The Premier League season has come to a close, and what a season it was. Manchester City broke no less than seven league records, Arsenal and Chelsea fell out of the top four, Burnley secured a Europa league spot, and all three promoted sides avoided relegation for the first time since 2012.
As for player accolades, Mohamed Salah won the Golden Boot, breaking the single season Premier League scoring record in the process with 32 goals, and David De Gea finally won the Golden Glove.
Unfortunately, not every player who has a great year gets to take home hardware. The best we can do is award the best performers of the 2017/18 with a spot in our Goal Fantasy Premier League Team of the Season.
GK: David de Gea - Manchester United - 37 Games Started, 116 Saves, 18 Clean Sheets = 185 Points
DEF: Marcos Alonso - Chelsea - 33 Games Started, 7 Goals, 2 Assists, 14 Clean Sheets = 161 Points
Alonso’s up-and-down nature was discussed last week but, with 161 points, he proved to be the best Fantasy defender in 2017/18. The Chelsea defence on the whole finished fourth in both goals allowed and clean sheets which, while very good, is likely worse than most owners or Chelsea fans would have expected. Barring something crazy happening over the summer, Alonso will be one of the best players available next season despite the high price tag he will surely receive.
DEF: Nicolas Otamendi - Manchester City - 33 Games Started, 4 Goals, 15 Clean Sheets = 145 Points
DEF: Cesar Azpilicueta - Chelsea - 37 Games Started, 2 Goals, 6 Assists, 15 Clean Sheets = 143 Points
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MID: Mohamed Salah - Liverpool - 34 Games Started, 32 Goals, 12 Assists = 295 Points
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Mohamed Salah is our Player of the Season. His 32 goals are a new Premier League record and still finished top 10 in assists with 12. He ended the campaign a single goal away from hitting 300 points and was a whopping 75 points ahead of second placed Harry Kane. Regardless of whether or not the Egyptian stays at Liverpool, it will likely be a long, long time before anyone will have this kind of year and Fantasy production again.
MID: Raheem Sterling - Manchester City - 29 Games Started, 18 Goals, 17 Assists = 216 Points
MID: Riyad Mahrez - Leicester - 34 Games Started, 12 Goals, 13 Assists = 181 Points
This is probably the only name that people will be surprised to see in the Fantasy Team of the Year. He certainly was not an easy own as he had three stretches of four or more blanks but, when he was good, he was very good. In fact, he is one of just two players to have finished top five in both goals and assists, only behind Raheem Sterling. Considering that Mahrez flew under the radar for the majority of the season, it’s likely he will be a fantastic value come July.
MID: Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City - 36 Games Started, 8 Goals, 18 Assists = 175 Points
MID: Christian Eriksen - Tottenham - 37 Games Started, 11 Goals, 10 Assists = 170 Points
FOR: Harry Kane - Tottenham - 35 Games Started, 29 Goals, 2 Assists = 220 Points
In any other year, Harry Kane’s 30 goals would have been good enough for the Golden Boot, but Salah just refused to slow down all season. Tottenham’s talisman led the league in shots and shots on target and broke his career best in league goals, despite dealing with injuries multiple times throughout the campaign. He has now scored 20 or more goals in every season since he became a starter at Tottenham, making him arguably the most reliable outfield player in Fantasy.
FOR: Jamie Vardy - Leicester - 37 Games Started, 20 Goals, 2 Assists = 177 Points
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