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Villa, Spurs and Everton have all impressed this term
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Salah the main man again but it's bad news for Rashford
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A 6.86/1 Top 10 Finish bet for a massively in-form team
Team of the Season: Aston Villa
As we approach the midway point of the season, Aston Villa are comfortably sitting in the top four, one point behind league leaders Arsenal, and perhaps more surprisingly, four points ahead of reigning champions Manchester City.
Unai Emery's men have been matched at the ceiling price of 1000.0999/1 on the Betfair Exchange to win the Premier League, but they're now clear fourth favourites at around 15.014/1 which underlines just how brilliantly they've performed this term.
They're on a staggering run of 15 consecutive league victories at Villa Park and just recently they produced a statement pair of wins, beating Man City with arguably their performance of the season and Arsenal within the space of four days.
They came from behind to beat Brentford on Sunday meaning they have a chance of being top of the table at Christmas, and that would be a remarkable achievement.
And don't rule it out! Villa host a struggling Sheffield United team on Friday night and will be long odds-on to claim three points, which will take them top of the table before Liverpool host Arsenal the following day.
They will need a draw at Anfield to stay top, or if Liverpool win then Villa will need to beat Sheff Utd by a five-goal greater margin than the Reds beat Arsenal. You can back Villa now at 11/43.75 to be top at Christmas.
Player of the Season: Mo Salah
There hasn't really been that many standout players so far this term, certainly not many that are taking the Premier League by storm.
No one from Manchester City has stood out as of yet, while I don't think Arsenal are at the same levels they were at last season, which augurs well for their title chances. Ollie Watkins and Jarrod Bowen have been excellent for Aston Villa and West Ham respectively, while Son Heung-min (10 goals and 4 assists) came very close to being the selection.
The likes of Newcastle's Anthony Gordon, Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke, and Wolves' explosive duo Hwang Hee-chan and Matheus Cunha deserve a mention for performing far better than many people expected so far, but I make no apologies for going for someone obvious in Mo Salah.
Liverpool's star man hasn't yet had people purring with an outstanding performance in any one game, instead, he's just remarkably consistent. Salah has 11 goals and seven assists to his name this term, and looks set to be in the mix once again to be named the PFA Player of the Year.
He's currently trading at around 4.57/2 in that particular market on the Betfair Exchange, but if you want to back him then remember he'll be away on AFCON duty for 3-4 weeks early in 2024, so it may be best to wait as his price could drift given his lack of Premier League activity and as other big-name players start to hit top form.
Manager of the season: Sean Dyche
There will be readers screaming at their computer screen now given that I've failed to select Unai Emery or Ange Postecoglou.
Both have been fantastic this term of course, but both are in charge of clubs that are expected to challenge for top six honours. True, both clubs, especially Villa (my team of the season so far), are doing better than most people expected, so using the same criteria, Sean Dyche is my man here.
Consider that Everton were among the relegation favourites before a ball was kicked this term, and yet but for their 10-point deduction they'd now be sitting comfortably in the top half of the table, four points ahead of one of the pre-season title favourites, Chelsea.
But it's the way that Dyche handled his club getting those 10 points deducted that really swung this category in his favour. No moaning, no ranting, just an 'it is what it is, we move on' attitude, which has resulted in a steely mentality and the Toffees winning four straight league games without conceding a single goal.
Surprise of the season (positive): Everton
Almost going hand-in-hand with Dyche being the manager of the season is Everton being the surprise team of the campaign.
Sometimes you have to just hold your hands up and admit you got it wrong, and that's exactly what I did when predicting that the Toffees would massively struggle this season. They avoided relegation on the last day of the season last term, lost the likes of Yerry Mina, Alex Iwobi and Demarai Gray in the summer, and had very little money to invest.
It was no surprise to me that they were among the favourites in the relegation market, but the fact that they're now 10/111.00 to go down, despite having 10 points deducted, tells you everything you need to know about how well they've done.
Everton have accumulated four more points than Chelsea this term, the same number of points as top-six-chasing Brighton, and just one less than Manchester United. They've won five of their last six league games and they're into the quarter finals of the EFL Cup.
The Toffees have surprised me no end, but there's absolutely no fluke about what they've achieved so far, and odds of 6.86/1 on the Betfair Exchange for them to finish in the top 10 makes a lot of appeal.
