Player Focus: WhoScored's Player of the Year Nominees

The PFA Player of the Year nominations brought about a fair amount of debate, a great deal of which surrounded Luis Suarez's temperament, whether he should be nominated given the controversy that seems to follow him and whether he even has a chance of winning, particularly after his latest attempts to take a nibble out of Branislav Ivanovic. The fact of the matter is, though, that his performances with the ball have been up there with the best in the league this season and he certainly deserves his nomination. The inclusions of, for example, Michael Carrick and Eden Hazard are slightly more surprising, and there are certainly others that could have been recognised when the PFA made their announcements on Friday. Here, using WhoScored.com's unique statistical rating system, we highlight our top 6 Premier League performers of 2012/13.

6. Jan Vertonghen - 7.57

An incredible March saw Tottenham's Belgian centre-back win the top flight's Player of the Month award, as he scored 3 times and assisted one more in a difficult period for the North London club. The gong was the least he deserved, having settled in to life exceptionally quickly following a summer move from Ajax, and after playing much of the early part of the season at left-back, he has now established himself as Spurs' most important defender. Gardner, Ivanovic and Baines are the only defenders who have scored more Premier League goals than Vertonghen this season, and each of them have scored the majority, if not all, of their goals from full-back, while all of Vertonghen's have come from central defence. Whilst also managing 3 assists this season, he ranks fourth in the league for interceptions (86) and is in the top ten for clearances (245) as well.

5. Marouane Fellaini - 7.64

Yet another summer of speculation over the future of Marouane Fellaini could well be upon us in the coming months, and this might finally be the time that the big Belgian decides to leave Merseyside for pastures new and look for Champions League football. With Nikica Jelavic misfiring this season and Victor Anichebe again lacking a consistent flow of goals, Fellaini has become the Toffees' main source of goals, and he has backed up his 11 strikes with 5 assists - also a high for the club. His main threat is of course his aerial ability, and no player that is neither a centre-back nor a centre-forward ranks anywhere near him in terms of aerial duels won (137), for which he is fifth overall in the league. His goals have come at extremely important times too. Fellaini scored the winner against Man Utd in the opening game of the season, as well as his side's only goals in draws against Fulham, Man City and Arsenal. Versatile and dangerous, he has arguably been Everton's most important player in a season from which they might well achieve qualification for European competition.

4. Robin van Persie - 7.67

Robin van Persie's recent goal drought looked like it might just derail his chances of claiming an award that at the halfway stage of the season he seemed nailed on to win. However, 2 goals and 2 man of the match awards later, United's talisman has his confidence back and could well go on a run of scoring as his side stroll towards the Premier League title. His lack of goals in the past weeks should not distract from the exceptional running start he made to life at Old Trafford, and the importance of the goals he has scored for them. Without his strikes, Sir Alex Ferguson's men would be 23 points worse off - making his goals worth more points than any other player in the top flight. Of course he has the luxury of fantastic service at Manchester United, but without him, United certainly would not be looking at winning the league with 4 games to spare tonight.

3. Santi Cazorla - 7.8

Arguably the most glaring omission from the PFA's recent nominee list is that of Arsenal's Spanish import from last summer. After van Persie's departure Santi Cazorla has quickly become the Gunners' most important player, also taking on the mantel of top scorer, with an impressive 12 goals from midfield. As well as being one of only 8 players to have more than 100 shots this season, he is also Arsenal's premier creator. The 83 chances he has created can only be topped by 4 players in the whole league, while his 29 accurate through balls is streets ahead of any other player, with David Silva his nearest challenger on 15. In fact, only 7 of the Premier League's 20 teams have seen a player put a teammate through on goal more times this season than Cazorla has alone. He has been a revelation for Arsenal, and his absence in the list of nominations is wholly questionable.

2. Luis Suárez - 7.89

Diving, accusations of racism and biting aside, Luis Suárez is without doubt one of the world's finest players. His continued appearance in the headlines for all the wrong reasons is threatening to further damage his rather ropey reputation, but as the league's top scorer with 23 goals for a team that are extremely unlikely to challenge for Europa League qualification, his contribution has been huge. The Uruguayan's league-high of 187 shots is in no small part as a result of his dribbling ability, which has seen him successfully pass an opponent more times than any other player in the league (95). Meanwhile, it may also come as a surprise to some - given his shot tally may suggest he is a selfish player - that he has created more scoring chances from open play (85) than any other player. His constant involvement in the game means that he has also, though, had the most shots off target (71) and made the most unsuccessful dribble attempts (160). Suárez almost certainly won't win the award, but he should certainly be up there contesting it.

1. Gareth Bale - 7.94

On the weekend that Luis Suárez established his position as the country's favourite enemy in football, Bale set up Spurs' first and scored their third in an impressive win over Manchester City, and took huge strides amongst the bookies as odds-on to win the Player of the Year award. The importance of him to Tottenham was made plain to see in that game and in the recent weeks that the North Londoners have had to try and make do without him. His side failed to win either of their games that he missed through injury in the last two weeks, and they still haven't won a single game without him scoring since New Years day. Playing for much of the season on the left side of midfield, Bale's 18 goal haul is an incredible feat, and he could well reach the 20 goal mark before the season's end. An incredible 7 of those goals have come from outside the penalty area, which is more than any other player in the league and only fewer than 10 of the 20 sides have managed overall. Spurs have oft been dubbed a 'one man team' in recent months, and that is hard to argue with given their reliance on the Welsh wizard. A player who has been referred to as a whole team on his own is always going to be up there for awards come the end of the season, and Bale is no different.