Football writer Alex Keble selects his best XI of players from an incredible 2024.
David Raya (Arsenal)
Arsenal lost three Premier League matches in 2024, the fewest of any side, thanks in no small part to the performances of Raya, who played in 35 of their 36 encounters.
Raya kept 18 clean sheets this year, more than any other goalkeeper, and his 73.9 save percentage ranked second, behind only Chelsea’s Robert Sanchez.
He is the dependable communicator, providing the foundation for Arsenal’s more widely celebrated centre-back pair, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Liverpool’s greater control under Arne Slot has made complaints about Alexander-Arnold’s defending a thing of the past, allowing us to celebrate his attacking powers without caveat.
Alexander-Arnold created 17 big chances – situations where the player is expected to score – in 2024, the most among defenders, and created 53 chances overall, the second-best among defenders.
He also ranked 13th for Expected Assists (xA) across the year, with 6.93, despite playing in fewer Premier League matches than anyone in the top 25.
William Saliba (Arsenal)
It’s hard to choose between Arsenal’s commanding centre-backs, but Saliba gets the nod for having played in three more matches than Gabriel, including every one of the 2023/24 season.
Saliba has 18 clean sheets to his name, more than any other outfield player in the competition, while Arsenal conceded only 23 goals in 35 league games with Saliba in the side.
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Liverpool’s captain has been instrumental in calming things down and turning the team into a winning machine under Slot, but he was just as influential in the club’s title push at the end of last season.
Van Dijk’s defensive qualities are clear, but what often gets overlooked is his importance to Liverpool’s possession.
He completed 317 passes into the final third in 2024 and had 3,327 touches of the ball, on both counts more than any other player in the Premier League.
Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
The breakout star of 2024 has been Fulham’s Robinson, moving from hidden gem to a player widely regarded as one of the best left-backs in the Premier League.
He assisted 10 league goals in 2024, the sixth-most in the division, and ranked fifth among defenders for chances created, with 39.
But Robinson is just as effective at the other end, topping the Premier League charts in 2024 for interceptions, with 65.
Rodri (Man City)
He has played only 66 minutes of Premier League football in 2024/25, yet Rodri, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner, still makes it into our team of 2024. That’s how good he was during the first half of the year.
If we use per-90 stats, Rodri tops the Premier League charts in 2024 for touches (126.9) and for passes ending in the final third (39.1), capturing his metronomic importance to Man City.
That Pep Guardiola’s team have struggled badly without him says it all.
Moises Caicedo (Chelsea)
It took a while for Chelsea’s record signing to find his feet, but Caicedo was crucial to their good run under Mauricio Pochettino in the first half of the year, when they took 32 points from 17 league matches.
Caicedo has carried that form into the new season under Enzo Maresca, in the process becoming the division’s standout midfielder.
In 2024, Caicedo made 2,287 passes and had 2,837 touches - both more than any other midfielder - while he ranked second among outfield players for recoveries, with 231, and fifth for interceptions, with 53.
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Saka just keeps getting better and better.
In each of the past four seasons his goals and assists per 90 has improved, peaking this season at a remarkable 1.06, which has helped towards a tally of 12 goals and 13 assists in 2024.
Only Mohamed Salah has more assists this year, while only Kevin De Bruyne has created more big chances than Saka’s 24 or has a greater expected assists (xA) than Saka’s 10.1.
Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
Is there a more influential player in world football right now?
Palmer continues to breeze through matches, racking up goals and assists with a nonchalance the Premier League has never before seen in a player so young.
He had the joint-most goal involvements in 2024 (with 39), scored the second-most goals (26) and created the most chances from open play (76).
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Talk of a first Ballon d’Or is only growing louder as Salah continues to play the best football of his life at Anfield.
Salah looks head and shoulders above his peers at the moment, although over the year as a whole he shares the record for the most goals and assists with Palmer on 39.
He is a ruthless goalscorer and the linchpin of the current league leaders, as the stats bear out: Salah has had more touches in the opposition box (312) than anyone else in 2024 and leads the way for Expected Goals on Target (xGOT), with a score of 26.6.
Alexander Isak (Newcastle)
Isak's strong end to 2024, coinciding with Erling Haaland's difficult run of only two goals in his last eight Premier League matches, has helped to earn the Swede a place in our side.
Isak ranks third in the calendar year for Premier League goals, with 25, while only one player, Aston Villa forward Jhon Duran, has a better minutes-per-goal ratio than his 107.4.
The Newcastle star surely deserves greater recognition for becoming one of Europe’s best all-round strikers.
