The Premier League has scrambled its way through the whips and scorns of 2020.

While there are still genuine fears that England's top-flight could be curtailed in the New Year, we can at least be grateful that games have ploughed on in spite of the global situation since June.

It's been an eventful 12 months that has seen everything from Liverpool winning their first title in 30 years, Leeds United returning to the big time and Chelsea spending over £200 million on signings.

2020 Premier League

However, as is always the case when a year comes to a close, football fans like to reflect upon the standout performers whether that be through rankings, lists or coming up with starting XIs.

Here at GIVEMESPORT, we're unabashed suckers for this trend and we took on the unenviable task of ranking the 100 best male footballers of 2020 to celebrate the New Year.

But for all the copious amounts of football we've consumed over the year, we can't claim to have the same levels of objectivity and accuracy as the data gurus at WhoScored.com.

Premier League data

Year on year, they keep tabs on the best performers in Europe's top leagues by awarding players an average match rating for every fixture they play based on a series of data-sets.

When you average those ratings across the course of a season or - in this case - year, you end up with the near-enough the most accurate way of ranking players by statistics alone.

And now that the 2020 schedule of Premier League fixtures has been completed with Liverpool's 0-0 draw at Newcastle United, they have revealed their best statistical XI of 2020.

Statistical Premier League XI

The only caveat is that players need to have featured in at least 20 fixtures to eliminate any anomalies that might have performed brilliantly for just a smattering of minutes.

And it's fair to say there's plenty of surprises with no current members of the 'big six' clubs featuring in the back five, so check out the full XI down below to see who makes the grade.

GK: Emiliano Martinez (Arsenal and Aston Villa) - 6.90

RB: Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) - 7.33

CB: James Tarkowski (Burnley) - 7.14

CB: Jannik Vestergaard (Southampton) - 7.13

LB: Lucas Digne (Everton) - 7.20

RM: Sadio Mane (Liverpool) - 7.37

CM: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) - 7.72

CM: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) - 7.68

LM: Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) - 7.45

ST: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) - 7.50 

ST - Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) - 7.64

Surprising names

It's perhaps a little surprising to see that only two members of Liverpool's Premier League-winning side have made the cut, though there's no denying that Mane and Salah deserve the plaudits.

Martinez is also a worthy choice between the sticks after some stellar performances for Arsenal, followed by a penalty save on his Aston Villa debut and competing in the Golden Glove race.

We also need to be putting more respect on Tarkowski's name because making this XI is just the tip of the iceberg after being named Europe's best second-best centre-back last season by stats.

Elsewhere, the thought of De Bruyne and Fernandes sharing a midfield is nothing short of terrifying, while Kane has been the complete number nine in 2020/21 with 19 goal contributions to his name.

So, sure, it might not be the XI that you had in mind, but make no mistake that these players have been in fantastic form in 2020 because at the end of the day, you can't hide from the numbers.