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The 2018/19 Premier League season has been an interesting one, largely piqued by both the title race between Manchester City and Liverpool and also the race for the remaining Champions League spots between Tottenham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United. But the best thing about the Premier League? It’s so much more than just the top six sides.
Sure, the ‘Big Six’ are head and shoulders above the rest of the league in terms of overall strength, but the Premier League’s other 14 sides still have some fantastic players, some of whom would probably make it into the first XI of the top six, and some of whom have had a tremendous time this season.
Here is the Premier League’s non-top six XI of the year for 2018/19.
Goalkeeper: Rui Patricio – Wolves
Despite some controversy over his €18m transfer from Sporting Lisbon to Wolves in the summer, Portugal’s #1 goalkeeper Rui Patricio has enjoyed a fantastic debut season in the Premier League and has almost certainly proven himself the best goalkeeper in the league outside of those playing for the top six.
Despite sides promoted from the Championship traditionally struggling to survive in the Premier League – Cardiff and Fulham have both been relegated this season – Wolves have instead thrived, and part of that has been down to their solid back-line, with Patricio being a key part of that defence.
The West Midlands side have conceded 44 goals this season – that’s less than Manchester United and Arsenal – and while Patricio has kept just 7 clean sheets in the 36 games he’s played, he’s also made a whopping 92 saves, giving him a save success rate of 67.65%, which is up there with the likes of David de Gea (69.82%) and higher than Chelsea’s highly rated Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Essentially, Wolves should be thankful to be able to call upon such a tremendous goalkeeper, and he’s definitely earned his spot in this side.
Left-Back: Lucas Digne – Everton
Everton have been one of the more consistently entertaining sides this season, as Marco Silva’s team have been involved in plenty of memorable games, including big wins over Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.
They’ve developed a stronger defence throughout the season but have also been a dangerous attacking force, and part of that strength in both areas has been down to their left-back Lucas Digne.
Digne has been excellent all season, as he scores highly in both defensive and offensive statistics. He averages 2 successful tackles, 1.8 interceptions and 2.7 clearances per game, but he’s also chipped in with 4 goals and 4 assists in his 34 appearances, and has completed a total of 67 key passes too.
The Frenchman was named as Man of the Match by WhoScored.com in Everton’s victories over Burnley, West Ham and Manchester United, as well as the Toffees’ draw with Watford, and it’s suddenly becoming clear why Barcelona were looking to sign him a few seasons back. How much longer Everton can keep hold of him is a big question mark.
Centre-Back: Michael Keane – Everton
As I mentioned when discussing Lucas Digne, Everton have developed one of the strongest defences outside of the top six, and the fact that Marco Silva’s side have conceded just 44 goals – 6 less than Arsenal and 8 less than Manchester United – shows how much they’ve come along since last season, when they let in a total of 58. Part of that improvement has been down to the form of Michael Keane.
Keane was signed by Everton from Burnley in a big-money £25m move in the summer of 2017, but following that he found himself on lists of the worst signings of the season, as he failed to gel with fellow central defender Ashley Williams and struggled for form throughout the term. This season however has been completely different.
Keane now resembles the player who was rated so highly prior to his move, and it’s no surprise he’s earned a recall into the England squad recently. His pass success rate is very high for a defender – 80.6% - and over his 32 appearances, all of his defensive statistics are impressive.
The arrival at Goodison Park of Colombian World Cup star Yerry Mina was supposed to signal the end of Keane, but instead he’s grown in strength and has been one of Everton’s most outstanding performers, completing a tremendous turnaround from last season.
Centre-Back: Willy Boly – Wolves
Willy Boly signed for Wolves during their promotion season in 2017/18, but few people could’ve predicted how solid the French centre-back would prove to be during their debut season in the Premier League.
The season started well for Boly back in August as he scored his side’s equaliser against Manchester City, and from there he’s gone from strength to strength, appearing in 35 of Wolves’ 37 games.
