Erling Haaland, Harry Kane, and Ivan Toney to lead the attack as we look at the best players 11 of the tournament so far for EPL 2022-23.
We are already at halfway stage of PL 2022-23, and this season is somewhat different from the last few seasons. Be it seeing Manchester City dropping a few points, Liverpool and Chelsea not at their usual best, and Manchester United showing promising signs under the new leadership of Eric ten Hag.
But to everyone’s surprise, the performance of old historical clubs Arsenal and Newcastle United is the highlight of the season so far. Arsenal are at the top after a while, which was not so uncommon during the 2000s. Whereas Newcastle are going shoulder to shoulder with top clubs in the race for a top 4 finish.
We have also seen some extremely brilliant displays of performances – not just from established and well-known players but also from the stars in the making with a big future ahead. With plenty to play for still and a lot at stake, we have to wait for the season to end. But let’s figure out the best players 11 at almost the halfway stage of EPL 2022-23.
Stats Wizard Methodology:
To select the Best players 11 for EPL 2022-23 at halfway stage, we have taken various skill sets into consideration. We have taken a position-wise selection for the team. Each skill set has been given a different weightage in our calculations. In case of a tie among players, the level of opposition has been taken into consideration.
Attack: We have analyzed the forward line performances basis the attack rating calculated from the overall aspect of the game such as goals scored, assists, shot accuracy, touches inside the box, successful dribbles, and offsides.
Midfield: Again, we have analyzed the midfield performances by looking at the various aspects like goals scored, assists, total passes, pass accuracy, touches, successful dribbles, duels, duels won, and interceptions.
Defense: Defensive skill sets which are included in our selection criteria are clean sheets, tackles, tackles won, duels/duels won, aerial duels won, clearances, interceptions, block shots, crosses, assists and goals.
Alright then, let’s look at the best players 11 at the halfway stage of EPL 2022-23.
Goalkeeper:
#1: Nick Pope (Newcastle United)
Newcastle United meant business at the start of the season under the new ownership. Nick Pope was signed from the relegated Burnley side, and did he disappoint his new manager and fans? Well, of course not. With 25 clearances and 12 clean sheets, 3 more than the next best Aaron Ramsdale, Pope is certainly the man in front of the goalpost of our team.
Defense:
#2: Ben Mee (Brentford)
Brentford’s defender, Ben Mee is one of the centre-backs of our team. With Burnley relegated last season, he is another player to depart them to keep living his PL dream as he joined Brentford. He has 7 clean sheets, 20 tackles won, 61 clearances, 27 interceptions, and 24 block shots so far. He has also scored 2 goals and provided one assist. His best match of the season was against Manchester United where he scored once and kept a clean sheet to beat Red Devils 4-0 at home.
#3: William Saliba (Arsenal)
Arsenal’s center-back will be at the heart of the defence of our lineup. Saliba is an integral part of Arsenal’s success story this season. He has 9 clean sheets, 25 tackles won, 59 clearances, 15 interceptions, and 6 blocked shots so far this season. Apart from defensive duties, he has scored twice and provided one assist.
#2: Fabian Schar (Newcastle United)
Schar is another Newcastle United star in our lineup. No wonder Newcastle united are doing great this season with their defence settled. Schar has 90 duels won, 25 tackles won, 12 clean sheets, and scored one goal this season. He will be key to Newcastle United’s endeavour to finish in the top 4 at the end of the season.
#5: Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United)
Keiran Tripper is another spot-on signing by the new management. A few eyebrows were raised when Newcastle brought him back to PL after playing 3 seasons in La Liga with Atletico Madrid. But he did not disappoint at all.
He has astonishing stats with 44 tackles won, 93 duels won, 33 clearances, 26 interceptions, 11 blocked shots, and 12 clean sheets. On top of that, he has 4 assists and 1 goal to his name as well. Surely, one of the easy picks to select in the best 11.
Midfielders:
#6: Marcus Rashford Manchester United)
The current season is certainly a breakthrough season for the English midfielder. There was never a doubt about his calibre. But he never came out truly after the sensational start to his career as a teenager. But this season is different, he looks more settled and secure under Eric ten Hag, which is reflected in his game. He has 9 goals and 3 assists so far this season. The 25-year-old has scored some crucial goals this season and broke the deadlock number of times for the Red Devils.
#7: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
The talismanic midfielder is the prime architect of Manchester City’s success in the last few seasons. Arguably, he is the best PL midfielder for quite a few seasons now.
With 13 assists, which is the highest so far for the season and 3 goals to his name, he will be controlling the pace of the game in the mid-field.
#8: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
The 21-year-old midfielder, Bukayo Saka is one of the reasons why Arsenal are back to business and leading the PL charts. He has 7 goals and many assists in 19 PL matches. His pace with the ball and dribbling skills add a great dimension to this young Arsenal setup. With pass accuracy of 83%, 22 successful dribbles, 59% tackles won, 10 clearances, and 10 interceptions, the young midfielder is influential on both sides of the pitch.
Forwards:
#9: Ivan Toney (Brentford)
Ivan Toney is having a dream season so far. With 13 goals and 3 assists, he is only behind Haaland and Kane in numbers. It is more heartening to see that he is doing this with a team promoted just last season. With his heroics at the top and compact defending at the back, Brentford are comfortably sitting in the top half of the PL table.
#10: Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
The numbers of Manchester City forward, Erling Haaland are insane. Haaland already has 4 PL hattricks and has equalled legendary Alan Shearer and Harry Kane to score 4 hattricks in a single PL season. He has 25 goals and 3 assists to his name so far.
He is on a goal-scoring spree and has already scored more times than the Golden Boot-winning goals of the last 4 seasons. The astonishing fact is that we are only at the middle of the season, and with this rate, he is all set to break a few PL records before the season ends.
#11: Harry Kane (Spurs)
The 29-year-old England captain is at his usual best with 16 PL goals so far this season. He is all set to join the elite club of Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney to become the only third player to score 200 PL goals overall. With Heung-min Son not at the best of his form, Harry Kane solely is carrying the baton of Spurs to make any challenge for a top 4 finish.
EPL 2022-23 – Mid Tournament Combined Best Players 11:
Nick Pope [gk], Ben Mee, William Saliba, Fabian Schar, Kieran Trippier, Marcus Rashford, Kevin De Bruyne, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney, Erling Haaland & Harry Kane
Thanks for reading! What’s your best players 11 so far for EPL 2022-23? Please email your thoughts to footbalyticsofficial@gmail.com
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Akshay is an author at Footbalytics. His love for football started way back in 1998 when Ronaldo (Not Cristiano) was his first football hero, and the list keeps getting longer ever since.
Though Akshay is a Teacher by profession, he firmly believes that there is no better classroom than the Sports field and no better Teacher than Sports.