Evaluating Mo Salah, Harry Kane and Kevin de Bruyne for Player of the Year

Three players can reasonably lay claim to winning the award. Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, and Tottenham’s Harry Kane. Each player presents a compelling argument.

Kane has been a model of consistency for Tottenham over the past four seasons. Salah has transformed from a bust at Chelsea to Lionel Messi comparisons. And De Bruyne, despite playing in a deeper position, has both statistics and team success to boot.
All three of these players have enjoyed tremendous seasons, and all three of their clubs have benefited as a result. However, with the season entering its final stretch, which player has the edge for this prestigious award?

No Bad Choices

Mohamed Salah, Liverpool
Salah has scored 38 goals in all competitions this season. He has scored 29 goals in the Premier League and more than any player in England. His 29 league goals are first in the Premier League and first in Europe’s top five leagues. Three ahead of his closest competition (Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski and Lazio’s Ciro Immobile). Salah, quite remarkably, is also tied for third in the Premier League in assists, tallying nine helpers this season. In total, Salah has contributed to 38 of Liverpool’s 75 league goals.

That’s a remarkable output considering he plays with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

Furthermore, according to Squawka, Salah has racked up 46 key passes and created 55 chances this season. His performance score on Squawka is top among these three individuals by comparison (1,318.06). His average rating on whoscored.com is 7.75/10, good for fourth overall in the Premier League.

Harry Kane, Tottenham 
Kane has 24 goals, which is good for second in the Premier League. He also has two assists, although his primary job for Tottenham is to score. He’s led the league in goals each of the last two seasons. His success is even more impressive given its sustained nature. Kane, overall, has 26 goal contributions for Spurs out of their 62 goals, a 42% contribution rate.

Notably, Harry Kane’s supporting cast isn’t as strong as his competitors. Salah is flanked by Mane, Firmino, and was aided by Philippe Coutinho for the first half of the season. De Bruyne, as we’ll get to later, has an ungodly amount of weapons at his disposal. Therefore, Kane’s success is all the more impressive. Given he is Spurs’ main goal threat on every night. Whereas De Bruyne and Salah can choose to defer on certain occasions.

Kane, however, has the lowest total performance score and average who scored rating out of the three. His team is also lowest on the table. It is fair to say that despite Kane’s terrific success, he is definitely third in the race. His recent injury will certainly not help his cause (even if he did come back two months ahead of schedule).

Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City
De Bruyne’s statistical success is more defined by his teammates than Salah or Kane. The Belgian has a league high 15 assists, to go along with 7 goals. Those 7 goals, however, are on only 77 shots. Giving him a 60% shot accuracy, which is higher than Kane (56%), and just behind Salah (62%).

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