Politics
If PFA Player of the Year was decided on Dream Team stats — Kane, Grealish, Gundogan & Fernandes
Earlier this week we highlighted Ilkay Gundogan’s (£4.3m) bid for PFA Player of the Year.
It seems only right, considering all four favourites for the prestigious award are all in action this Sunday, that we compare the other central candidates using Dream Team stats.
Harry Kane (£7.0m), Bruno Fernandes (£5.5m) and Jack Grealish (£4.5m) join Man City’s German midfielder among the bookies’ favourites — you may think other players are in contention and of course there is lots of football still to play but we’ll consider this quartet for now.
GOALS
- Fernandes – 21
- Kane – 19
- Gundogan – 13
- Grealish 7
ASSISTS
- Kane – 14
- Grealish – 12
- Fernandes – 12
- Gundogan – 3
In terms of pure goal involvements, Fernandes and Kane are well clear of the other two.
Both have supremely impressive numbers and are on course for 45+ goal involvements if they avoid serious injury until the campaign’s end.
DREAM TEAM POINTS
- Kane – 234
- Fernandes – 227
- Gundogan – 136
- Grealish – 124
AVERAGE POINTS-PER-GAME
- Kane – 7.8
- Fernandes – 6.3
- Grealish – 5.4
- Gundogan – 5.2
OWNERSHIP
- Fernandes – 74.3%
- Grealish – 35%
- Kane – 32%
- Gundogan – 14%
The gulf grows even wider in the Dream Team specific metrics while Kane even distances himself from Fernandes in terms of points-per-game.
The indication being the Spurs forward would have a comfortable lead (as opposed to narrow) at the top of the charts if he had played as many games as Man United’s talisman.
Fernandes’ lead over the other midfielders is truly remarkable, hence his record-breaking ownership.
Kane’s ownership was up around 50% before his latest injury setback.
STAR MAN AWARDS
- Kane – 9
- Fernandes – 8
- Grealish – 4
- Gundogan – 3
7+ RATINGS
- Fernandes – 22
- Kane – 21
- Gundogan – 18
- Grealish – 17
What’s clear throughout is that the four-way contest for PFA Player of the Year is actually a two-horse race if we were to base it on Dream Team stats alone.
At the time of writing, it’s neck-and-neck between Kane and Fernandes with hardly anything between them — it’s perhaps surprising that the midfielder is ahead on goals while the centre-forward edges it on assists.
If one of them can sneak ahead in their specialist metric then that might make the difference.
In reality, those voting for Player of the Year don’t just take stats into account — and they certainly don’t give Dream Team ownership a thought.
For example, Gundogan will surely be credited for his influential role in a winning machine while most would agree Grealish’s stylish playmaking has been the catalyst for Aston Villa’s excellent season.
And we should mention that Dream Team stats apply to all competitions whereas performances in Europe aren’t accounted for in the PFA Player of the Year criteria.
It will be interesting to see how this tussle develops as the season continues.
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