May 21 – Newly-crowned English Premier League champions Arsenal unsurprisingly dominate the Premier League Team of the Season selected by the CIES Football Observatory, with five players included in the data-driven XI as the club finally gets over the line in the title race.
Mikel Arteta’s side provide nearly half of the Premier League selection, with David Raya, Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães and Declan Rice all making the cut following another strong defensive campaign in north London.
Manchester City contributed three players – Rayan Cherki, Erling Haaland and Jérémy Doku – while Manchester United pair Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes also featured after strong individual campaigns at Old Trafford, with the latter matching the Premier League assist record (20) with the opportunity to break it against Brighton on Sunday.
The final spot went to Bournemouth full-back Adrien Truffert, signed in the summer for a now-bargain £14 million.
CIES said the selections were based on performance indicators across eight game areas for outfield players, while goalkeepers were judged using the difference between expected goals and goals conceded. Match outcomes and minutes played were also factored into the rankings using data provided by Impect.
Across Europe’s big five leagues, the selected goalkeepers included Arsenal’s Raya, Barcelona’s Joan García, Angers stopper Hervé Koffi, Stuttgart’s Alexander Nübel and Atalanta’s Marco Carnesecchi.
The attacking selections largely reflected this season’s leading scorers.
Erling Haaland was chosen in England, Kylian Mbappé led the line in Spain after another prolific campaign with Real Madrid, Harry Kane was selected in Germany following Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga-winning season, while Lautaro Martínez earned recognition in Serie A with Inter.
The French selection featured Stade Rennais forward Estéban Lepaul – who also claimed the golden boot. Most notably, though, was the omission of Ligue 1 POTY Ousmane Dembele and YPOTY Desire Doue – suggesting their stats alone don’t deserve a spot in the side.
While end-of-season teams are often subjective, the CIES model leans heavily into underlying performance data rather than reputation alone – which perhaps explains the strong Arsenal presence despite the club again missing out on silverware.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]