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Analysis
- 1 minute ago
Premier League Worst Team of the Season: Hojlund and Nunez IN
Cameron Smith
- 23 May 2025 10:00 CDT
- 7 min read
Analysis
The 2024-25 Premier League campaign is nearly over, with a grandstand final matchday in store to determine who joins Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in next year’s Champions League.
While stars such as Mohamed Salah, Gabriel Magalhaes and Chris Wood have enjoyed sublime campaigns in the English top flight, a number of players have fallen well short of expectations this term.
Below, FootballTransfers runs through the worst XI of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
GK: Robert Sanchez (Chelsea)
Robert Sanchez has made a number of eye-catching saves during the 2024-25 campaign, but he has mostly been an unsettling presence in between the sticks for Chelsea.
The Spaniard has made five errors leading directly to a goal this season - the most of any player in the Premier League - and the Stamford Bridge crowd are always jittery whenever he has the ball at his feet, which isn’t the platform for a strong defensive set-up.
Andre Onana is perhaps fortunate to miss out on an inclusion, but he has just been pipped by Sanchez.
Current ETV
Robert Sánchez
GK
Chelsea
Robert Sánchez
GK
Chelsea
ETV Range
€22.4M - €27.4M
RB: Malo Gusto (Chelsea)
Malo Gusto was arguably Chelsea’s second-best performer last season - behind Cole Palmer - but he has been extremely underwhelming this term.
Enzo Maresca’s preference for inverted full-backs hasn’t helped the Frenchman and he looks a shadow of the player who tore things up during his debut campaign at Stamford Bridge.
Gusto has looked shaky when defending, while he has registered just one Premier League assist this term, compared to six in 2023-24.
CB: Radu Dragusin (Tottenham)
Tottenham Hotspur have been quite simply shambolic during the 2024-25 Premier League season, and their defensive woes are a large reason for this.
With Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven struggling with injury problems throughout the year, Dragusin featured prominently during the first few months of the campaign, before suffering an ACL injury in early 2025.
Big things were expected of the central defender following a fantastic Euro 2024 with Romania, but he failed to impress and he was a large contributing factor behind Spurs’ awful form from November to the end of January.
CB: Lewis Dunk (Brighton)
Lewis Dunk is a Brighton & Hove Albion legend, and he will go down as one of their greatest ever players.
However, his form has nosedived this campaign and it looks as though his career trajectory is finally no longer pointing upwards.
Brighton’s record without Dunk included in the starting XI this term stands at eight wins, four draws and just one defeat (vs Liverpool). By comparison, they have only won six of the 23 league matches he has started. He is now a slight liability and this season has confirmed that.
LB: Victor Kristiansen (Leicester)
Leicester City have been incredibly poor this campaign and Victor Kristiansen has epitomised that fact.
After an encouraging loan spell at Bologna, he returned to the King Power Stadium last summer, but he has been extremely underwhelming and Leicester fans have regularly expressed their dissatisfaction with the 22-year-old throughout the course of the season.
Southampton are admittedly fortunate to have escaped punishment, but their entire defensive unit has been extremely poor, rather than one individual player.
RM: Raheem Sterling (Arsenal)
Raheem Sterling was placed in Chelsea’s ‘bomb squad’ following the appointment of Enzo Maresca last summer and he was forced to leave the club after falling down the pecking order in the wake of Pedro Neto’s arrival.
Arsenal swooped to agree a season-long loan deal on Transfer Deadline Day, with Mikel Arteta reuniting with his former Manchester City pupil.
However, Sterling has only made six Premier League starts for Arsenal, while he hasn’t scored in the English top flight since his move to the Emirates Stadium. His stock is at an all time low and a permanent Chelsea exit is needed.
CM: Yves Bissouma (Tottenham)
Yves Bissouma was excellent during Tottenham’s triumphant Europa League final against Manchester United, but his form has been remarkably below average throughout the Premier League season.
A number of Spurs players have performed far below expectations this campaign and Bissouma is certainly one of them.
When in top form, he is perfect for Ange Postecoglou’s system, however Bissouma has been a shadow of the player who starred at Brighton and his consistency has let him down massively this year.
CM: Fabio Carvalho (Brentford)
Brentford splashed a whopping €23.4 million to sign Fabio Carvalho from Liverpool last summer, with the 22-year-old becoming their fifth-most expensive signing of all time in the process.
However, the Portuguese attacking midfielder has barely featured since his move to west London and his reputation as one of the best youngsters in Europe has faded significantly.
Carvalho has only started three Premier League matches this term and he has missed the final three months of the season with a shoulder injury.
LM: Timo Werner (Tottenham)
At 24 years of age, Timo Werner was rated as one of the best players in world football following a sublime 2019-20 season at RB Leipzig. At 29, he has endured a torrid year on loan at Tottenham Hotspur and his reputation has diminished significantly.
The ex-Germany international has been included in Spurs’ starting XI in the Premier League on just four occasions this campaign, while he has failed to score during his 18 appearances in the competition.
Tottenham even removed Werner from their squad for the Europa League knockout stages after a dismal start to the season, and they will not sign him on a permanent deal.
ST: Rasmus Hojlund (Man Utd)
Rasmus Hojlund showed glimpses of promise during his debut season at Man Utd, but those moments have been even more fleeting this year.
The Denmark international has scored just four goals in 31 Premier League appearances this term and he is a key reason why only four teams have scored fewer goals than the Red Devils in the English top flight this campaign.
Man Utd are desperate to sign a new striker this summer and Hojlund’s career at Old Trafford may already be over as a result of his form this year.
ST: Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)
Darwin Nunez joined Liverpool amid much fanfare in 2022, however his €85m transfer fee now looks like a huge overpay in hindsight.
The Uruguayan has never managed to settle at Anfield and the 2024-25 campaign has been his worst to date.
Only eight of his 21 Premier League appearances this term have been from the start, with Arne Slot favouring Luis Diaz as an unorthodox striker in recent months, while he has only netted five English top flight goals in 2024-25.
Football transfer news headlines today
Chelsea awards 2024-25: Best & worst player, best & worst transfer, top scorer
Arsenal awards 2024-25: Best & worst player, best & worst transfer, top scorer
Man Utd awards 2024-25: Best & worst player, best & worst transfer, top scorer
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