After a hectic two months of Premier League action in between two international breaks, its time to unveil our Premier League team of September and October.
As usual, this has been a hard selection to make but without further ado, here is Sport Grill’s Team of September/October.
Goalkeeper – Tim Krul (Norwich City)
Embed from Getty ImagesI know that Krul might look a bizarre pick but he has consistently been one of Norwich’s best players for the past two months, particularly in his last two matches against Bournemouth and Manchester United when they could of easily conceded a lot of goals.
Krul is also the only keeper who has made more than one penalty save, of which both came against the Red Devils to prevent a heavier defeat and he has also battled a back injury during the past two months.
Those factors therefore justifies his pick in my opinion because without him, Norwich would be in an even worse situation than they’re currently in.
Defence – Ricardo Pereira (Leicester City), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Jack O’ Connell (Sheffield United), Ben Chilwell (Leicester City)
Embed from Getty ImagesWe must start with the fullbacks because Ricardo Pereira and Chilwell have been exceptional for Leicester, with their defensive ability whilst also creating moves which eventually led to chances and goals from players higher up the pitch.
Chilwell in particular has produced the joint highest number of assists by a defender, doing so on three occasions which highlights how huge an influence he has been up the left flank for the Foxes.
Mings meanwhile has been consistent as he was in August whilst O’ Connell has been one of the Blades’ biggest rocks in defence with his effort to not only block but intercept the ball which has become noticeable in the past two months.
His tackling however still needs work but he is showing signs of being a solid all round defender, which has stood out above several other defenders and he deserves to be in the XI as a result of his strong consistent performances.
Midfield – Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Youri Tielemans and James Maddison (Leicester City)
Embed from Getty ImagesDe Bruyne was an obvious pick again because although he missed some matches due to injury, he has been one of the standout players with his moves and goal creations, which has already earned him nine league assists this season.
Tielemans and Maddison meanwhile have simply raised their game in recent games, which is paying off as evident by their last two performances against Leicester in the league then Burton Albion in the Carabao Cup.
They are are Leicester’s current top two shot takers with a combined 51 shots between them, and ahead of Jamie Vardy which is impressive for two midfielders at the Foxes which justifies their names featuring in the XI.
In fact looking at the midfield section in XI overall, I would say that these three players would easily beat my XI from August hands down in terms of their ability and growth.
Forwards – Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Lys Mousset (Sheffield United), Tammy Abraham (Chelsea)
Embed from Getty ImagesThis section was the toughest to pick because there have been plenty of fantastic striker performances in the last two months like Sergio Aguero and Sadio Mane, although my three picks are all for different reasons.
I picked Vardy simply because he has been a huge player up front for Leicester in terms of making himself available to pick up whatever pass comes his way, which has been rewarded with six goal in the last six months and the biggest improvement out of all strikers in the last two months.
Vardy is also the league’s top scorer with nine goals so we really had to put him in the XI on that stat plus his excellent performances too.
Mousset meanwhile might seem a random pick but what I like about him is the way that he is grafting to get into Chris Wilder’s starting lineup despite only making one start this season, which he took advantage of by scoring the goal that beat Arsenal a couple of weeks ago.
That goal ultimately is a huge reason why I put him in the XI because he has been clinical with all three of his goals this season, particularly when he showed great composure to slot past Jordan Pickford on the counter-attack in a 2-0 away win at Everton in September.
Abraham meanwhile is again in the XI because he has been a consistent threat up front with various chances, even if he has been unlucky in that not many of his shots have turned into goals although he is still young so there is room for improvement.