Along the way he’s scored a further 3 goals – including an impressive one against Tottenham in a 3-1 victory in December – and has looked almost unbeatable in the air at times, winning 129 of his 189 aerial duels and making over 100 headed clearances. Boly has also performed 82 successful tackles, 160 clearances and 70 interceptions.
At 28 years old Boly is probably in his prime right now, and outside of the top 6 there clearly aren’t a lot of superior defenders to the Frenchman. Wolves will want to progress even further from their 7th place finish next season – potentially crashing the top 6 – and to do so Boly will undoubtedly be a key player again.
Right-Back: Matt Doherty – Wolves
It should come as no surprise that the entire defence in this team is made up of players from Everton and Wolves – after all, those sides have the best defensive records in the Premier League outside of the top 6.
Doherty though has had a truly phenomenal debut season in the top flight, as he’s been an ever-present for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side and has made a massive contribution from start to finish.
Doherty – an international for the Republic of Ireland – has been just as outstanding in attack as he has been in defence, scoring 8 goals and making 5 assists in all competitions, and his total of 35 key passes in 37 games is highly impressive. Doherty is also excellent in the air, as his average of 3.9 aerial duels per game shows.
The Wolves man had some heavy competition for his spot in this team – Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka has also been outstanding throughout 2018/19 and has slightly favourable defensive stats when compared to Doherty, but the Irishman’s superior goalscoring abilities give him the edge for me, and so he’s the Premier League’s best non-top six right-back at the minute.
Midfield: Abdoulaye Doucoure – Watford
Watford have been one of the Premier League’s surprise packages this season, as they’ve risen from being perennial strugglers to currently sit in 10th position thanks to the good work done by manager Javi Gracia. And there’s no doubt that one of his most outstanding performers this season has been French defensive midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure.
Doucoure has once again been practically ever-present for the Hornets, appearing in 34 of their 37 league games thus far following his 37 appearances last year. And it’s been Doucoure’s partnership in the centre of Watford’s engine room alongside Etienne Capoue that has allowed their flashier players like Will Hughes and Gerard Deulofeu to thrive.
Doucoure is more than just a holding man though, as his solid return of 5 goals and 6 assists shows. The Frenchman is a complete midfielder, as capable of threading key passes – 36 of them this season – as he is of thundering in with tackles, as his total of 70 successful ones in 106 attempts shows. If Watford can hold onto Doucoure, they can definitely progress further next season.
Midfield: Joao Moutinho – Wolves
Another major Wolves signing from the summer, a lot of people figured that Joao Moutinho had probably arrived in the Premier League a little late; he turned 32 in September, has been around for years and there were some questions over how much he had left in the tank.
Well, he’s answered all of those questions in a pretty fantastic debut season in England, and has made the reported £5m fee that Wolves paid for him look like the definition of a bargain.
Pulling the strings alongside the equally impressive Ruben Neves in the centre of Wolves’ midfield, Moutinho has been a key factor in the success of Nuno Espirito Santo’s team in 2018/19, and he’s shone in particular when Wolves have faced off with the upper echelon of the division.
The West Midlands side have put together an impressive record of 4 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses against the top six, and Moutinho’s work from midfield has been a massive contribution to that.
The Portuguese international has scored just 1 goal in his 37 appearances, but he’s made 8 assists, has an impressive pass success rate (84.8%), and with a total of 84, has made more than double the key passes of his nearest rival at the club (Raul Jimenez) this season. How long he has left at the top is a question mark, but if he can keep up this form, he’ll be one of the Premier League’s outstanding performers for years to come yet.
Midfield: James Maddison – Leicester City
Some eyebrows were raised last summer when Leicester paid a pretty hefty £20m to bring James Maddison to the King Power Stadium from Championship side Norwich City, but almost a year on, few would argue that the attacking midfielder hasn’t been worth the money.
Considering Maddison is just 22 years old and is in the midst of his first Premier League season, he’s practically been a revelation.
