Premier League 2025-26 awards: Best game, worst transfer, best XI, more
The Premier League season is over! What did Bill Connelly love and hate about it? It's time to serve up his alternative prizes for the good and bad across the 2025-26 campaign.
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The 2025-26 Premier League season is in the books. We laughed, we cried, we said goodbye to a lot of legends leaving their jobs -- Pep Guardiola, Mohamed Salah, Bernardo Silva, Andy Robertson -- and we complained. So, so much. About set pieces and meat walls. About Arsenal not playing pretty enough ball. About Manchester United's coach (who was fired). About Liverpool's coach (who wasn't, at least not yet). About Tottenham Hotspur's first three coaches (who were all fired). About VAR.
Even if a lot of the complaining (but probably not all) was legitimate, over the course of nine months and 380 matches, we're going to see some awfully impressive things in the richest league in the world. So let's celebrate the best things we saw from this Premier League campaign. Who were the best players? Best matches? Best single-game performances? Best coaches?
Here are some of this season's most sparkling stats and superlatives.
JUMP TO: Best games | Best single-game performances | Best managers | Best signings | Worst signings | Best players under 22 | Best XI | MVP
The 5 best matches of the season
It feels like it was about eight years ago, but Liverpool began this season with an almost team-of-destiny run of dramatic wins. You could make a strong case that the Reds' Aug. 25 win over Newcastle should have also been on this list, but we'll go with the season opener, in which they both built and lost a two-goal lead, but came through in a charged atmosphere, with their reigning player of the season putting the match away late.
Like I said, it feels like ages ago.
2. Brighton 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur (April 18). Spurs rallied to save themselves from relegation, but the existential fears peaked with this match, in which they led twice... but still dropped what seemed like two vital points.
3. Aston Villa 2-1 Arsenal (Dec. 6). Despite poor underlying numbers, Villa finished fourth in the league due to random moments of utter brilliance. There might not have been a more brilliant -- or more chaotic -- finish this year than Emil Buendia's scruffy and perfect stoppage-time winner against the champs.
4. Everton 3-3 Manchester City (May 4). After a brilliant 2-1 win over Arsenal ever so briefly put City in the driver's seat in April, two City draws put the Gunners back in charge. City's 1-1 draw with Bournemouth was the official clincher for Arsenal, but this wonderfully chaotic match two weeks earlier is what initially turned the tide. Jérémy Doku and Erling Haaland were brilliant, but the worst 15 minutes of City's season did them in.
5. Newcastle 4-3 Leeds United (Jan. 7). There might be no better venue in the world than St. James' Park for staging 90 minutes of absolute chaos. This match might have been the best sheer adrenaline rush of the year.
Honorable mention: Manchester United 4, Bournemouth 4 (Dec. 15); Liverpool 3, Newcastle 2 (Aug. 25); Sunderland 2, Newcastle 1 (March 22); Aston Villa 4, Sunderland 3 (April 19); Manchester City 2, Arsenal 1 (April 19)
Bruno Fernandes, Andoni Iraola and Erling Haaland all had impressive seasons. Getty The 10 best single-game performances of the 2025-26 season 1. João Pedro vs. Aston Villa (March 4) Chelsea labored through yet another disappointing season, with quite a few underwhelming signings. But Pedro was mostly awesome, producing 15 league goals and five assists, and his three-goal, one-assist performance in a 4-1 win over Villa was the single most prolific performance anyone in the league produced in 2025-26.
2. Doku vs. Brentford (May 9). This was Doku's most Doku match of the season. He scored a goal and created six chances, but that only tells about 10% of the story: He also completed 30 progressive carries, gained 783 meters of carry distance, drew three fouls, won 11 ground duels and created 1.3 xPVA. Needless to say, City rolled to a 3-0 win.
3. Bruno Fernandes vs. Wolves (Dec. 8). Take your pick of great performances from Fernandes, but we'll go with this two-goal, one-assist, full-control effort. It was brilliant even if lots of players were particularly brilliant against Wolves.
4. Casemiro vs. Brentford (April 27). Casemiro's run at Manchester United came to an end this season, but his past few months might have been his best. And he was virtually perfect in a 2-1 victory over Brentford: He scored a goal, won 12 of 13 ground duels, won 10 of 11 tackles and made 26 total defensive interventions. You almost literally can't ask for more than that.
