Football betting tips: PFA Award
2pts Bruno Fernandes to win PFA Player of the Year at 16/1 (BetVictor)
- Published before West Ham 1-1 Man Utd
In another era, or at another club, BRUNO FERNANDES would quite possibly be considered as one of the best players on the planet. Instead, he rarely gets the credit he deserves.
So prolonged have Manchester United's struggles been during the Portuguese midfielder's six years at Old Trafford that rather than see his genius with occasional flaws, pundits, supporters and armchair experts often find common ground in suggesting he may in fact be part of the problem, rather than the glaringly obvious solution.
For a club that (until recently) has seemed desperate to find new ways to reach rock bottom over the past decade, actively touting their captain to Saudi Arabia in the summer in an apparent effort to fund a major squad rebuild for their out-of-depth manager should be considered their absolute zenith.
Despite Ruben Amorim's insistence on playing Fernandes out of position in a deep-lying role, the 31-year-old still managed to put up some outstanding creative numbers in the first half of the Premier League season. They have gone through the roof since Michael Carrick returned him to his natural place in attacking midfield.
He has eight assists and four goals in his last nine matches.
Across Europe's top five leagues only Bayern Munich's Michael Olise (15) has provided more than Fernandes' 12 assists, with the United captain five clear of anyone else in the Premier League.
That pales in comparison to the number of chances (74) he has created for team-mates, carving out more than any other player in Europe and a remarkable 37 more than anybody else in England's top flight.
The man second on that list is Declan Rice.
The England midfielder is currently 4/7 favourite TO WIN PFA PLAYER OF THE YEAR.
Heavily baked into those odds is of course the assumption of this being a breakthrough season for Arsenal, with them now favourites to win all four of the competitions they are contesting.
PFA Player of the Year odds (via bet365)
- Declan Rice - 8/13
- Erling Haaland - 2/1
- Bruno Fernandes - 12/1
- Gabriel Magalhaes - 14/1
- Antoine Semenyo - 40/1
- 50/1 bar
Top of their list of priorities is undoubtedly ending a 22-year wait for the Premier League title, and it's fair to assume that key players in those title-winning clubs tend to win such awards; not always.
Nine of the last 16 winners were not part of such teams.
Wayne Rooney (09/10), Gareth Bale (10/11, 12/13), Robin van Persie (11/12), Luis Suarez (13/14), Mohamed Salah (17/18, 21/22), Virgil van Dijk (18/19) and Kevin De Bruyne (19/20) were all recognised by the peers for their individual brilliance.
Should United continue their renaissance under Carrick, led by FERNANDES - who has never won the award - it is far from impossible that his outstanding performances will turn the heads of PFA members come voting time.
At a top price of 16/1, he gets my vote.
Odds correct at 15:00 GMT (10/2/26)
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