Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard has been nominated, but Bukayo Saka misses out. (Image: Getty Images)
Manchester United and Arsenal, who are bitter rivals for the title, each have two nominees among the eight people up for the Premier League Player of the Year award.
The Premier League’s Player of the Season award has eight nominees confirmed.
Declan Rice, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Martin Odegaard, and Arsenal are the two contenders for each team. Virgil van Dijk, Ollie Watkins, Cole Palmer, and Alexander Isak are the remaining nominees.
Bukayo Saka, the star of the Gunners, was left out despite leading his team in goals scored (16 league goals). However, the 22-year-old is among the candidates for Young Player of the Year.
As they have a voice in who should win the award, fans can cast votes for the player they think should win. On May 13, voting will end at noon.
With less than two weeks left in the season, City and Arsenal are fighting it out for first place in the league. While Haaland tops the scoring charts after putting four past Wolves to maintain the reigning champions’ title hopes, Foden has had his best season yet in front of goal for City.
Rice and captain Odegaard are the other nominees from Arsenal. Before joining the Gunners, Rice led West Ham to victory in the Europa Conference League. Since then, he has performed admirably.
Isak, Palmer, and Watkins are three of the other four nominees who have been very successful in front of goal for their respective teams. The only center back on the list is Van Dijk, the captain of Liverpool, who spent a large portion of the season supporting his team’s multiple-front challenge.
Manchester City pair Foden and Haaland have both been nominated ( Image: Getty Images)
“The pair are in contention to scoop the division’s top individual accolade after enjoying fantastic seasons in our midfield, fueling our championship challenge with their superb displays throughout the campaign,” Arsenal stated in a statement regarding their nominees. “Martin has been included in the list of nominees for the second season in a row after another excellent year skippering our young side.”
Haaland, a striker for City, wants to take home the prize for a second consecutive year. After an incredible debut season, he emerged victorious and has continued to be among the goals this season despite being limited by injury.
On May 18, the day before the last round of Premier League games, the award winner will be announced. The Premier League clarified that before a winner is announced, the results of the public vote will be tallied with the advice of “a panel of football experts.”