5. Eberechi Eze vs. Tottenham Hotspur (Nov. 23). As more of a cog than a star, Eze scored only seven league goals with two assists this season, but nearly half of those goals came in the year's first North London Derby, a 4-1 Arsenal win.
It was the derby's first hat trick.
6. Alphonse Areola vs. Bournemouth (Nov. 22). Maybe the best stand-on-your-head goalkeeper performance of the season came from West Ham's ever-pressured Areola, who saved 10 shots on goal, prevented 2.5 goals (per xG) and even tied for the team lead in chances created (albeit with just one). West Ham could still only manage a 2-2 draw thanks to two late Bournemouth goals, but it was hard to blame Areola for any of that.
7. Jean-Philippe Mateta vs. Bournemouth (Oct. 18). Bournemouth fell three points short of a first Champions League berth. Areola's brilliance cost them two points in November, and Mateta's brilliance -- in the form of a hat trick in a 3-3 draw -- cost them two more.
More players should tuck their shirts in.
8. Haaland vs. Manchester United (Sept. 14). Haaland scored 19 goals in his first 17 league matches, and typically when one came, another soon followed. He had seven braces in this span, including one in a 3-0 romp in the Manchester Derby.
9. Elliot Anderson vs. Manchester United (Nov. 1). Where would Forest have been this season without Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White? Gibbs-White produced 15 goals and four assists from 49 chances created, while Anderson basically did everything up to the Gibbs-White goal involvement. In this vital 2-2 draw with United, he created three chances, completed 13 progressive passes with 15 progressive carries and made 14 ball recoveries -- 11 in the midfield alone. He was vital in Forest's attack and vital in snuffing out Manchester United's.
10. José Sá vs. Nottingham Forest (Feb. 11). It was maybe the second-best goalkeeper performance of the season, and it also came from a relegated goalkeeper: Sa made 10 saves with 2.0 goals prevented as Wolves scored a rare point (and kept Forest in danger for the time being).
Manager of the season
Mikel Arteta led Arsenal to their first title in 22 seasons, so maybe he should be a co-No. 1 here. But... Bournemouth nearly made the Champions League! In terms of mind-blowing accomplishments, that has to be the winner. We'll see where Iraola lands next season -- and if it's at a richer, more powerful club, we'll see how his hard-charging, hair-on-fire style works with infinitely more well-paid superstars. But his three seasons with the Cherries were transformative.
2. Mikel Arteta, Arsenal. Almost no one is given time to truly plant seeds at a club anymore, but Arsenal stepped back and let Arteta work -- and they were rewarded for it. From eighth place in his first full season (2020-21), to fifth, to second for three straight years, the club's faith never seemed to waver. And in his sixth full season, blessed with the depth and support few managers receive, Arteta delivered a title.
3. Régis Le Bris, Sunderland. Were they a bit fortunate? Absolutely. Even with great finishing and goalkeeping, you can't turn the third-worst xG differential in the league into a seventh-place finish without some happy bounces. But that doesn't mean Le Bris wasn't incredible. He coaxed out the best versions of his players, from veterans such as Granit Xhaka and Mukiele to youngsters such as Noah Sadiki, and Sunderland will be rewarded with a trip to the Europa League. (If luck regresses next season, they could be in for some trouble. But we'll worry about that later.)
Honorable mention: Keith Andrews, Brentford; Unai Emery, Aston Villa
Best signings of the 2025-26 season
Truffert was new to the Premier League and yet you wouldn't have known it based on his consistently brilliant performances. Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images Without the money or resources of so many of their rivals, Bournemouth have scaled the Premier League ladder by making great hires and giving their coaches exciting, young players who were probably acquired at a discount. Truffert was the second-best left back in the league, and Bournemouth acquired him for next to nothing (relatively speaking). Great business from a club that does a lot of great business.
2. Rayan Cherki, Manchester City (€36.5 million). Fernandes' accomplishments overshadowed him a bit, but once Cherki got up to speed in the Premier League, he immediately became one of its most dangerous creators, finishing the year with four goals and 12 assists. Not bad for his age-22 season.
3. Nordi Mukiele, Sunderland (€12 million). He was Sunderland's ninth-most expensive transfer of the season, and he really might have been the league's best right back. An absolute steal.
