The Premier League announced its end-of-season awards finalists in four categories on Friday, with voting set to remain open through 1 pm ET on Monday, Aug. 10.
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Here’s a look at the finalists for the four key awards, and a prediction of who will take home each one…
Premier League Player of the Season – VOTE HERE
Finalists: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kevin De Bruyne (Man City), Jordan Henderson (Liveprool), Danny Ings (Southampton), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Nick Pope (Burnley), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
Who will win? First things first, Footballer of the Year — which was won by Henderson, according to the Football Writers’ Association — and Player of the Season are very different awards. FotY awards have typically gone to the individual deemed most important to the title-winning team; PotS generally goes to the most outstanding individual performer. Thus, De Bruyne should receive somewhere between 96 and 98 percent of the vote. The Belgian’s 20 assists tied the PL record (Thierry Henry, 2002-03) and he chipped in with another baker’s dozen goals. No one else’s numbers even approach that level of absurdity, so let’s just pause for a moment and consider how far City would have finished the season behind Liverpool without De Bruyne going superhuman.
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Premier League Young Player of the Season – VOTE HERE
Finalists: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Mason Greenwood (Man United), Dean Henderson (Sheffield United), Anthony Martial (Man United), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Man United)
Who will win? It goes without saying the Pulisic takes this award for the post-Project Restart period of the season, but did he do enough over the course of the entire season to edge out, say, Alexander-Arnold, who was a genuine difference maker for not only the league champions, but also one of the most dominant sides in PL history? Probably not. Plus, how rare is it that a defender — let alone a full back — gets his due credit when the awards are handed out? It takes a truly special player to put forth a truly special season to earn that kind of recognition as a full back, and Alexander-Arnold checked both of those boxes in 2019-20.
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Premier League Manager of the Season – VOTE HERE
Finalists: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Brendan Rodgers (Leicester City), Chris Wilder (Sheffield United)
Who will win? Through 30 games played, Sheffield United sat seventh in the table and were just two points out of fifth place — at the time, thought to be a Champions League place with Man City’s impending, but since-lifted, European ban — which probably made Chris Wilder the slight favorite for Manager of the Season. Unfortunately, the Blades lost four of their final eight games and slipped to ninth — still a remarkable first season in the PL, but just far enough outside of Europe — and many, many months ago — that most voters will likely forget their brilliant start to the season. Frank Lampard will likely receive a fair share of the vote given Chelsea’s transfer ban, the exceedingly youthful nature of the Chelsea squad and qualifying for Champions League — and rightly so — but there remains one likely, and perhaps runaway, winner: Klopp. Call it a “career achievement” award if you must, but anyone who considers the state of Liverpool when Klopp took over in 2015, and compares that to where they are now, will vote for Klopp in the blink of an eye.
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Premier League Goal of the Season – VOTE HERE – WATCH HERE
Finalists: Harvey Barnes (Leicester City), Moussa Djenepo (Southampton), Matthew Longstaff (Newcastle United), Kevin De Bruyne no. 1, v. Newcastle (Man City), Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Brighton & Hove Albion), Matej Vydra (Burnley), Bruno Fernandes (Man United), Kevin De Bruyne no. 2, v. Norwich City (Man City)
Hit the link above and watch all the goals, then let’s have a debate in the comments.
Who will win? Given his otherworldly popularity back home in South Korea, it’s easy to see the votes flooding in for Son, whose solo goal against Burnley was spectacular from the first yard all the way to the 75th. That’s the easy and obvious answer, but if you’re looking for something of a dark-horse candidate, De Bruyne’s blast against Newcastle, due to not only the chest control but also the height at which he strikes the ball and bangs it off the underside of the crossbar, is the likely first runner-up.
