A decisive champion does not make a dominant one, and the Premier League’s Best XI is unlikely to look like it has in recent seasons when Man City or Liverpool took up most of the positions on nearly every ballot.
Yes, picking a Premier League Best XI is a more difficult task this season, and the advanced stats don’t make it easier, as some of the season’s most impressive individual performances came from stars living in the bottom half of the table. Bruno Fernandes, Matheus Cunha, and Eberechi Eze were among the magnificent talents whose teams did not qualify for Europe through the league route.