Erling Haaland runs away with the most goals en route to a Treble, selfless Mo Salah lands gong… and which Chelsea star committed the most fouls this year? Mail Sport’s 2023 Premier League awards

The end of a whirlwind 2023 has arrived, capping off another hectic and action-packed year of Premier League action. 

It has been a ground-breaking year with records smashed left, right and centre – largely by Treble-winners Manchester City and their all-devouring Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland. 

But there was also history made at the other end of the table, too, with Luton gaining promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history as the Hatters’ fairytale rise from the depths of English football continues. 

It was also a blockbuster season of transfer action as well, with Chelsea in particular spending north of £100million on two different players, as Premier League spending surpassed more than £2.4billion this summer alone. 

But who scored the most goals? Who provided the most assists? And the big one – who had the biggest grooming faux pas of 2023? Here Mail Sport takes you through our annual end of year awards from the Premier League.

Most Goals 

Well as awards go, it’s hardly one that is leaving fans biting their nails, but we shall indulge the format nonetheless. 

It was a year of numerous goal scoring records, including the most ever in a season, the fastest ever to reach 50 goals and fastest player to four Premier League hat-tricks. Perhaps shockingly, all of those were achieved by the same player. 

2023 would also see this striker go on to break the record for most goals in all competitions of any Premier League player and narrowly miss out on the coveted Ballon d’Or award for their exploits in the previous 12 months for their club. 

Is there much point pretending we don’t know who has claimed this one any longer – the winner of Most Goals 2023 is of course, Manchester City’s very own Striking Viking, Erling Haaland!

First: Erling Haaland (29)

Second: Mohamed Salah (24)

Third: Ollie Watkins (21) 

Special mention: Harry Kane, who, despite leaving the Premier League halfway through the year, scored 17 goals.

Most Assists

In a very literal sense this one is the Best Supporting Actor to Most Goals – and some could even say that it’s the one that is a better indicator of greatness. 

Now this one is a little bit surprising; not for the fact that they’re winning an award, but perhaps because they’re usually lifting a different gong at this point in the year. 

There’s no denying their credentials as one of the world’s elite attacking players, having every available honour at their club since they returned to the Premier League some six years ago.

And 2023 was undoubtedly a campaign to remember – not just for this forward, but for his team-mates too apparently!

The winner of Most Assists in 2023, is none other than Most Goals runner-up, Liverpool’s Pharaoh, the Egyptian Messi himself, Mohamed Salah! 

First: Mohamed Salah (15)

Second: Trent Alexander-Arnold (12)

Joint-Third: Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Pascal Gross (11)

Most Saves

This one always feels like an award most clubs don’t want their goalkeepers to win (I think it’s safe to assume this one was won by a goalkeeper).

On the one hand, it obviously shows a great ability to do exactly what you want from your shot-stopper which is, well, stopping shots. 

But on the other hand, it does sort of suggest there’s a fair bit of defensive work to be done if they’re confronted by so many attempts on goal during the season – something any manager worth their salt will be hoping to avoid. 

It is somewhat surprising then that this goalkeeper was never really in a relegation scrap – nor were they at the forefront of the battle for Europe. 

With a whopping 4.42 saves-per-game throughout the year it’s a contender for signing of the season – Fulham’s man between the sticks, Bernd Leno!

First: Bernd Leno (159)

Second: Neto (139) 

Third: Jordan Pickford (116) 

Most Clean Sheets 

The flip side of the Most Saves award, it’s the one they all want to win – Most Clean Sheets. 

David de Gea picked up the Golden Glove in the Premier League last season after finishing the 2022-23 campaign with 17 clean sheets, but of course failed to secure a contract extension because, seemingly, that’s not what you want in a goalkeeper. 

But where saves can be a misleading statistic, clean sheets are an out-and-out indicator of a shot-stopper’s credentials, as well as a sign of a healthy defensive line in front of them. 

This year’s winner is an odd one; not a name you would’ve thought would be among the top two or three, but equally is inarguably one of the finest keepers on the planet. 

Most Clean Sheets for 2023 goes to one of the great No 1’s of their generation, Brazil and Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson – with a very impressive 16 shutouts in the last 12 months.

First: Alisson (16)

Joint-Second: David Raya and Emiliano Martinez (12)

Third: Jordan Pickford (11) 

Special mention: David de Gea only had six fewer than Alisson (10) despite playing only five months of Premier League football this year! 

Most Tackles

Tackling is very much an art, and the masters of their craft can do so with abandon and rarely pick up bookings, so precise and fluid is their timing, be it sprinting back in defence or meeting an attacker head on. 

The Premier League is home to some of the finest central defensive midfielders in the world, with Rodri (Man City), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Casemiro (Man United) and Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle) among the conductors at the base of the midfield, but none of those big names made the top three this year.

This year, the category was not even close. The winner came in 54 clear of second place.  

And it is another perhaps surprising winner coming at a team that were never really in any sort of race for European qualification, nor were they threatened with the looming figure of relegation and a return to the Championship – although they were tipped to do just that at the start of the season. 