4. Dango Ouattara, Brentford (€42.8 million). Brentford's accomplishments were overshadowed a bit by Bournemouth's and Sunderland's, but this tiny club (again, relatively speaking) just finished in the top half of the table for the third time in four years, and while they paid an uncharacteristically high amount for the 24-year-old Ouattara, he paid off the investment with seven goals, three assists and excellent duels work.
5. Martín Zubimendi, Arsenal (€70 million). Only a well-monied club can spend €70 million on what amounts to a finishing piece, but Zubimendi was exactly the stabilizing force Arteta wanted him to be. He even pitched in with five goals, including three in a vital six-week stretch over the winter.
Honorable mention: Estêvão, Chelsea (€45 million); Pascal Gross, Brighton (€2 million); Joao Pedro, Chelsea (€63.7 million); Anton Stach, Leeds United (€20 million); Granit Xhaka, Sunderland (€15 million)
Best loan: Piero Hincapié, Arsenal. Another vital depth piece for the champs, Hincapie was capable at left back and center back, racking up the interventions, plus a goal and two assists, over 1,792 minutes.
Worst signings of the 2025-26 season
Isak had a difficult first year at Anfield after completing his big move from Newcastle. Will Year 2 be any different? Getty This piece is mostly a celebration of good things, but let's take a moment to balance the good business out with some moves that absolutely, positively did not work. If nothing else, they make it even easier to celebrate the great moves. And unfortunately for Isak, he's going to top a list like this for a while. After moving to Liverpool for a preposterous fee, he played 703 league minutes and scored three goals with one assist. That's €36.3 million per goal involvement. At 25, he could still become a Liverpool great, but this year was an epic bust.
2-3. Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade, Newcastle (combined: €132.7 million). Isak forced Newcastle's hand, holding out until the club agreed to deal him on Sept. 1. In response, they grabbed Woltemade and Wissa, who combined for just nine goals and four assists in 2,433 minutes. Better than the return on Isak? Absolutely. But if you're looking for reasons why Newcastle scored 15 fewer league goals this season, this is a pretty good place to start. The Isak saga benefited absolutely no one.
4. Mohammed Kudus, Tottenham Hotspur (€63.8 million). Take your pick between Kudus and Xavi Simons, really. Spurs acquired the duo for a combined €128.8 million, but Simons struggled with the league's physicality, Kudus could really only win 1v1s (like Doku with half the danger), and neither benefited from Tottenham's utter inability to pass the ball. They played just 3,302 minutes between them and managed four goals with 10 assists.
5. Jamie Gittens, Chelsea (€56 million). It should have been a bit of a red flag that, when Borussia Dortmund's Niko Kovacs began keeping Gittens on the bench more, BVB's play improved. Gittens is an excellent 1v1s guy, but he's also a bit of a ball stopper, and despite the large fee, he ended up playing just 490 league minutes with zero goals and two assists. Both Kudus' and Gittens' struggles were predictable, though at least Gittens is still only 21 years old. He has more time to improve.
Worst loan: Ladislav Krejcí, Wolves. (Marc Guiu, Sunderland)
Best young players (22 and under) of the 2025-26 season
Cherki has been a wonderful, playful and fun to watch addition to the Premier League, and his creativity gives City a dangerous new dimension around the penalty area. Stu Forster/Getty Images He missed time with injury early and it did take him a bit to find his footing, but Cherki scored four goals with 12 assists, with 15 successful 1v1s in the box, in just 1,786 minutes of Premier League action. Enzo Maresca could have a lot of fun with him.
2. Nico O'Reilly, Manchester City. The best left back in the league at 21? Maresca will also have fun with O'Reilly.
3. Adam Wharton, Crystal Palace. The transfer industrial complex has already created plenty of Wharton rumors to swirl -- Liverpool's interested! And Manchester United! And Real Madrid! -- and it's not hard to see the draw. The midfielder had a goal and five assists in league play, and he was third in xPVA (+10.5), 18th in ball recoveries (165) and 21st in progressive passes (213). An industrious dude.
4. Michael Kayode, Brentford. Another great Brentford addition, Kayode was one of the best right backs in the league and already has the defensive part of the role down pat. His 34 chances created and plus-6.4 xPVA (16th in the league) suggest solid attacking potential for a 21-year-old too.
