Gabriel Magalhaes has been tipped as a potential Player of the Year contender by Jamie Carragher, should Arsenal win the Premier League this season.
It’s very early to be talking about Player of the Year awards and the destination of the Premier League title, with just nine games played. But in this first quarter of the season, Gabriel Magalhaes and Arsenal are certainly standout contenders.
Gabriel has helped Arsenal to six Premier League clean sheets, he’s scored a winner against Newcastle United, and he’s assisted a winner against Fulham.
Even on Sunday, the ball only fell to Eberechi Eze to score the winner against Crystal Palace because a Palace defender was desperately trying to prevent it reaching Gabriel from a set-piece.
Speaking on Sky Sports over the weekend, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher suggested that if Arsenal win the Premier League title this season, Gabriel would be the top Player of the Year nominee.
“If Arsenal go on and win the league, right now I think he’s the number one contender,” Carragher said. “I look at those other three players (to win Player of the Year as defenders), great players, all leaders for their clubs like Gabriel is.
“When you actually look at John Terry and Virgil van Dijk’s role, look at the goals. They’re not just big leaders at the back, the number of goals they get… and [Gabriel’s] record is actually far better than theirs when you look at those numbers.”
Arsenal have made an excellent start to the new Premier League campaign, but it is only the start. The Gunners sit four points clear of Bournemouth at the top of the table, but they have tens more games to play before that really means anything.
Exactly one month before Arsenal’s win over Crystal Palace, Liverpool had a five-point lead at the top of the table. They now sit in seventh, seven points off Arsenal. That’s how quickly things can change.