Last season this player drew the eye of one of the biggest teams on the continent, and reports suggest there might just be another swirling transfer saga surrounding them this January, although it remains to be seen if they can get the deal done this time round. 

With an astounding 156 tackles in 36 games at an average of 4.33 successful challenges per match, the winner this year is Fulham’s Portuguese brick wall, Joao Palhinha!

First: Joao Palhinha (156)

Second: Idrissa Gana Gueye (102)

Third: Tyrick Mitchell (99) 

Most Distance Covered

The award for Most Distance Covered in 2023 – or the unofficial Work Horse Award – is one that may not get the glamour of the Most Goals or the attention of the Most Clean Sheets gongs, but you’d put your house on the fact that any manager in the game would prefer players to win those one over the other two. 

There would previously have been little point contesting this one over the last few years, with the marathon runner masquerading as a footballer that is N’Golo Kante covering every single blade of grass for Chelsea, yet the Frenchman has now moved to Saudi Arabia, leaving a place in the limelight for somebody else.

Traditionally, this is an award won by a midfielder, given their responsibilities at either end of the pitch, although that’s not to say that a particularly industrious striker could be in contention should they really want to muck in with defensive duties (spoiler alert, they have not). 

This year’s winner is another surprising one, and a player that has actually featured for two different clubs across the last 12 months, and as an added hint has been hunting down one particular record held by David Beckham. 

The winner of the Most Distance Covered award for 2023 is West Ham’s ever-present set-piece supremo, James Ward-Prowse with a huge 447.4km in the year at an average of 11.19km a game!

First: James Ward-Prowse (447.4km)

Second: Bruno Fernandes (441km)

Third: Pascal Gross (439.6km) 

Most Fouls

From hardest worker to dirtiest player – now we come to the award for the most fouls conceded in the year 2023. 

Unlike the ‘Work Horse Award’ this is one managers will be hoping to avoid for the most part – tackling is one thing, but giving away fouls when there are so many potent free-kick threats in the Premier League is another matter entirely.

While there might be the odd tactical foul – you know, the ‘taking one for the team’ sort – a high number of fouls likely suggests that a bit of work needs to be done on the training ground on how best to execute the tackle. 

With Palhinha completing a staggering 4.33 a game, will he make it a double? The chances are pretty high if you’re flying in that often…

This year’s dirtiest player, the winner of the Most Fouls in 2023, is one of the leaders in the Chelsea dressing room – but it’s not veteran defender Thiago Silva. 

With a whopping 72 fouls conceded… congratulations Conor Gallagher!

First: Conor Gallagher (72)

Joint-Second: Dejan Kulusevski and Joelinton (62) 

Third: Nelson Semedo (61) 

Best Signing

Now to one of the big ones – who has been the best signing in the Premier League in 2023?

There have been plenty of new arrivals to the Premier League in the two windows that we’ve had, and most of them have been to Stamford Bridge. 

Transfer records have been broken a number of times, with the Premier League splashing out more than £2.4BILLION in summer alone, as the English top-flight continues to flex it’s substantial financial muscles. 

There have been a few note worthy flops in the market this year, but who has had the greatest impact on their new club? Who deserves to be crowned the best signing of the year?

The winner of 2023’s best new arrival has to be ex-West Ham midfielder, England’s star, the Basmati Busquets himself – Declan Rice. 

Since his arrival at the Emirates he has been exceptional, covering almost every inch of the turf game after game, keeping the tempo going at the base of the Gunners’ midfield and even cropping up with the odd late goal, and unlike some of the other big-money signings this year has been worth every penny of the £105m fee.

Winner: Declan Rice

Honorable mentions also go out to Jeremy Doku (Man City), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), James Maddison  (Tottenham), Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool), and Craig Dawson (Wolves).

Worst Haircut

And now for the one we all came to see, move over Ballon d’Or – it’s the biggest individual prize in football. That’s right – it’s the award for Worst Haircut. 

We’re finishing with a bang. There have been some absolutely appalling trims in the last 12 months – which is by no means anything new for the Premier League. 

Much is made of the legendary players that have graced the English top-flight in the years gone by, but what about the hairstyles?

From serial stylists of the past like David Beckham, Djibril Cisse, and Andy Carroll, to the more recent statement-makers like Paul Pogba, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and of course Jack Grealish – the Premier League has seen it all. 

But whose barnet stood out the most in 2023? Who committed the greatest grooming crimes over the last year?

Well there were plenty of contenders to choose from, but the winner – by the barest of margins – was Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez, for a very eye-catching look against Fulham. 

Sporting two plaits on either side of his head and faded sides, to go with his bright pink boots, the Uruguayan centre forward certainly made a statement strong enough to win this gong. 

First: Darwin Nunez’s plaits vs Fulham

Second: Erling Haaland’s plaits back in April

Third: Haaland’s braids in pre-season

Special mentions: Carlos Alcaraz’s very sheer skin-fade back and sides, Alejandro Garnacho’s frosted tips, anybody who took the bold decision to attempt the bleach-blonde look. 

STATS CORRECT AS OF FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29