Man City, Arsenal players lead Premier League team of 2023

It has been a year of incredible achievements and records, with Manchester City achieving a Champions League-Premier League-FA Cup treble and Erling Haaland rewriting the history books by scoring 52 goals in his first season at the club, but 2023 hasn’t just been about Pep Guardiola’s team.

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As the year reaches its end, Arsenal and Liverpool are fighting for the title again, while Aston Villa have emerged as surprise contenders under coach Unai Emery. Many teams and players have exceeded expectations and been consistent from January through to December, so with 2023 coming to a close, who makes the Team of the Year?

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Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martínez, Aston Villa

The Aston Villa goalkeeper has a powerful presence in Unai Emery’s team, which was no doubt enhanced by his part in Argentina’s World Cup triumph in 2022. Martinez has not only been an impressive keeper for Villa, but he has emerged as a leader. Beyond that, the reason why Emery’s team have successfully played such a high defensive line this season is because of Martinez’s anticipation behind the back four.

Éderson, Alisson Becker and Nick Pope have all had good years, but no keeper has been as crucial to his side as Martinez.

Defender: Kyle Walker, Manchester City

Manchester City were close to losing their right-back to Bayern Munich during the summer because of a delay in offering the 33-year-old a new contract. But after playing such an important role in City’s Treble success last season — remember how he dominated Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr in the Champions League semifinal — Walker was eventually rewarded with a three-year deal.

The England fullback is getting better with experience, and his strength and pace make him the best in the business, though his Wolf of Wall Street-style contract reveal suggested he won’t be going into the acting profession any time soon.

Defender: William Saliba, Arsenal

Arsenal were five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League after Saliba helped the Gunners to a 3-0 win at Fulham on March 12, but that proved to be the France international’s final game of the season because of a back injury and his absence derailed the team’s title bid.

Arsenal would win just five of their remaining 11 league games without Saliba, losing three times, and the loss of the centre-back highlighted how important he is to Mikel Arteta’s side. Over the course of 2023, Saliba has been the outstanding defender in the Premier League, and his return to action this season is a big reason why Arsenal are title challengers again.

Defender: Ezri Konsa, Aston Villa

Konsa has been a Premier League ever-present for Villa in 2023, with his form for Emery’s side earning him a call-up into Gareth Southgate’s England squad. With Tyrone Mings sidelined for the majority of this season due to injury, Konsa has been outstanding both at centre-back and right-back for the surprise title challengers, forming a solid defensive axis with Pau Torres and Diego Carlos.

Villa stunned Manchester City and Arsenal with 1-0 wins at Villa Park this season, and Konsa was unflappable in both games.

Defender: Dan Burn, Newcastle United

It hasn’t been a vintage year for left-backs, with Andy Robertson and Luke Shaw hit by injury and loss of form at times, and neither Arsenal nor Manchester City operating with a specialist on the left side of defence. But one left-back who has excelled and been a key figure for his team is Newcastle’s Burn.

The 31-year-old personifies manager Eddie Howe’s success in coaxing significant improvements from players — Miguel Almirón and Joelinton are other examples — and Burn is at the top of the list. Released by Fulham in 2016, Burn has grabbed his big chance at Newcastle and played in the Carabao Cup final and Champions League this year.

Midfielder: Rodri, Manchester City

The Spain midfielder is arguably the most important player in the Premier League — when he doesn’t play, Manchester City can’t win. Rodri has missed three league games, and a Carabao Cup tie, through suspension this season and City have lost every one of them.

The 27-year-old capped an outstanding 2022-23 campaign by scoring the winning goal against Inter Milan in the Champions League final, but the defensive midfielder’s worth to Pep Guardiola’s side has become even clearer in his absence.

Midfielder: Declan Rice, Arsenal

A talismanic figure who led West Ham to Europa Conference League glory — the club’s first trophy since 1980 — before making a £105 million move to Arsenal in the summer. Rice showed himself to be the complete midfielder with the Hammers with his leadership, goals, box-to-box energy and defensive ability and he has helped taken Arsenal to another level in his brief time at the Emirates.

At 24, Rice is only going to get better and Arsenal now have their most dominant midfielder since the days of Patrick Vieira almost 20 years ago.

Midfielder: Martin Odegaard, Arsenal

The Arsenal captain has now matured into the midfield creator that Real Madrid identified when signing Odegaard as a 16-year-old in 2015. Throughout last season, Odegaard’s goals and creativity helped maintain Arsenal’s title challenge before Manchester City eventually reeled the Gunners in, but despite last season’s disappointment, the Norway international has stepped up again this season with the help of summer signing Rice.

Odegaard scored an impressive 15 league goals last season (with seven assists) and he has already scored four goals this time around, with two assists.

Forward: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool

Liverpool rejected a £150 million offer from Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad in the final hours of the summer transfer window and made it clear that no price would tempt them to part with Salah. Even with Liverpool finishing fifth in the Premier League and with no silverware last season, Salah still made a significant contribution. Prior to Liverpool’s Carabao Cup quarterfinal against West Ham on Dec. 20, Salah had scored 28 goals and registered 17 assists for Liverpool in 2023.

Forward: Erling Haaland, Manchester City

The Manchester City forward scored 52 goals in all competitions in his debut season at the Etihad and his tally for 2023 alone was an incredible 44 goals going into the Christmas fixtures. Haaland has won a treble and broken so many goalscoring records since signing for City — most notably eclipsing Alan Shearer and Andy Cole by erasing their figure of 34 goals in a Premier League season and setting a new high mark of 36.

The former Borussia Dortmund striker has confirmed his status as a global superstar and the player most likely to succeed Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the game’s biggest name.

Forward: Son Heung-Min, Tottenham Hotspur

When Harry Kane left Tottenham for Bayern Munich in an £82 million transfer in August, the big question was how would Spurs cope without their most prolific goalscorer? Kane was always going to be irreplaceable, but Son Heung-min has stepped up to another level since the England captain’s exit and his goals and performances have helped fire Ange Postecoglou’s into the title race.

Son has already delivered 10 goals and four assists for Spurs in the league ahead of the Christmas fixtures, taking the South Korea internationals overall tally for 2023 to 17 goals and eight assists in the league.