The 2025-26 Premier League season has concluded with Arsenal pipping Manchester City to the title, Tottenham surviving on the final day, and Sunderland staging an impressive late surge to qualify for the Europa League. The 'Team of the Season' debate often dominates end-of-campaign discussions, with fans, pundits, and ex-players keen to honour the performers they viewed as best.
Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville picked an almost identical best XI on the final Monday Night Football last week, with the inclusion of Igor Thiago over Jeremy Doku being the only difference between them. However, their teams differ significantly from the XI drafted by expert statisticians Sofascore.
Having reviewed the average performance of each player across the entire campaign, Sofascore has revealed its Premier League Team of the Season, and a few inclusions will no doubt spark debate among supporters.
Goalkeeper Surprise
The first surprise pick comes between the sticks, with Brentford's Caoimhin Kelleher selected over Arsenal shot-stopper David Raya, whose 19 clean sheets helped guide the Gunners to Premier League glory. Boasting a Sofascore rating of 7.05, no Premier League goalkeeper carved out better individual performances than the Irishman this season, even though he managed just 10 clean sheets. Arsenal's Raya, Man City's Gianluigi Donnarumma (15), Crystal Palace's Dean Henderson (11), Everton's Jordan Pickford (11), and Bournemouth's Djordje Petrovic (11) all finished with more shut-outs in the Golden Glove race.
Defensive Trio
Moving into a three-man defence, Gunners centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes joins Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and Manchester City defender Marc Guehi, who joined from Crystal Palace in January. With Sofascore ratings of 7.27, 7.26, and 7.30 respectively, the trio were rewarded for outstanding seasons at the back, even if many fans felt Van Dijk fell slightly below his typically lofty standards this campaign.
Midfield Selections
Arsenal's midfield general Declan Rice partners Nottingham Forest star Elliot Anderson in a double pivot, with the highest Sofascore ratings at 7.46 and 7.34 respectively. These inclusions will be music to the ears of Thomas Tuchel, who is set to start the pair together for England at the World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico this summer.
There is room for two more central midfield players slightly ahead of them, with Premier League Player of the Season Bruno Fernandes boasting a remarkable 7.61 rating after pioneering Manchester United to a third-place finish. The Portuguese midfielder broke the Premier League's all-time single-season assist record set by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne on the final day, taking his tally to 21 in the Red Devils' 3-0 win over Brighton.
The final central midfielder selected by Sofascore was Bruno Guimaraes, who earned a rating of 7.45 for his efforts at Newcastle. A surprise inclusion despite his exceptional talent, Guimaraes only played 29 matches due to troubling hamstring injuries, and Newcastle endured a difficult campaign under Eddie Howe, finishing 12th.
Wingers and Striker
Bukayo Saka, another player ignored by Carragher and Neville, was the third and final Arsenal star selected. Despite finally leading Arsenal to the title, Saka has not had his best season in terms of goals and assists, having been plagued by injury setbacks. While his seven goals and seven assists from 31 appearances is nothing to be sniffed at, Saka's all-round performances clearly stood out, earning a 7.24 rating.
Jeremy Doku was recognised on the opposite flank after a season of marked improvement at Manchester City, eclipsing Saka with a rating of 7.39. A surprise omission from the squad is Doku's City team-mate Antoine Semenyo, who finished third in the Golden Boot race behind Erling Haaland and Igor Thiago with 17 goals, enjoying a fantastic campaign at both Bournemouth and later at the Etihad.
Haaland rounds out the team with a score of 7.31 after yet another Golden Boot-winning season, having smashed 27 goals in Pep Guardiola's final season in charge.