As things stand Everton are just six points behind Chelsea in 10th, but should they win their appeal against their 10-point deduction they'll get some of those points back and be in a great position to finish in the top half of the table.
Surprise of the season (negative): VAR
Yes, put bluntly, I'm absolutely staggered at how bad the use of VAR in the Premier League has become.
I could write chapter and verse on how bad it is, and I'd be here until Christmas Day if I listed every incident that VAR has gotten wrong this season, but I know every fan of a Premier League club reading this will be able to refer to at least one terrible VAR decision that has gone against them.
And that's just not right!
We can all accept humans make mistakes, and that a subjective decision can go either way, but for the PGMOL to issue so many apologies for wrong VAR calls is unacceptable.
I'd be a huge fan of VAR if it was used correctly, and my thoughts have always been that they need to abolish the 'clear and obvious error' rule. If you look at a replay and your first thought is it's a penalty, then it shouldn't matter if the on-field referee hasn't made a clear and obvious error in not awarding it.
I don't know what the solution is, but I just know that it's hugely surprising how bad our use of VAR has become when it really shouldn't be that difficult.
Most Entertaining team of the Season: Tottenham
I could watch Tottenham every week, and I don't think there's a single football fan, not even among Spurs fans, who would have said that during the Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte reigns.
Under Ange Postecoglou Tottenham have become a joy to watch and games featuring them have become highly entertaining. Full backs playing as inverted wingers, defending so high up the pitch, lightning fast counter attacks, it all adds to end-to-end games that you just can't take your eyes off.
Spurs are among the league leaders for shots at goal, expected goals (xG), attacks and dangerous attacks, and the 58 goals witnessed in their games this season also ranks highly.
Whenever Tottenham are on TV it's a must-watch game, and after tipping them to finish in the top four this season at 7/24.50 I'm delighted that they've resumed winning ways after a poor November. They're now available to back at 15/82.88 to record a Top 4 Finish.
Game of the Season: Tottenham 1 Chelsea 4
And so it's only right that we include a game featuring Tottenham as our game of the season so far.
The Spurs v Chelsea game will live long in the memory, and it's not just one of this season's best games, it's arguably one of the Premier League's best ever games.
The scene was set with Tottenham top of the league and ex-boss Mauricio Pochettino - now boss of Chelsea - returning for the first time since he was sacked by Spurs.
Tottenham went ahead early and were only denied a 2-0 lead by a few inches after Son Heung-min's goal was disallowed for offside. A few moments later, Destiny Udogie had drifted from his left-back position and flew into a tackle high up on the right side of the pitch. And from that moment on the game descended into chaos.
Five goals, five disallowed goals, two red cards - both for Spurs - a penalty, and a host of VAR decisions made this one of the most frenetic games in Premier League history.
Tottenham's high line, when down to nine men, seemed outrageous, but it very nearly earned them an equaliser in stoppage time before Chelsea scored two late goals to record a 4-1 win.
Flop of the season (player): Marcus Rashford
There are a number of big-name players having a torrid season so far, and must can fit into the 'majority' of Chelsea' or 'any Manchester United player' bracket, but it has to be a United player, with Marcus Rashford being selected just ahead of Mason Mount.
There has been hints that something may emerge in the news surrounding Rashford's personal life, but for whatever reason, his form has simply dropped off a cliff this season.
Last term the England international registered 22 goal involvements in the league courtesy of 17 goals and five assists. This terms has just three goal involvements to his name thanks to two goals and one assist.
But it's his demeanour that seems particular worrying when in a United shirt, as he just looks disinterested in comparison to when he's in an England shirt.
And if there's a bit of truth in there, that he's not happy at his club, and perhaps not having a great relationship with Erik ten Hag, then that will explain his poor performances. But it also means that a lot of it is on himself.
Flop of the season (team): Burnley
I'm probably not the only person who fancied Burnley to comfortably avoid the drop this term after running away with last season's Championship.
But if truth be told, Vincent Kompnay's men have been dreadful.
The Clarets recorded seven straight defeats at Turf Moor, becoming the first club in Premier League history to start a season in such negative fashion.
They've since recorded a home win against Sheffield United, which means that along with their 2-1 win at Luton, Burnley's only two victories this term are against the two teams that got promoted along with them, and the two teams that are red hot favourites to be relegated.
The Clarets currently sit 19th in the table, six points adrift of safety, so it's no surprise to see them at 1/51.20 in the Betfair Sportsbook's Relegation market.