The 2019/20 season of the Premier League has been full of surprises. Starting right from Liverpool's stellar run to West Ham's poor performance, the season has overturned many predictions that were being made before it started.
Not just only teams, but some popular players have gone through a rough patch of form as well. However, like Liverpool, there have been players who have surprised everyone with their performance and thus their stocks have only gone on to rise this season. Let's have a look at three of those players.
Read | Premier League 2019/20: Three players who exceeded expectations
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)
There were a lot of questions about his quality as a striker in the Premier League until last season. However, Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been a revelation this time around, having scored a personal best of 13 goals in 22 games for Everton. That includes goals against top teams like Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. Such has been his form this season that he has even overshadowed Everton's star forward Richarlison, who has netted 10 goals so far.
Read | Top five active free-kick takers in football
Calvert-Lewin had almost played almost the same number of minutes in the last two seasons, but had scored fewer goals. He had scored four goals along with eight assists in a total of 1871 minutes in the 2017/18 season and followed that up with six goals and five assists in 1769 minutes in the 2018/19 season. So it's clear how his finishing abilities have improved this season and that is the reason why the 23-year-old has become Carlo Ancelotti's frontman for the club.
Dean Henderson (Sheffield United)
Almost all clubs who progress into the top flight from the Championship like to bolster their squad with an experienced shot-stopper. However, Sheffield United retained their faith in England's U-21 goalkeeper Dean Henderson who had been terrific during their 2018/19 season in the Championship. Playing in the Premier League was expected to be a stern test for Henderson but he showed that he is as good as any other shot-stopper in the competition.
Read | Premier League team of the season so far
The 23-year-old has 10 clean sheets to his name this season, the second-most in the entire league, and has made 70 saves with a save percentage of 75% as well. He has played a key role to help Sheffield being the second most successful team in terms of goals conceded (25) this season. Hence, Henderson definitely has bigger and better things coming for him in the future.
Jack Grealish (Aston Villa)
It was due to Jack Grealish's sublime form towards the business end of the 2018/19 EFL Championship that Aston Villa could make their way into the Premier League. However, there was always a question mark over how he would be able to cope with the standards of the Premier League. But the 25-year-old cleared out all doubts as he emerged as one of the most prolific playmakers in the league during the season.
Read | Premier League team of the season – Excluding top six clubs
Even though Aston Villa struggled as a unit (they stood at 19th in the table when coronavirus pandemic brought the sporting world to a standstill), Grealish was highly impressive as he scored seven goals and assisted six times for the club. Such performances have made Manchester United highly interested in acquiring his services. Hence, we might see the Villa skipper donning the United jersey next season.
Feature Image: AFP / Paul Ellis