5. Abdukodir Khusanov, Manchester City. Oh hey, look, another thrilling Manchester City youngster. Khusanov could enjoy a World Cup star turn as Uzbekistan's best player, but he's already one of the Premier League's best destroyer types. He played just 1,429 league minutes this year, but among players with at least 1,000 minutes, he was second in interceptions per 90 minutes (2.1), fourth in tackle success rate (66.7%), ninth in pass completions per 90 (62.4), 12th in passes received per 90 (55.1) and 26th in total carry distance per 90 (243.7 meters). There was a predictable learning curve when he arrived in Manchester after just 31 matches at Lens, but he's only 22 and progressing rapidly.
Honorable mentions: Patrick Dorgu, Manchester United; Mateus Fernandes, West Ham; Lewis Hall, Newcastle; Álex Jiménez, Bournemouth; Junior Kroupi, Bournemouth; Kobbie Mainoo, Manchester United; Yankuba Minteh, Brighton; Alex Scott, Bournemouth; Benjamin Sesko, Manchester United
Bill Connelly's Best XI of the 2025-26 season
Goals prevented is my favorite goalkeeping stat: It looks at the postshot xG value of the shots opponents put on your goal and compares it to the goals you actually allowed. It basically combines your save percentage with an evaluation of the shot quality you faced.
Three goalkeepers prevented more than five goals in 2025-26: Verbruggen (plus-5.8), Manchester City's Gianluigi Donnarumma (plus-5.7) and Manchester United's Senne Lammens (plus-6.5). Of those three, only Verbruggen also played a heavy role in buildup play, ranking first in the league among goalkeepers in passes completed (1,178) and passes received (1,259). Your passing is almost as important as your shot stopping these days, and Verbruggen had the best combination of those attributes.
Backup: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Manchester City
I named Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold as the best right back last season, with Tottenham's Pedro Porro as the backup. Alexander-Arnold left for Real Madrid, and Porro's attacking output dropped significantly as he was forced to clean up more messes with Spurs. This was the weakest spot in the Premier League lineup by far.
The best fullbacks contribute in attack and defense, so one goal and zero assists from Bournemouth's Alex Jimenez, or one goal and one assist from Brentford's Michael Kayode, didn't really cut it, no matter how stellar they were in the interventions department. Aston Villa's Matty Cash, meanwhile, had a case with solid crossing and attacking numbers, but he's not a standout defender. Arsenal's Jurriën Timber had a great case, with three goals (all from corners) and five assists, and while his defensive numbers don't jump off the page, you know he was playing a solid defensive role if he was on the pitch for a Mikel Arteta team. But he played fewer minutes than the other main candidates, and Arsenal were really no more or less successful when he played.
So we were left with two options. City's Matheus Nunes was a reliable metronome and can whip in a cross as well as anyone, but he was more of a Pep Guardiola fullback, in that he was really just an extra midfielder. His defensive contributions were solid, but I decided to go with a wild card instead. Sunderland's Nordi Mukiele was probably the best pure interventionist of the bunch, and his seven combined goals and assists topped basically everyone but Timber. Sunderland struck gold with so many new transfers this year, but while Mukiele wasn't the biggest name of the bunch, he might have been the most impactful.
Backup: Matheus Nunes, Manchester City
Gabriel Magalhães, right, was every bit as good as his Arsenal teammate as the Gunners wrapped up the Premier League title, but he gets the nod over William Saliba for playing more minutes and having more impact per game. Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images It was tempting to go with both Arsenal center backs, Magalhães and William Saliba, but I wanted to spread the love a bit. Saliba might be the best pure center back in the world, but I gave Magalhães the nod here because of his set piece contributions (he scored the game winner at Newcastle off of a corner) and because he played more minutes and made more defensive interventions than Saliba this season.
I gave the other spot to the 33-year-old Tarkowski, the best old-school central defender in the league. He led the Premier League in shots blocked (52), and he was third in total defensive interventions (431!). He won 69.7% of his aerial duels, and he was also a useful cog in set pieces, scoring on a corner and a free kick.
Everton finished just four points away from a spot in Europe, and that wouldn't have happened without ultra-sturdy, Moyes-style defense.
