Sportsdunia’s Predicted Premier League Team of the Season 2024/25

After some gruelling 350 games of action, we are heading towards the business end of the Premier League season. What a ride this has been. Liverpool has won the league in a season not affected by the pandemic. Arsenal fell short after relentlessly hounding the Reds. And there were quite a lot of surprise packages and shocking teams in the league. As the league comes to a close, we at Sportsdunia predict the Premier League Team Of The Season.

The Premier League season kicked off with defending champions Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool all making fine starts. It looked like we were in a three-way title race as Rodri won the Ballon d’Or and looked at his best again. However, an unfortunate ACL injury ended his and Manchester City’s hopes of a successful title defence. Debutant Arne Slot’s Red Machine was grinding at full speed to run away with the league title. Arsenal’s season was in a stop-start mode owing to injuries and inconsistent performances. Giants like Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur had an underwhelming season and languish near the relegation zone.

This season would be remembered for the strength of the mid-table clubs. Nottingham Forest has flipped the script by becoming a Champions League contender instead of relegation fodder. Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Bournemouth, Fulham and Brighton have all shown they can disrupt the usual hierarchy of the Premier League. We have an interesting final three weeks of the run-in coming soon.

With that in mind, we make an educated guess on who will be included in the Premier League Team Of The Season. But first, let’s take a look at the selection criteria.

Criteria for Our Premier League Predicted XI

Key Contributions: The players making it to the team of the season should have made immense contributions to their team. Scoring match-winners, assisting crucial goals or making important tackles to hold the lead are the kind of contributions that could get a player a spot on this prestigious XI.

Impact on the team: A player becomes so crucial to a team when the team falters to function without them. For example, taking Trent-Alexander Arnold out of Liverpool suddenly decreases their creativity by multiple folds. In a way, the team always revolves around the star men who become the match winners.

Consistency: A season runs for roughly 10 months. It is a fairly long period for the players to maintain consistency. There might be glorious purple patches for a month or two, but we expect the players to maintain the same levels of availability and impact throughout the season to stand out and earn a place on the Team Of The Season Premier League.

Best XI Premier League Team of the Season: Top Performers by Position

GK – David Raya (Arsenal)

The Spaniard’s impressive loan spell from Brentford earned him a permanent move to the Gunners this summer. He picked up where he left off at the Emirates Stadium. Raya’s shot-stopping ability remains the main reason that the Gunners maintained the meanest defence in the league.

Raya can comfortably play out from the back to Mikel Arteta’s liking. His ability to communicate with the defenders helps them maintain a perfect defensive shape. Raya’s kicking and long throwing provide them with an X-factor while attacking. The Arsenal shot stopper earned a name for making terrific double saves, and his saves against Aston Villa in August were regarded as some of the best of this PL season.

RB – Trent-Alexander Arnold (Liverpool)

The iconic number 66 of Liverpool has just announced that he will be leaving the club in the summer. Turns out this season would be his last dance with the club, and boy, did he make it count. Trent-Alexander Arnold’s biggest compliment this season was his improved defensive ability. Arne Slot, known as a perfectionist, worked with the right-back to improve his positioning and body shape while defending.

There was a visible improvement while he took on players. Offensively, he was one of the best full-backs in the world. His threat from set pieces and corners was ever-present. Trent scored crucial goals for the club as well. His winner against Leicester sparked wild celebrations. After winning his second Premier League medal, Trent is leaving his boyhood club in search of a new challenge at Real Madrid.

CB – William Saliba (Arsenal)

The Frenchman is developing into the best centre-back in the world, and we are all witnesses to it. Saliba’s ability to read the game and make crucial challenges puts Arsenal in a fantastic position always. The defender, alongside Gabriel, leads the meanest defence in the Premier League.

Saliba is slowly integrating goal-scoring into his game as well. Mikel Arteta’s trust gives him the freedom to play exquisite line-breaking passes and even dance into the midfield with the ball at his feet. However, he still has to master the art of winning aerial duels to get the crown of the best in the world.

CB – Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

The veteran defender made every player with an ACL injury believe they could get back to their normal self and hit a new peak as well. Van Dijk makes defending easy at times as he towers over strikers to win aerial duels without breaking a sweat. His passive defence allows his team to be aggressive. Van Dijk’s ability to still hold a high line without a drop in pace makes it even more impressive.

Virgil van Dijk will become the first Dutch skipper to lift the Premier League as he successfully led his side to the summit. The Dutchman’s command over the dressing room helped Slot propagate his tactics to the players well, while his passing and crucial goals allowed his side to successfully capture the title.

LB – Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth)

Kerkez’s first season in the Premier League gave him so many points to work on. The Hungarian took it up as a challenge and had a fantastic second season in the competition. He was a bundle of energy on the left flank as he made non-stop runs up and down the flank.

Kerkez’s ability to support his wingers by either overlapping or underlapping created plenty of options for his side. He had a great cross on him as well as dangerous cutbacks. Take nothing away from his defending, as he can go toe-to-toe with any winger in the world and dominate them with his lunging tackles.

