Premier League team of the half-season

The second half of the Premier League campaign gets underway this weekend. But who made the team of the half-season?

The team of the Premier League season so far has been Chelsea, obviously. Antonio Conte’s side had won 13 matches in a row before losing to Tottenham in their first game of 2017 and have built up a five-point lead at the top of the table.

But no one wants to see a team of the season full of Chelsea players, so let’s make things more interesting. This is the team of the Premier League half-season, with a catch: only one player per team allowed.

Thought Diego Costa and N’Golo Kante were equally important to Chelsea? Pick one. Think Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana both deserve recognition for their performances for Liverpool? Too bad.

There are a lot of ways to go with this, depending on who impressed you and how many attackers you wanted to include in your starting XI. FanSided’s soccer staff share their teams below:

Peter Johstone, @PniJ2

Tom Heaton

Michail Antonio – Laurent Koscielny – Virgil van Dijk – Danny Rose

Victor Moses – Philippe Coutinho – Robert Snodgrass – Raheem Sterling

Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Jermain Defoe

Rory Masterson, @rorymasterson

Tom Heaton

Antonio Barragan – Ashley Williams – Virgil van Dijk – Curtis Davies

Philippe Coutinho – Paul Pogba – Mesut Ozil – Dele Alli

Diego Costa – Sergio Aguero

Michael Harshbarger, @TimHalpert

Ben Foster

Jan Vertonghen – Virgil van Dijk – Steve Cook

Adam Lallana – Dimitri Payet – N’Golo Kante – Kevin De Bruyne

Alexis Sanchez – Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Romelu Lukaku

Dan Voicescu, @fiveboroball

Ben Foster

Jose Fonte – Robert Huth – Danny Rose

Michail Antonio – N’Golo Kante – Ander Herrera – Michail Antonio

Alexis Sanchez – Romelu Lukaku – Kevin De Bruyne

Gary Pearson, @newagejourno

Ben Foster

Antonio Valencia – Virgil van Dijk – Toby Alderweireld – Charlie Daniels

Philippe Coutinho – Kevin De Bruyne – Idrissa Gueye – Dimitri Payet

Diego Costa – Alexis Sanchez

James Dudko, @JamesDudko

Hugo Lloris

Nathaniel Clyne – Virgil van Dijk – Johnny Evans – Leighton Baines

Kevin De Bruyne – Michael Carrick – Joe Allen – Dimitri Payet

Diego Costa – Alexis Sanchez

Jake Walerius, @JakeWalerius 

Tom Heaton

Antonio Valencia – Virgil van Dijk – Jan Vertonghen – Jose Holebas

Adam Lallana – Idrissa Gueye – Joe Allen

Kevin De Bruyne – Diego Costa – Alexis Sanchez

The most popular player was Virgil van Dijk, who made six out of seven teams. That’s likely a reflection both of the fact he’s been excellent and that Southampton haven’t had many other truly standout performers. Alexis Sanchez was another popular choice, making five teams, while our player of the half-season, Diego Costa, found a place in only four.

Next: Premier League mid-season awards

There’s about a million other directions you could take here as well. West Brom have outperformed expectations, but does their standout player, Matt Phillips, deserve a spot ahead of a player like Sanchez? There’s a ton of enticing attacking players to choose from, but how best to maintain some midfield balance? That’s all part of the fun.