'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
#3 Joe Gomez (Liverpool)
Joe Gomez has had an injury-riddled career at Liverpool since his arrival at the reigning EPL champions in the summer of 2015.
Nevertheless, Gomez has struck up a formidable central defensive partnership with Virgil Van Dijk at Liverpool, helping the club to Champions League and EPL titles in successive seasons.
In seven appearances in the EPL this season, Gomez has been one of the rare standouts in the Liverpool rearguard that has already let in 16 goals in eight games this season.
After Van Dijk suffered a seemingly season-ending injury in the Merseyside Derby, Gomez has been the leader of the Liverpool defense, helping the side win two of their next three games in the EPL.
However, the 23-year-old suffered an injury while on international duty with England. That comes as a huge blow to Liverpool as Gomez is expected to miss large swathes of the season.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp seemed to blame the unusual intensity of the season as the reason for Gomez's injury when he said:
“With Joey, it was absolutely because of the intensity of the season. That’s something we have to worry about. That’s not an excuse. That’s just an explanation.”
#2 Jannik Vestergaard (Southampton)
Danish center-back Jannik Vestergaard has been a revelation for Southampton in the EPL this season.
In seven EPL games played by the 28-year-old this season, Southampton have kept an impressive four clean sheets; Vestergaard has also scored twice during this period. The Dane scored the equaliser in an entertaining 3-3 draw at Chelsea and also scored the opener in Southampton's thrilling 4-3 win at Aston Villa.
Thanks to Vestergaard's exploits at both ends of the pitch, Southampton find themselves a creditable fourth on the 2020-21 EPL table.
Vestergaard modestly deflected talks about his good form and instead focussed on the confidence of the entire team that has made Southampton a formidable outfit in the EPL this season recently.
“I’m confident at the moment but I think the whole team are. We’re in a very good place, and I genuinely believe that everybody thinks it is a tough game – to play against us. We thrive within that. We know we can be nasty and we have developed our game on the ball as well. I really do think that we’re a very good Premier League team and in the past few games we’ve shown that.”
#1 Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal)
Gabriel Magalhaes has impressed for Arsenal since his arrival from Lille this summer. The 22-year-old Brazilian made a confident goal-scoring debut in Arsenal's 3-0 win away at Fulham on the opening day of the 2020-21 EPL season.
Apart from his goal, Magalhaes impressed at the defensive end of the pitch, making a match-high 121 touches and 113 passes, doing so with an impressive 95% accuracy while also making key recoveries and clearances.
Despite Arsenal finding themselves in the bottom half of the EPL table after eight games, the Brazilian has been one of their shining lights this season.
Unsurprisingly, Mikel Arteta waxed lyrical about Magalhaes after the young center-back turned in another impressive display in a Europe League game.
“We saw qualities in him that is exactly what we wanted, but then you move him from France to here at an early age, without talking the language, to adapt to a new way of playing as well. He has done it really quickly and is showing a great mentality as well because we threw him in against Fulham after three or four training sessions, and you could see the performance he had there.”
