The 2026/27 Premier League season is about to begin, and as is ever the case, it’ll be the big names who decide the outcome.
Last season, Bruno Fernandes was crowned Player of the Season after a stunning campaign that yielded a competition-record 21 assists — as well as nine goals.
He was the first Manchester United player to scoop the award since Nemanja Vidic in 2010/11, while he ended an eight-year reign of terror from Manchester City and Liverpool players.
Who is in line to win Player of the Year this time around? Here, we take a look at a favourite, dark horse and outsider option.
The favourite: Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland has won three Golden Boots, a European Golden Shoe and been Ballon d’Or runner-up since joining Manchester City. And that’s only a small snapshot of the individual awards he’s taken, let alone the major trophies he’s scooped.
And yet, he’s somehow been named Premier League Player of the Season just once, in his 2022/23 debut campaign when he scored 36 goals in 35 appearances — and 52 in 53 across all competitions.
This time around, however, the Norwegian icon is the favourite. That’s hardly surprising after winning another Golden Boot and a domestic cup double last season, not to mention his heroics at the World Cup this summer — scoring seven goals in five games.
Haaland — priced at 4/1 by Bet365 — looks like he’s hitting even higher levels of goalscoring greatness and is Man City’s best hope of toppling defending champions Arsenal under new boss Enzo Maresca.
If he were to claim his second Player of the Season award, he would join an incredibly exclusive and star-studded club of multiple winners alongside Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nemanja Vidic, Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah.
The dark horse: Cole Palmer
It’s been a strange couple of years for Cole Palmer since his breakout 2023/24 campaign with Chelsea.
The attacking midfielder has still produced impressive numbers, registering 29 goals and 17 assists in 86 appearances across all competitions, helping the Blues win Conference League and Club World Cup titles. 25 of those goals have come in the Premier League.
Last season, however, he only managed one league assist, while five of his 10 goals were penalties. In truth, he had a disappointing campaign as Chelsea slumped to 10th, missing out on the England World Cup squad for his troubles.
However, the arrival of Xabi Alonso brings new optimism to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have been very busy strengthening their squad, with Morgan Rogers the headline arrival.
Pre-season has seen Palmer and Rogers often operate either side of Joao Pedro in a 3-4-3, and Chelsea have scored 13 goals across the four friendlies he’s played in.
Alonso’s system offers great creative freedom to Palmer, and if things click, you can easily see him returning to his best form and firing Chelsea back into the upper reaches of the Premier League table.
At 16/1 with Bet365, Palmer is a quintessential dark horse bet.
2026/27 Premier League Player of the Season favourites
| Player | Bet365 odds |
| Erling Haaland | 4/1 |
| Bruno Fernandes | 6/1 |
| Declan Rice | 9/1 |
| Bukayo Saka | 10/1 |
| Rayan Cherki | 12/1 |
| Alexander Isak | 14/1 |
| Cole Palmer | 16/1 |
| Antoine Semenyo | 16/1 |
| Bruno Guimaraes | 16/1 |
| Elliot Anderson | 16/1 |
The outsider: Virgil van Dijk
Sitting even further out in the betting at 25/1 is Virgil van Dijk.
Let’s first address the worries that make the Liverpool captain a firm outsider: he’s 35 years old and coming off a World Cup summer; Liverpool were somewhat fortunate to qualify for the Champions League last season — finishing fifth — and there is uncertainty around how they’ll adapt to Andoni Iraola’s style of play.
But for all that, there is so much to like about Van Dijk.
The Dutchman was almost a one-man wall in the Liverpool backline last season, finishing first among his teammates in the Premier League for clearances (275), aerial duels won (174), and shots blocked (26).
There was a feeling that Van Dijk often had to cover for the shortcomings of the now-departed Ibrahima Konate. Now, though, he has the opportunity to form a new partnership, whether that be with Ronald Araujo or Jeremy Jacquet.
Van Dijk is one of just four defenders to win this award, doing so in 2018/19. He’s a two-time Premier League champion, captaining the Reds to their most recent title in 2024/25.
He has the experience and absolute unquestionable quality. And even at 35, he appears to retain the pace and physicality to be an elite defender in the Premier League.
Van Dijk will be key to Liverpool succeeding under Iraola. But if that happens, who knows where it could take player and club.