The West London football awards for the 2022/23 season

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With three teams in the Premier league and QPR in the Championship, it’s an unheralded era of success for West London football teams. And it’s a great time to check out the sports betting sites and unearth some betting offers related to the West’s top clubs, should that be your thing.  

As the 2022-23 season progresses, there are some stellar footballers plying their trade in the capital’s west to keep your eye on. Here we take a look at each West London club’s player of the season so far, helped by the ratings of WhoScored. However, we know there’s more to a footballer than what the numbers say, so it’s not always the highest-ranked player who wins the award. See what you think

Brentford

Another stellar season for Thomas Frank’s Brentford, who lest we forget are only in their second season back in the top flight of English football, and only their third since the 1946-47 season. The fact that no one’s really talking about the Bees, especially in relation to relegation, is testament to how effective the team, and their Danish coach, have become. So who has been the standout performer this term?

A big shout out to summer signing Ben Mee – capyured on a free from Burnley – who has slipped adeptly into Frank’s back three and marshalled the line brilliantly. Fellow defender Ethan Pinnock has also been a rock at the back, and along with Spanish goalkeeper David Rya, this trio have been instrumental in leading to the team to a likely top half finish.

But then there’s Ivan Toney. A recent England call up for the 27-year-old is just reward for a striker who has scored 16 goals so far, one of which was a winner at Etihad Stadium. That’s more than any other player in the Premier League bar Erling Haaland and Harry Kane. A WhoScored rating of 7.30 puts Toney a long way ahead of his teammates too. Absolutely crucial to Brentford’s success.

Chelsea
Not an easy choice this one as it’s been a tough season for the Blues and new coach Graham Potter, who replaced Thomas Tuchel back in September. A mid -table showing is simply not good enough for a team with the players that Chelsea possess, and plenty of those players have underperformed. It’s more than notable that across the highest-rated players on WhoScored.com, all of them have had their season’s truncated for one reason or another. N’Golo Kante, the heartbeat of the Chelsea midfield, has only played twice in the league all season. Similarly, Reece James has only featured 12 times, including once from the bench. January signing Enzo Fernández will be a star for the Blues, but his impact has only recently started to be felt. And so, that leaves the outstanding and enduring Thiago Silva as undisputed number one. That was, before his season was cruelly ended by a knee injury that will probably keep the Brazilian out for the rest of the campaign. But before that, the 38-year-old was imperious. He had to be, what with the Blues attack failing to click. His loss has been heavily felt.

Fulham

Fulham, under the astute guidance of Marco Silva, have had a brilliant return to the Premier League after yo-yoing their way through the last few seasons. The Portuguese coach has been helped, no doubt, by the goalscoring form of Aleksander Mitrovic. That was before the Serb lost his head in an FA Cup defeat at Old Trafford that saw the striker unforgivably push the referee. 11 goals in the Premier League is a very good return, but is not enough to secure the player of the season award. For, despite having a slightly lower ranking than his teammate Mitrovic on WhoScored ( 7.03 compared to 7.15), João Palhinha has been a revelation in the heart of midfield. No player wins more tackles, and he has also popped up with some crucial goals. International recognition at the age of 27 is just reward for a player who is having the season of his life. And his club sure are grateful. 

Queen’s Park Rangers

It’s not been a vintage campaign for the Rs in the Championship. At the time of writing, the threat of relegation is still not completely dealt with, and a late season charge to the playoffs is an impossibility. The Super Hoops are on their third manager of the season in the shape of Gareth Ainsworth, while defensively the team has struggled, currently sitting with the joint-worst goals against record in the division. It’s no surprise to see a lack of defenders putting their hand up for this award.

There have been some positives, however, most notably in midfield, where Chris Willock has popped up with some important goals. But hands down the most important player for QPR this season has been attacking midfielder Ilias Chair. Not only is the Moroccan the only player to break 7 on the WhoScored rankings system (7.03), but he has contributed with five goals (only two players have more) and seven assists (three ahead of any teammates). Without Chair, relegation may well have been a certainly for a team that has had a turbulent season up to this point.