Playing as Leicester’s main playmaker this season, Maddison’s form early on was fantastic, as he scored 3 goals and made 2 assists within his first 2 months in the league. That was enough to earn him a spot in the England squad although he has yet to make his debut, and while his form tailed off a little later, when Brendan Rodgers was installed as Leicester’s new boss in February, he quickly picked things back up.
Right now Maddison has 7 goals and 7 assists in his 35 games, has developed a reputation as one of England’s deadliest free-kick experts, and has created 13 ‘big chances’ – more than the likes of Christian Eriksen and Bernardo Silva - this season.
Leicester may well find it hard to hold onto him this summer, but if they do, they’ll be able to feature arguably the best playmaker outside of the top 6 in their first XI next season.
Forward: Ryan Fraser – Bournemouth
I might be cheating here a little as Ryan Fraser of Bournemouth has played more as an attacking wide midfielder this season, but he’s also appeared as a wide forward for Eddie Howe’s side on a few occasions, and with a record like the Scottish international has put together this season, it’s hard to leave him out of a side like this.
Fraser has been with Bournemouth since January 2013, but while he had always been a steady performer for the south coast club, nobody could’ve expected quite how good he’s been in 2018/19.
Fraser has scored 7 goals in his 37 games this season, but it’s as a provider that he’s been a true revelation; he has 14 Premier League assists to his name, with only Eden Hazard having more.
Incredibly though, Fraser has actually created 25 big chances this term – that’s 11 more than Chelsea’s brilliant Belgian – and that has to beg the question of how many assists he could’ve gotten in one of the Premier League’s stronger sides.
As it is, with 5 Man of the Match performances to his name, Bournemouth fans are simply delighted to have him in their side. If he can keep up this form into next season, then they may find it hard to hold onto him.
Forward: Jamie Vardy – Leicester City
Given he’s a player who largely relies on his incredible pace to get past opposition defenders in order to score goals, you’d be forgiven for expecting Jamie Vardy to be finally slowing down at the age of 32, and yet that’s far from the case.
If anything – despite reportedly falling out with then-boss Claude Puel midway through the season – the Leicester striker has enjoyed his best season since his legendary title-winning one in 2015/16.
Vardy has made 33 appearances this term and has scored a total of 18 goals – 2 less than last season’s return, but 2018/19 has also seen him make 4 assists to last season’s 1, meaning overall, this has been his most productive season since 2015/16.
And he’s scored important goals too, including the winners against Chelsea and Everton and braces against Arsenal, Fulham and Huddersfield.
The former non-league striker might’ve retired from international football following last summer’s World Cup, but his form for Leicester shows no sign of tailing off just yet, and he’s a finisher of such a high calibre that any of the top six sides would probably love to be able to call upon him. As it is, he remains probably the best striker outside of the top 6.
Forward: Wilfried Zaha – Crystal Palace
How much longer Wilfried Zaha can remain one of – if not the – best players outside of the top six is anyone’s guess given his recent statement that he wishes to play in the Champions League, but for now Crystal Palace are probably hugely thankful that they can deploy him.
Able to play practically anywhere as a forward or midfielder, Zaha has again been the key man for the Eagles this season, scoring 10 goals and making 3 assists in his 33 games.
Zaha is both a creator and a finisher – he’s played 50 key passes this season – but more than anything, he’s at his best with the ball at his feet, running at the opposition. The Ivory Coast international has averaged 6.6 dribbles per game this season, with over half of them being successful, and he draws fouls at an astonishing rate too – he’s fouled on average 3.1 times per game.
It should come as no surprise that Zaha has received more Man of the Match awards than any other Palace player, and along with the impressive Luka Milivojevic, has been involved with more of Palace’s goals this season than anyone else.
He’s simply a tremendous player who would easily be worthy of playing for any top six side, and Eagles fans will be buzzing if they can keep hold of him this summer.