CM – Declan Rice (Arsenal)

Declan Rice had a good first season with Arsenal, but he went on to better it this term. Rice enjoyed a more fluid role this season as Arteta trusted Thomas Partey to anchor the midfield. It gave Rice the ability to join the attack and make more impact in the final third. His ball-striking and goal-scoring made him a world-class player.

He picked up plenty of assists from pinpoint corners as well. Clubs barely had answers for his vicious inswingers that targeted a crowded six-yard box. These didn’t take anything away from Rice’s defensive abilities as he operated at incredible levels to win the ball back. He even deputised at centre-back at times to close out games.

CM – Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool)

Ryan Garvenberch was Jurgen Klopp’s parting gift to Liverpool. The legendary German manager signed him on deadline day in 2023 but failed to use him properly. He believed in Garvenberch’s talents and left him as an unfinished article. When a fellow Dutchman in Arne Slot came in, he made sure to polish Gravenberch.

Slot had a great understanding of Gravenberch and his abilities. He deployed him as the deepest one in a double pivot. A run of successive games allowed Gravenberch to thrive as his reading of the game and long reach gave him an edge in tackles. He had a great engine too, as he used to join the attack and track back seamlessly. What made him different from others was his ability to receive the ball under pressure and turn, leaving his markers for dead. He made the 180-degree turn his trademark as he dominated midfield.

CAM – Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)

The Portuguese magnifico has been through a lot at Manchester United. Despite not being in the best environments, he always performs for the team. Even this season, he played as an attacking midfielder under Erik ten Hag. He had to remodel his entire gameplay under Ruben Amorim, where he played as an inside forward. Fernandes was also made to play the deep-lying playmaker role.

As an ode to what a world-class talent Bruno Fernandes is, he excelled in every single role. Fernandes single-handedly won points for his side with crucial goals and assists. Without his contributions, we daresay Manchester United could be in a relegation fight. His free kick against Arsenal stands out as the best moment of his season.

RW – Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

The Egyptian King had no reason to drop another all-timer campaign. But the right-winger, despite turning 31 in the summer, beat all the allegations of slowing down and terrified Premier League defences like he was 25 all over again. He dovetailed beautifully with Arne Slot, who built his attack around Salah, putting less defensive responsibility on him.

It allowed Salah to completely focus on goal-scoring. He surprised the world with his playmaking by developing a deadly trivela pass. He broke scoring records for fun and helped Liverpool win the league by a canter. Salah also broke into the top 5 of the all-time scorers list and is incredibly close to breaking the assist record as well.

Salah is set to earn another spot on the Fan Premier League Team Of The Season. He is also the highest-rated player in the TOTS Premier League on EA FC 25 with a 97-rated card.

ST – Alexander Isak (Newcastle United)

Reaching the peak ages of his career, Alexander Isak is realising his potential. This season will be looked at as the starting spot when he gets crowned as one of the best strikers in the world. The Swede has 23 goals in the league and is hoping to catch Mohamed Salah in the race for the Golden Boot with a late push.

Isak’s range of finishing is awe-inspiring. From simple tap-ins to long-range screamers and finishes from tight angles, he can do it all. He scored a fine hat-trick against Ipswich in the league this season. Isak’s goal in the Carabao Cup final helped Newcastle end their domestic trophy drought of 70 years.

LW – Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford)

There was a sizable gap at Brentford when Ivan Toney left the club. Thomas Frank had a huge call to make, and it was answered by Bryan Mbeumo. The winger recorded his career-best numbers by helping the Bees stay up in the league for another season. Despite their late-season blip, he has almost dragged them to European spots. The impressive fact about Mbeumo is that he even deputised as a striker at times.

Mbeumo’s trademark cut-in-and-shoot saw a boost as it was well complemented by his chance creation. His decision-making got better, and he started firing crosses from wider areas. Throughout the season, he had key contributions and wins that won points for his side.

Manager – Arne Slot (Liverpool)

A few predicted the Dutchman’s introduction to be this smooth in the Premier League. After Jürgen Klopp left Liverpool in 2024, many questions were asked. There were doubts that the team would fall off a cliff, key players without a contract heading into the final season of their deal and more importantly, just a single signing in the summer that was on a cut-price deal.

Arne Slot, who made a name for himself in the Eredivisie, didn’t fear the occasion or the place as he made himself at home. He brought his cool and composed persona to the touchlines at Anfield and replied with his work on the field. Having world-class players helped his cause as he implemented a 4-2-3-1 formation successfully. His pressing patterns and attention to detail helped many players like Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch and Luis Diaz improve while unlocking a new level in Mohamed Salah.

Slot’s tactical flexibility in-game stood out multiple times. From the fast starts against Manchester City to completely overhauling the structure at Arsenal away to get a result, he showed he can be both offensive and pragmatic when needed. The manager did lose his temper and was handed a touchline ban thanks to his antics. However, he measured everything to perfection as he led Liverpool to a Premier League title by keeping the rest of the league at an arm’s length.

Best XI Predicted Premier League Team of the Season