Backups: William Saliba, Arsenal; James Tarkowski, Everton
With last year's top two left backs, Fulham's Antonee Robinson and City's Josko Gvardiol, both battling injuries (neither played even 1,500 league minutes), the door was open for new blood, and while O'Reilly recorded plenty of minutes in the midfield, too (he's a Pep Guardiola fullback, after all), he gets the nod thanks to a brilliant combination of attacking capabilities (five goals and three assists) and capable emergency defense: He ranked 25th in the league in successful tackles (68) and eighth in blocked passes (41). And he's only 21!
O'Reilly could end up as England's go-to left back for a very long time.
Backup: Adrien Truffert, Bournemouth
If we're getting technical, Rice was more of a central midfielder than defensive midfielder this season. But really, as the most important player on the league's best team, he was two players at once. Or maybe three...
Rice received a lot of passes in the typical pivot areas, just ahead of the center backs, but he was also a key metronome in attack. He was brilliant at all of it. Among Premier League midfielders, he finished second in progressive carries (333), fourth in chances created (63), fifth in completed crosses (47, many from corners), sixth in passes completed (1,865), sixth in progressive passes (292), eighth in passes received (1,609), ninth in defensive interventions (270), ninth in ball recoveries (180) and ninth in assists (five).
The 27-year-old is everything Arsenal hoped he would be when they paid €116.6 million for him three years ago.
Backup: Enzo Fernández, Chelsea
Speaking of being multiple players at once, the 31-year-old Fernandes was basically one-third pivot man, one-third central midfielder and one-third attacking midfielder. He did something, at some point, in almost literally every inch of the pitch this season.
Fernandes has been United's most important player for a while, but few have ever carried a top-three team like he did Man United in 2025-26. Among all players -- not just midfielders -- he ranked first in the league in expected point value added from all actions, or xPVA (plus-11.1), first in chances created (136) and expected assists (12.3), second in progressive passes (353), second in crosses completed (55, many from corners), fourth in goals (nine, five from penalties), seventh in passes received (1,674), 10th in passes completed (1,639), 11th in progressive carries (216), 13th in ball recoveries (167) and even 17th in tackle attempts (93).
And that's all before we get to the part where he set a Premier League record with 21 assists. Fernandes was the best player in the league this season.
Backup: Rayan Cherki, Manchester City
Technically, Szoboszlai's position was "wherever the hell Liverpool had fires to put out that day," but he was fabulous everywhere. With Liverpool's summer run of signings in attack and at fullback, I was concerned the 25-year-old would become a forgotten man of sorts. Instead, he was the team's best attacking midfielder, midfielder and fullback, all in one.
Liverpool had three players in last year's Best XI; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Díaz and Mo Salah. The former two both left, Salah suddenly began to show his age and most of the new signings struggled to replicate the production that earned them offers in the first place. Without Szoboszlai, there's no way they eke out a fifth-place finish and Champions League berth.
He led his team in shots on goal (23), xPVA (plus-7.0), completed crosses (68), assists (seven) and chances created (78). He also led in tackle attempts (95) and ball recoveries (187), and he was second in interceptions (30), successful ground duels (112), carry distance (7,796 meters), passes received (1,790) and progressive passes (319). He was a human fire extinguisher, and he unofficially led the league in sexy free kick goals.
How did Szoboszlai even do this?!?!? pic.twitter.com/9LGpPtYhAG
Backup: Morgan Gibbs-White, Nottingham Forest
He only played 63% of Arsenal's minutes this season, missing plenty of time with injury. For that reason alone, someone like Manchester United's Bryan Mbeumo or even Fulham's Harry Wilson could have slotted in here instead. But despite missing over one-third of the season, Saka still somehow finished first in the league in ball recoveries in the attacking third (27), fourth in successful 1v1s in the box (10), fourth in fouls won in the attacking third (17), fifth in expected assists (7.2), sixth in chances created (60), ninth in completed crosses (40), 10th in xPVA (+7.2), 16th in shots on goal (27) and tied for 17th in assists (five).
The TL;DR version: On a per-minute basis, he was otherworldly this year even if that minutes total wasn't all that high.
Backup: Bryan Mbeumo, Manchester United
First, we complained that he was too much of City's attack. Then, when Antoine Semenyo came aboard and he began to contribute less, we complained that he wasn't scoring enough. But guess who finished the season first in the league in goals (27), xG (26.5), shots (126) and shots on goal (59)? And guess who was also fourth in assists (eight) and even 12th in successful 1v1s in the box (six)? Haaland.
