Premier League ‘bests’ of 2019-20
SuperSport viewers on DStv and GOtv have been witness to a great Premier League season thus far. We take a closer look at the ‘bests’ from the 2019-20 campaign: player, goal, manager and match.
Best player
Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City
While Liverpool have completely dominated the Premier League in 2019-20, their brilliance has come from a collective strength. They undoubtedly have world-class players at their disposal, but they have been greater than the sum of their parts. This leaves Kevin De Bruyne as the leading individual player in the division. The Belgian midfielder has registered eight goals and an incredible 16 assists this season for a Manchester City team which has not quite hit the heights of recent years. The 28-year-old is the best creator of goal-scoring chances in the Premier League and controls the direction and tempo of play to a greater degree than any other player.
“I think I’m more of a complete footballer than I was a few years ago. I’ve had some good years in my career but I think either side of the ball, mentally, leading a team, I’m better now than I was two or three years ago,” said the Belgian pass master.
Best goal
Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City 2-2 Newcastle United
Kevin De Bruyne is not only our player of the season so far, but also takes the honours for the best goal of the Premier League in 2019-20. The Belgian’s rasping volley against Newcastle United in early December 2019 is an extraordinary demonstration of power and technique: De Bruyne chested down a poor clearance just outside the penalty area and let fly with a fearsome volley which went into the net via the underside of the crossbar, giving Magpies goalkeeper Martin Dubravka no chance whatsoever. Funnily enough, another contender for this award followed in the same game, as Jonjo Shelvey equalised to make it 2-2 with a superb strike of his own.
Best match
Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 Manchester City, 27 December 2019
This absolute thriller of a match saw the champions Manchester City go 2-0 up at Molineux Stadium – through a brace from Raheem Sterling – despite an early red card for goalkeeper Ederson, yet Wolverhampton fought back in incredible style to claim victory. Winger Adama Traore was magnificent and pulled a goal back early in the second half, before Wolves put on a late show to remember: Raul Jimenez equalised in the 82nd minute and Matt Doherty struck home from the edge of the box seven minutes later to seal a 3-2 win for the hosts and effectively end the Citizens’ reign as Premier League champions.
Best manager
Jugen Klopp – Liverpool
There are several strong candidates for this award, such as Chris Wilder at Sheffield United, Roy Hodgson at Crystal Palace and Brendan Rodgers at Leicester City, but it’s hard to argue against Jurgen Klopp, who has overseen an incredible Premier League season for Liverpool. The Reds may have lost their unbeaten record with a surprise loss to Watford a couple of weeks before the campaign was disrupted, but a haul of 82 points from a possible 87 and a 25-point lead says everything for how far the Reds have progressed since their charismatic German manager arrived at Anfield in 2015.
Until live sport resumes, SuperSport has converted its line-up to thematic channels for the foreseeable future. Fans of football can tune into SuperSport 3 to ‘Relive the Premier League’, while SuperSport 7 features ‘Relive the Best Football’, with a mix of the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, La Liga, Serie A and FIFA Documentaries.
