Neither Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, nor any other club from the Big Six. The best player in the Premier League so far plays for newly promoted Hull City. And below, we give you two arguments to support that claim.
The Tigers are enjoying a historic campaign following their return to the English top flight. Under the direction of Sergej Jakirovic, Hull has yet to lose a game this season.
On Matchday 1, they defeated Manchester United 2-0 on Aug. 22. On Aug. 29, they continued their winning run by defeating fellow newly promoted side Coventry City 1-0. And on Sept. 5, that is, this Saturday, they played to a scoreless draw against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.
Despite the draw, Hull had more shots on target, four compared with just two for Villa. And the reason those two shots on target from Emery’s side, as well as the three shots on target from Coventry and the six shots on target from Manchester United, did not result in any goals against Hull City is simply because the Tigers have Greek goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis in goal.
Hull City Owner: Tzolakis Caused Me ‘Pain’ in Olympiacos Days
Tzolakis, 23, joined the club this summer from Olympiacos for €23 million. He arrived intending to become the starter and has not disappointed since.
The Premier League currently has only one goalkeeper with a 100% save percentage: Tzolakis.
In his first three Premier League matches, he has recorded three clean sheets. As of this Sunday, he shared that feat with Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya, who was also averaging a 100% save percentage. But it is also worth putting things into context here.
Hull City has faced two teams that were already in the Premier League last season, and that also tend to be near the top of the table: Manchester United and Aston Villa. Meanwhile, they faced Coventry City on Matchday 2.
Arsenal, on the other hand, had only faced Coventry, a team that, as we already mentioned, was newly promoted, on the opening matchday. They then faced Aston Villa on Matchday 2, and in the third match, when they once again faced a regular Premier League side and one of the title contenders without a doubt, things became more difficult, and they finally conceded a goal.
That was not the case for Hull City or Tzolakis, who continue to enjoy an unbeaten run and an unblemished goal record. 3 matches, 2 wins, 1 scoreless draw, and 7 points are what currently have Hull City sitting third in the table, with what we consider to be the Premier League’s MVP so far, Tzolakis, in their squad.
Hull City owner Acun Ilicali already explained it himself in an interview shared by Olympiacos Roundtable. The club owner recalled Tzolakis’ time at Olympiacos, specifically a match in the quarterfinals of the 2024-25 UEFA Conference League, in which the Greek side eliminated Turkish club Fenerbahce.
“To be honest, Tzolakis is a special player for me. If you’re wondering where I remember him from, unfortunately, he had saved three penalties against Fenerbahce in the Conference League and had caused me pain. From that day on, I had my eye on him, and I started watching him ever since,” the Hull City owner said.
Not Arsenal, Chelsea or Man City: Hull City Has Premier League’s Best So Far