Data analytics company Opta have published their Premier League team of the season for 2025-26, with the XI built entirely on performance statistics gathered across the campaign. Arsenal, the newly crowned champions, lead the way with five representatives, while Manchester City and Bournemouth also feature prominently.

Goalkeeper and defence

David Raya claimed the goalkeeper spot after a remarkable season between the sticks for Arsenal. The Spaniard finished with 19 clean sheets — four more than any other keeper in the division — matching the single-season record set by David Seaman in both 1993-94 and 1998-99. A season-defining save against West Ham in the final stretch helped Arsenal close in on their first title since 2004. Raya also became only the third Spanish goalkeeper to earn a Premier League winners' medal, following David de Gea in 2012-13 and Adrian in 2019-20.

At right-back, Matheus Nunes enjoyed a breakthrough campaign for Manchester City, starting 32 matches and accumulating 2,865 minutes — more than his first two seasons at the club combined. City won 66 percent of games he started compared to just 33 percent without him. Among full-backs, Nunes led the division for open-play assists, line-breaking passes, passes completed in the final third, ball carries, and carry distance.

The central defensive partnership of Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba continued to cement their status as one of the finest in Premier League history. Gabriel ended the campaign with 17 clean sheets — more than any other defender — despite missing eight starts. Arsenal conceded just one goal every 138 minutes with him on the pitch, the best return by an Arsenal defender playing 2,000 or more minutes since Sol Campbell in 2003-04. He also contributed seven goal involvements, six from set-pieces, as Arsenal scored a record 19 corner goals this season.

Saliba, alongside Gabriel, recorded 15 clean sheets and completed 92.9 percent of his passes — the third-best of any player to attempt 2,000 or more. Together, the pair have lost only 15 of the 117 Premier League matches they have started for Arsenal since 2022-23.

Adrien Truffert completes the back four after a relentless season at left-back for Bournemouth. The Frenchman was the only player in the division to register more than 50 overlapping runs, while also ranking in the top five for underlapping runs. He topped the charts among full-backs for both interceptions (48) and tackles (103), and was the only Bournemouth outfield player to start all 38 matches of the club's historic campaign.

Midfield

Declan Rice earned his place in the engine room after another high-level season, his eighth consecutive campaign with at least 30 Premier League appearances. Rice posted personal bests for chances created (63), set-play chances created (27), and big chances created (17) as Arsenal lifted the title. He also led all central midfielders for ball-carry distance and carry progress, and was the only central midfielder to carry the ball into the opposition half more than 100 times.

Elliot Anderson provided a rare constant at Nottingham Forest — a club that used four permanent managers across the season. The midfielder led all players in the division for touches (3,300), duels won (297), fouls won (80), and overall possession won (306). He was the first player since Rice in 2019-20 to win possession more than 300 times and make more than 100 tackles in a single Premier League campaign, while his 297 duels won represent the best figure by an English midfielder since records began in 2006-07.

Dominik Szoboszlai rounds out the midfield trio after an outstanding season for Liverpool. The Hungarian scored four free-kick goals — more than any other player this season and a new club record — while ranking second only to Bruno Fernandes for chances created (78), successful final-third passes (660), and set-play assists (5). He also led Liverpool for line-breaking passes in the final third and possession won, all while operating across multiple positions including 26 percent of his time at right-back.

Attack

Rayan Cherki made an immediate impact at Manchester City after joining from Lyon, registering 12 assists in his first Premier League season. That tally places him in exclusive company — only Eric Cantona (16 in 1992-93), Andrew Cole (13 in 1993-94), Juan Mata (13 in 2011-12), and Dimitri Payet (12 in 2015-16) have matched or bettered that figure on debut in the competition.