MANCHESTER: Arsenal and Manchester City dominated the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Premier League (EPL) Team of the Year for the 2025/26 season as nine players from the two clubs were selected by their counterparts.
The PFA Awards ceremony took place at the Manchester Opera House today, with five players from Arsenal’s EPL-winning squad last season receiving recognition.
Goalkeeper David Raya, who won the Golden Glove Award after recording 19 clean sheets, was chosen to fill the goalkeeper position.
In front of him are three members of Arsenal’s main defence, Jurrien Timber, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba.
The final spot in defence goes to Manchester City youngster Nico O’Reilly, who is also part of the four FA Cup champions’ representatives in the starting line-up.
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The midfield also features Arsenal’s Declan Rice and City’s Rayan Cherki, as well as Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes set an EPL record when he produced 21 assists last season, helping United finish in third place.
The Portuguese player was previously named EPL Player of the Year and Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Player of the Year, before completing his collection of individual awards by winning the PFA Player of the Year trophy.
None of the Arsenal strikers were selected in the attacking trio.
On the other hand, the three top scorers in the EPL last season filled the position through Erling Haaland who scored 27 goals, Brentford striker Igor Thiago with 22 goals, and Antoine Semenyo who scored 17 goals.
Semenyo joined City from Bournemouth mid-season.
The dominance of Arsenal and City was also evident in the overall list when only two of the 11 players selected did not play for either club.
Meanwhile, six players in the PFA Team of the Year for the Championship League are from the Coventry City squad that helped the club gain promotion to the EPL under Frank Lampard.
Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis, as well as Everton new signing Hayden Hackney, who has impressed for Middlesbrough, were also selected.
For their League One rivals, Lincoln City also contributed four players to their best XI, in addition to Dom Ballard, who moved from Leyton Orient to Bristol City this summer.
Ballard stole the show with his new club when he scored a goal that was considered one of the best candidates this season.
The League Two Team of the Year saw Bromley and MK Dons each contribute three players, while Cambridge United had two representatives.
In the Women’s Super League (WSL), several England stars were also recognized, including Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton and Lauren James, Arsenal’s Alessia Russo and Manchester City’s goal machine, Khadija Shaw.