The big day has arrived at last, and a merry Christmas to you all.
We’ve almost completed our squad, with all but one member picked. We now have to decide who was the best No.25 of the calendar year.
But before we list our top three choices to take the final spot, here is the squad we have assembled so far.
No. 1: Marc-André Ter Stegen
No. 2: Kyle Walker
No. 3: Giorgio Chiellini
No. 4: Virgil Van Dijk
No. 5: Raphael Varane
No. 6: Paul Pogba
No. 7: Kylian Mbappé
No. 8: Saúl ÑÃguez
No. 9: Luis Suárez
No. 10: Lionel Messi
No. 11: Mohamed Salah
No. 12: Marcelo
No. 13: Alisson
No. 14: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
No. 15: Andrea Barzagli
No. 16: Manuel Akanji
No. 17: Kevin de Bruyne
No. 18: Jordi Alba
No. 19: Leroy Sane
No. 20: Bernardo Silva
No. 21: David Silva
No. 22: Isco
No. 23: Samuel Umtiti
No. 24: Lorenzo Insigne
Squawka have been building a combined 25-man based on shirt numbers, revealing one player every day from 1st December right up till 25th.
Here are the top three players wearing the No.25 in Europe right now:
3. Adrien Rabiot (Paris Saint-Germain)
What makes him so special? Rabiot’s composure on the ball is reflected by his stats. The Frenchman regularly completes games with a 90%+ pass-competition rate. His ability to break up play and contain opponents in the midfield is also noteworthy.
Despite his talents on the pitch, his attitude regularly gets him into trouble and in one extraordinary turn of events, the 23-year-old has recently been banned from PSG’s first team amid a tense contract saga.
Rabiot could leave Paris in January. However, Barcelona and other clubs might want to think carefully about pursuing the Frenchman, as he has developed a knack for disturbing the apple cart.
The French press and fans were appalled in the summer when Rabiot removed himself from Didier Deschamps’ reserve list prior to the World Cup. Rabiot has a lot of talent, but he needs to calm down or at least appoint a new agent – his mother is still managing his life.
Key stat: Rabiot averages 74.1 passes per game in Ligue 1 at an accuracy rate of 93%.
2. Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea/Belgium/Real Madrid)
What makes him so special? Thibaut Courtois hasn’t consistently captured the kind of world-class form he demonstrated at Stamford Bridge, but the giant Belgian remains one of the world’s best ‘keepers. As much was confirmed by Fifa back in September when they handed him The Best Goalkeeper 2018 award.
Courtois beat Gianluigi Buffon, and – more controversially – Manchester United’s David de Gea to the prize.
Key stat: Courtois made more saves than any other goalkeeper at the World Cup (27).
1. Fernandinho (Manchester City/Brazil)
What makes him so special? Fernandinho is the glue that keeps City together. He’s the clock that keeps them ticking and an absolutely crucial member of Pep Guardiola’s record-breaking team.
His qualities won’t be easily identifiable to anyone who samples most of their football from highlight shows. His genius lies in reading the game, moving the ball on quickly and keeping City out of trouble through adroit passing, engineering attacks and coordinating defences.
One of the best ways to appreciate Fernandinho’s importance in City’s midfield is to witness how they fare when he’s absent from the squad. This happened just last weekend, and the reigning Premier League champions lost 2-3 to Crystal Palace. It was their first home defeat in the Premier League since the Manchester Derby on April 7.
Key stat: The Brazilian has won more aerial battles (42), more tackles (36) and more interceptions (26) than any City player this term.
The post Squawka’s Xmas advent squad: which No.25 had the best 2018? appeared first on Squawka News.
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