You might be surprised that I’m doing this so early in the season.
Yes, it’s TOTS time. We’ll be (probably) getting TOTS earlier this year because World cup this year and TOTS should finish earlier.
I’ll start by doing top-5 leagues and then cover some ROW leagues.
Today, I’m doing Premier League, because it’s most interesting and it always goes first, after TOTS Most Consistent, but never IF.
I’ll do this year a bit differently, with no restrictions, as last year showed us. I’ll simply put players, that I think deserve to be in it.
Of course, many people will disagree with some picks, but overall I’m expecting to get around 18 out of 24 right guesses.
I hope you are alright with it, so let’s get started.
Goalkeepers
1st choice is David De Gea.
Most important GK this season. Most important player for Manchester United. Without him, United wouldn’t be in their current position. I’m sure everyone will agree with this pick.
2nd choice is Nick Pope.
You might say: “It’s a strange pick”. But Burnley having an amazing season for them and their defence is their best part of the team. Having a lot of clean sheets this season and replacing Heaton, Pope proved himself in one of the hardest leagues in the world.
3rd choice is Ederson.
Rookie seasons are always hard in PL, especially for GKs, but Ederson proved himself amazingly. He’s shown, why City paid for him loads of cash and Guardiola wanted him so much. Saving few penalties, making important passes and much more. Everything you want in GK is Ederson.
Now, let’s move on to defenders.
My first choice right back is Antonio Valencia. Yeah, Valencia is really great this season, having few really amazing games, high rating and also 3 goals to his name.
The 1st Central back is Jan Vertonghen. Amazing defender. Every season he proves himself, he’s just amazing for Spurs and controls every game so much. Having few MOTM performances to his name also helps to prove his position and my 1st choice.
The 2nd Central back is Nicolas Otamendi. Who would’ve thought that he’ll be so great? He was actually really good before Man City, but his 1stseason was really a rough one. He even got downgraded last FIFA, but that’s not really what we are talking about.
This year is completely different. He transformed his game, was nominated few times for POTM, and overall did really consistent job. Scoring 4 goals, 5 MOTMs and many great stats- really shows that he deserves this spot.
Left back for starting 11 is actually a hard one. There are 3 really strong candidates, but I must choose only 2. Ben Davies, Ashley Young and Marcos Alonso all deserve this spot, but let’s place Marcos Alonso in our starting line-up.
2nd really good season for Spaniard, even tho Chelsea really struggling this year. 6 goals and 1 assist from LWB position, one of the most important players for Chelsea and probably deserved starting spot in this TOTS.
Now we move to the bench and reserves for defenders.
2 choices for CBs are Cesar Azpilicueta and James Tarkowski. Both of these players are the most influential for their teams in my opinion.
Azpilicueta is best Chelsea player this season, even better than Hazard in my opinion. 6 assists to Morata, 1 goal and few MOTMs really helps his case.
Tarkowski is actually without goals and assists to his name this season but with a lot fo MOTMs. I think both of there players deserve a spot, but I can see Tarkowski being excluded. But I hope not because Burnley actually deserves some recognition.
I can’t find a proper 2nd choice right back for my bench, but I can see Kyle Walker being included in TOTS. But I just can’t include sooo many City players in my prediction.
But Left-backs have a lot more choice. Ashley Young deserves to be included in TOTS. He transformed his game on the left-back position. 2 goals, 3 assists currently, but it can change later this season. Actually, was surprised, but he’s currently highest-rated defender in the premier league.
Now, it’s time for Midfielders.
I’ll just say that there are 3 City midfielders that deserve 3 spots no matter what. I won’t even name their stats, but I’ll just name them: Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Fernandinho. All those 3 players having an astonishing season and all 3 of them will be in TOTS.
Now, let’s get back to earth and name some deserving central midfielders from other teams.
N’golo Kante is the 1st player that comes to mind. Yes, he hasn’t been THAT good this season, but still having a really great one. He actually might be excluded, but I still think that he deserves this spot.
Moussa Dembele is another one. He might not have played a lot of matches, but if he ends this season with more than 22 games played- I think he has a chance. Every game he plays- he controls the game for Spurs alongside the next candidate
Christian Eriksen. 7 goals, 7 assists. Beautiful player to watch, and just world-class player. I can’t simply exclude him from TOTS, because I think that he’ll get for sure.
Eden Hazard is playing at CAM this season and shines there with 11 goals and 3 assists. Sometimes playing as LW, but he deserves CAM TOTS card. At least in my opinion.
Also, for some wild-guessers: Wilfred Ndidi from Leicester can get a TOTS, something like a Tournament player or being included in TOTS from the start. He’s currently having most of the tackles in PL and really amazing season overall.
Now, wingers, one the most interesting picks in this TOTS.
At first, I’ll just name 3 obvious candidates, that will probably get it no matter what: Salah, Sane, Sterling. Triple “S”. All of them having an amazing season, I won’t say much more about them, because we have one more interesting pick.
Riyad Mahrez from Leicester is having a really good season, with 9+7 and some important performances. Even when he has a transfer saga ongoing, he actually plays well and carries Leicester
And the last, but not least is strikers
2 candidates that have no question: Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane. They will have an amazing TOTS cards.
Roberto Firmino is my 3rd choice. Some people say that Bobby is actually more important to LFC than Salah, some might disagree, but he’s having an absolute fantastic season with 13 goals and 7 assists.
So, In the end- I named a little bit more than 24 players, but there are my TOTS picks for Premier League.
Of course you can disagree with me, I’ll try to explain myself to you on twitter and we’ll have a great conversation for sure!:D
I’m really looking for TOTS and Premier League will be one of the most interesting ones this season!