Mark Langdon: My surprise Premier League team of the season

Selecting mythical teams can be a difficult thing - just ask Garth Crooks who regularly provides a laugh with his weekly selections for the BBC - and it was Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher who felt the wrath of Aston Villa supporters for ignoring Unai Emery's squad when selecting their teams of the season so far.

I've decided to go slightly differently with a team of the season from players who have surprised me - and you can't disagree because it's the players who have shocked me. If you've been impressed more than you thought by Wolves's Toti Gomes put him in your team of surprises, but he doesn't make mine!

Goalkeeper - Guglielmo Vicario: The Tottenham keeper tops the Premier League's PSxG-GA stats this season (post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed) and not many people outside Italy would have heard of him before this summer.

Right-back - Ezri Konsa: The outstanding William Saliba has the highest tackle percentage against dribblers this season but next best is Aston Villa's Konsa.

Centre-back - Jarrad Branthwaite: Imagine the shock that Everton may well have made a shrewd signing. Former Carlisle defender Branthwaite has been a big part in Everton's season of progress if you ignore the ten-point deduction.

Centre-back - Virgil van Dijk: The biggest name on the list by a distance, but I thought Van Dijk's best days at Liverpool were behind him after last season when he looked far from the invincible force of previous campaigns. He is back to somewhere near his best.

Left-back - Destiny Udogie: How much was Udogie in the window? £17 million! Blimey, that looks a bargain. And while Tottenham have the marauding Italian left-back locked into a contract until 2030 it won't be long before Pep Guardiola is sniffing around, assuming he drops his obsession with centre-backs and reverts to having fun players in the full-back areas that is.

Midfield - John McGinn: The Scot has developed into an important midfielder for club and country and has played a significant role in Villa's rise up the table.

Midfield - Ross Barkley: One of the stories of the season has been Barkley's renaissance at Luton. He has scored against Arsenal and his former club Chelsea, however it has been much more than just the goals. Barkley will surely be staying in the Premier League next season with, or more likely, without the Hatters.

Midfield - Curtis Jones: Liverpool fans sing about Trent Alexander-Arnold being the Scouser in their team but he is not the only regular now as Jones has forced his way into Jurgen Klopp's starting 11. Jones is a crazy price at 12-1 to make England's Euro 2024 squad when you think those are the same odds as Sean Longstaff and bigger than Kobbie Mainoo, while Mason Mount (remember him?) ranges from evens to 4-1.

Wide forward - Cole Palmer: My initial take on Palmer's transfer - and with fairly good reasoning - was that if Manchester City were happy to sell him they were more likely to be right than Chelsea. But eight goals and four assists later this might turn out to be one of those rare things; a clever Blues signing in the Todd Boehly era.  

Wide forward - Lucas Paqueta: City were keen on Paqueta before his investigation into possible betting breaches and it's easy to see why. West Ham's star man tops the league for through balls and is ranked in the top five for goal-creating actions overall. He also charts high for tackles won so is the complete package.

Striker - Dominic Solanke: It has taken time for Solanke to fulfil his potential but the Bournemouth forward is now a major threat. He has had the most shots in this season's Premier League and only Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah have scored more goals.

Manager - Gary O'Neil: He walked into a difficult spot at Wolves but has done well, as have a number of his players.

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