that shows that he is always eager to create unrest in the opposition half with his mesmerizing dribbling prowess. Hazard has delivered 2.5 key passes on an average in each Premier League game and that demonstrates his eagerness to regularly create goal-scoring chances for his teammates. Overall, on a personal level, Eden Hazard has had a satisfactory season to be honest.

Honorable Mention: Cesar Azpilicueta

#4 Tottenham Hotspur: Harry Kane

Kane continued his brilliant goal-scoring form this season

Mauricio Pochettino was left infuriated when Pep Guardiola cheekily remarked Tottenham as the ‘Harry Kane team’. However, when you glance through their season, it is quite apparent that Kane does play a pivotal role. His presence on the field has a big impact on their chances of winning a contest, as strikers do not come as good as Harry Kane these days.

The lad is strong and smart, as he times his runs into the box to perfection. He is almost a poacher of sorts, as Kane’s ability to score from inside the 18-yard-box is almost unmatched in the Premier League. Moreover, his tendency to drop down a line at times to orchestrate attacks, as well as to hold up the defenders using his incredible physique is praiseworthy. Kane has been in excellent goal-scoring form as such, though his progress has been disrupted by a persistent knee injury that troubled him quite a lot this season.

Despite that, Kane has scored 25 goals and assisted twice in 33 matches, and has quite literally carried Spurs along again in this campaign. Kane has developed a tendency to help out his teammates by creating some chances for them rather than just taking hopeful shots from awkward angles to the goal. This has seen him create 31 goal-scoring opportunities this season, a notable number for a striker.

He has a shot accuracy of 56% too, and that means that Kane hardly ever mishits the ball when he gains the possession from a dangerous area on the pitch. He always tests the goalkeeper with his aerial prowess too and is undoubtedly the best number 9 in the Premier League.

The Lilywhites could only hope that the Englishman extends his stay at North London beyond this season, as offers would come in abundance for the most prolific English player of the upcoming era.

Honourable Mention: Son-Heung Min, Christian Eriksen

#3 Liverpool: Mohamed Salah

Who else if not him? When Liverpool signed Mo Salah from AS Roma ahead of this season, there were some doubts over his potential and the mental strength to perform at the highest level with a consistent rate. However, despite being quite in demeanour, Salah has outrageously bashed all those criticism with an insane debut season in the Premier League.

The Egyptian has been in prolific form all season long, as he has already scored 31 goals in the Premier League and looks to break the all-time record set by greats like Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Luis Suarez. Salah has adjusted brilliantly to the pace, the physicality of the Premier League, as his mesmerising dribbling skills coupled with a fleet foot, and deft touch, Salah has been the best footballer in the country this season by a mile.

His style of play suits Liverpool’s counter-attacking football, as Salah has wrecked havoc with his pace and then his precision inside the box. He has been good in linking up play with his other forwards too, as Salah has shown intentions to both create and score goals at an astonishing rate this season.

He has notched nine assists in addition to the 31 goals, and that takes his goal contribution tally to 40 goals; something that has been quite unheard of from a Premier League player in recent times. Salah is always the one to interlink the play in the final third and that has seen the likes of Firmino and Sadio Mane take advantages of the wonderful vision and playmaking abilities that Salah possesses. He has created 57 goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates, and most of them were created inside the box, or from the right-wing.

Salah has increased his potency and has been clinical in front of the goal. This is shown by his 62% shot accuracy as he has taken all types of shots in front of the goal. The former Chelsea man can take long-range shots, can place it sweetly to the back of the net or even chip it over the goalkeeper's head. His vast array of talents have seen him become the highest goal-scorer in the league despite playing predominantly from the wing.

He also walked away with the PFA Player of the Season award and hardly anyone would dare to challenge the fact that Mo Salah deserved it!

Honourable Mention: Roberto Firmino

#2 Manchester United: David de Gea

If there is one player who has consistently single-handedly affected his team’s final position in the league table over the years in the Premier League, then it has to be David de Gea. The Spaniard has been sensational this season too, as his brilliant shot-stopping coupled with equally laudable reflexes have helped De Gea register his name as the best goalkeeper in European football.

De Gea has been rock solid between the posts and that has often saved United as the level of his performances is quite literally unmatched in the Premier League.

Despite being a goalkeeper, De Gea has managed to steal the spotlight from other United stars as his displays on the field in big matches have been crucial to United holding up to the second spot in the league table. De Gea has made some astonishing saves this season; such as his reflex save against Joel Matip in the match at Anfield in October.

Then, in December, De Gea came up with a once-in-a-lifetime sort of performance when he made a record-breaking 14 saves against Arsenal at Emirates, which included a double save off Alexandra Lacazette and Alexis Sanchez. He stopped another amazing header from Christian Benteke against Crystal Palace in March.

However, the season-defining save would be off Sergio Aguero in the 89th minute of the Manchester derby this month. He quite literally criminally denied the Argentine a header from four yards away with a save that could well be labelled as the best of the season.

The former Atleti man has helped Manchester United keep 17 clean sheets in the Premier League so far, and he might as well walk away with the Golden Glove this season. De Gea has made 108 successful saves this season, and many of them have been determinable to the final result of the game.

Gary Neville recently said that De Gea is the only world-class player in United’s squad. I do not want to argue on that, as the Spaniard will definitely walk into the first-team of any top club in Europe now.

Honourable Mention: Nemanja Matic

#1 Manchester City: Kevin de Bruyne

Manchester City players on the field have displayed Pep Guardiola’s philosophy of playing free-flowing, easy-to-the-eye, attacking brand of football this season. However, Guardiola has been able to instil this philosophy only due to the presence of their midfield lynchpin Kevin de Bruyne. The Belgian has been at the centre of everything that has flowed on the field for Manchester City.

De Bruyne’s vision has helped him break the stringiest of defence in the Premier League with his through-balls. The Belgian’s passing has enabled the likes of Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero to score off chances. De Bruyne has regularly pulled the strings at the centre of the park and his interlinking and understanding with his teammates has been brilliant too.

The former Chelsea lad has scored timely goals too, as his long-distance shooting has been extremely accurate as such. He scored important goals against Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham and that goes on to highlight the kind of influence that he has had in big matches.

In 34 appearances in the Premier League, de Bruyne has scored eight goals whilst having created 103 goal-scoring chances too. 15 of those chances resulted in assists and that is accordingly the highest in the league so far. De Bruyne has enjoyed a 57% success rate in taking on opponents and has recorded 84% passing accuracy too.

58% of his passes have been in the forward direction, and that shows that De Bruyne is regularly keen to move the ball forward and to initiate attacks from the centre of the park. He has excelled whilst playing as a central midfielder in a three-man midfield, or also as a wide forward on the right side on some occasions.

Manchester City's title triumph wouldn't have been possible without De Bruyne's enviable form.

Honourable Mention: David Silva