PFA Player Of the Year Odds – Can Ronaldo beat De Bruyne?

The 2021/22 Premier League season isn’t far away, but who is looking likely to stop Kevin De Bruyne from making it three wins in a row?

Obviously, football is far more than just an individual sport and it’s not always the best individuals that win the league, Leicester 15/16 for example. However, players do enjoy getting recognised for their personal achievements.

The PFA Player Of The Season award is a big one for any Premier League player to win. It is voted for by all the players in the league and regarded as a great award to receive. The Player Of The Season award was first in 1973/74 and there have been 47 recipients since.

In the Premier League, five players have won it twice. They are Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Kevin De Bruyne. Last year’s winner was De Bruyne, who was only the third player to make it back-to-back wins.

PFA Player Of The Year 2020/21 Odds (Betfair)

Mo Salah -6 goals, 3 assists – 4/1 

Liverpool’s main man is always one of the favorites for the PFA Player Of The Year award. He has been fantastic for them every season since he signed in 2017. He won this award in his first season when he scored 32 goals, setting a new Premier League record. Since then he followed up with 22, 19, and 22 goals.

Salah has shown he can consistently perform at the top level and this season should be no different. If Liverpool manage to regain the title, which is very possible and Salah is amongst the goals again, he could be picking up his second PFA award.

Cristiano Ronaldo – 3 goals 0 assists – 4/1

Arguably the greatest player to ever play in the Premier League is returning to Old Trafford for at least two more seasons. Ronaldo looked set to be joining Man City but United came in and beat them to it for a fee of just £12.75 million! He is still scoring a lot of goals at the age of 36 and will be more than confident of carrying this on in the Premier League.

Ronaldo has won the PFA Player Of The Year award twice, winning it in both 2007 and 2008. There is no doubting his ability and if he can perform how he has done over the past few years in the Premier League, he could very well get his third award!

Bruno Fernandes – 4 goals, 1 assist – 6/1

Ever since this man joined Man United in January 2020, his side has looked a lot better. In just 54 appearances, he has got 29 goals and 19 assists and is involved in everything Man united does. Last season, it looked like he could be the one to push Kane but his performances tailed off for his standards towards the end of the season.

Bruno is capable of winning this award but will need to do two things this season. He will need more goals from open play, as 50% of his goals last season were from the penalty spot. The other one is perform better in the big games. Last season against the ‘Big Six’, he registered just three goals and no assists and was a passenger for most of the games. If he can play his best in these games and keep pushing United, he could be in with a very good chance.

Romelu Lukaku – 3 goals, 0 assists – 6/1

Another player returning to a former club this season is Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian striker is having his second stint at Chelsea after signing for £97.5 million. He got off to the perfect start scoring on his debut against Arsenal.

Chelsea have been lacking an out-and-out goalscorer and Lukaku could be that man. He scored 24 goals last season, helping Inter Milan to a Serie A title. Lukaku is capable of scoring a lot of goals and if he can help Chelsea to another Premier League title, surely he will be in with a shout.

Kevin De Bruyne –  1 goal, 0 assists – 15/2

You cant win the PFA Players Player Of The Year two years in a row and not be the favourite this year. On his day, De Bruyne is one of the best players in the world, never mind in the Premier League. However, winning the award last season came as a surprise to a lot of people. Last season he got six goals and 12 assists, compared to 13 goals and 20 assists the season before.

This is still a good return, but not the best in the league. De Bruyne winning it last season shows that players aren’t just voting on stats and are going for who they think played the best in the league that season. De Bruyne has missed the first couple of games due to injury which over the year could be the only thing that could hamper his chances.

Harry Kane – 0 goals, 0 assists – 12/1

Kane looked like he was going to win this award for the first time in his career last season, after a fantastic year. He registered 23 goals and 14 assists, more than anyone else for both. Under Mourinho, he changed his style of play to drop in more and get more involved, which help him massively.

Currently, Kane is still at Spurs. However, he is apparently looking for a move away with City the most likely destination. If he were to move, he would expect to score more than he did last season which would only help. Coupling that with a potential Premier League trophy then there could be real value in Harry Kane at 9/1!

 

Outside Chances:

Jack Grealish (12/1) – Grealish has settled in very well after making his £100 million move to Man City. He has featured in all their league games and seems to have made himself one of the main men in the side already.

Virgil Van Dijk (16/1) – Van Dijk won this award back in 18/19 after a fantastic first full season at Liverpool. He is now back from injury and is the best defender in the league. If he can repeat his 18/19 season, is there anyone better at their job than him?