With the top-flight campaign nearing its halfway point at the turn of the year, Goal assesses the star men of 2020-21 to this point
Though the delay to the start of the season means that the Premier League campaign is yet to reach its halfway point, the table is starting to take shape.
Defending champions Liverpool are again out in front, but the Reds have not had things their own way and look set for a much tougher challenge when it comes to winning a second successive league title.
Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Leicester City and Everton have all shown flashes of form that suggest they could be in the hunt right until the final weeks, while the likes of Aston Villa and Southampton have also enjoyed periods in the upper echelons of the table.
But which players have been the standouts so far? Goal has selected its Team of the Season through to the end of the calendar year, though everything could change as we enter 2021…
GettyGK: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
It is fair to suggest that Arsenal fans were split when it was revealed that Bernd Leno had been chosen to be the Gunners' No.1 for the new season given the impressive performances of Emiliano Martinez in the closing weeks of the previous campaign.
Martinez had played a key role in helping turn around the fortunes of Mikel Arteta's side, and with first-team football not forthcoming in north London he jumped at the chance of joining Aston Villa for £20 million ($25m) in mid-September.
His form for the Villans has mirrored that of his final months at Arsenal, with the Argentina international currently leading the race for the Premier League's Golden Glove with eight clean sheets from his first 14 appearances for the club.
Martinez has rarely put a foot wrong for Dean Smith's side, saving 76 per cent of shots faced, which ranks him second among the English top-flight's regular goalkeepers in 2020-21 behind Nick Pope.
AdvertisementGettyRB: Reece James (Chelsea)
With Trent Alexander-Arnold having struggled with injuries, the door has been opened for another young, English right-back to stake his claim to become the league's best player in his position.
Reece James' form for Chelsea has been so strong that club captain Cesar Azpilicueta has been relegated to the substitutes' bench for almost the entire campaign so far, with James also having earned himself a first England call-up during the autumn.
Going forward he is a revelation, with his crossing accuracy of 22.4% the second-best among full-backs in the Premier League so far this season.
He has also proven himself to be adept defensively, winning 27 tackles at a success rate of 63%; the fourth-best ratio among full-backs in 2020-21.
Getty ImagesCB: Kurt Zouma (Chelsea)
Though new signings Thiago Silva and Edouard Mendy have taken most of the plaudits for Chelsea's improved defensive record, there is no getting away from the fact that Kurt Zouma has perhaps been the most consistently impressive of the trio so far in 2020-21.
The France international was tipped to become one of the world's great centre-backs before suffering a serious knee injury in 2016 that threatened to derail his top-level career.
This season, though, he is beginning to deliver on his potential. He has 38 headed clearances – the fourth-most in the Premier League – and has won 75% of his attempted tackles as well as 66% of his duels.
He has also become an attacking weapon from set-pieces, with his four goals the most among the division's defenders.
Getty ImagesCB: Fabinho (Liverpool)
Liverpool's title odds lengthened significantly when Virgil van Dijk suffered his potentially season-ending knee injury against Everton in October, so seeming irreplaceable is the Netherlands international at Anfield.
And yet, Jurgen Klopp's side have conceded just seven goals in 12 league games since Van Dijk's injury – a record made even more remarkable given that Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker have all also suffered injuries in the meantime.
Holding midfielder Fabinho has been entrusted with filling the Van Dijk-shaped hole in the Liverpool defence, and while he too missed time through injury, the ex-Monaco man has looked very much at home at the heart of the back four.
The 27-year-old ranks as Liverpool's leading tackler and their player with the most headed clearances so far this term as they chase a second successive league title.