Premier League 2025-26 review: the team of the season

David Raya, Arsenal Raya kept 19 clean sheets and won his third straight Golden Glove, just one shy of Petr Cech and Joe Hart’s record, but he makes this team thanks to his game-defining interventions in high-pressure moments in the title race. The Spaniard was there when his side needed him most: against Brighton in December , at Stamford Bridge in March and perhaps the defining image of his season, the smothering save from Mateus Fernandes against West Ham in the final fortnight of the campaign. In a game of fine margins, Raya has so often been the difference for Arsenal. Matheus Nunes, Manchester City Pep Guardiola said last season that Matheus Nunes was not “clever enough” to play in midfield, even though City had spent £53m to sign him from Wolves as a replacement for Ilkay Gündogan. Many would have struggled to recover after being undermined so publicly by their manager, but Nunes embraced a new challenge and developed into one of the Premier League’s best right-backs. His athleticism and ball carrying set him apart. Gabriel Magalhães, Arsenal Gabriel Magalhães has been the aggressive half of the best centre-back partnership in the league, happily embracing the bruising side of the defensive work for Arsenal, even if it occasionally means going toe-to-toe with Erling Haaland in a shirt-tugging, arm-wrestling duel. Gabriel made 32 appearances in the league and finished the campaign with 17 clean sheets, more than any other defender. …