Source: @Premier League
Every month the Premier League hands out four prizes for the players, managers, goalkeepers and goals judged to have stood out from the rest. Each one is decided by a public vote on the league’s official channels, and those figures are then combined with the judgement of a panel of football pundits and former players to settle on a winner. The August 2026 haul, covering the opening fortnight or so of the new season, tells a story of two clubs starting life very differently: Chelsea flying out of the traps under a new head coach, and a newly promoted side refusing to play the underdog.
The Premier League Awards Winners for August 2026
Player of the Month: João Pedro
João Pedro’s win is his first individual honour since joining Chelsea, and it comes on the back of a start to the season that few forwards in the competition could match. He opened the scoring inside the first minute of the campaign at Fulham with a chipped finish over the goalkeeper, then turned provider for Cole Palmer’s winner in a 2-1 victory. He followed that up against his former club Brighton, scoring again before setting up Palmer’s decisive goal in a 4-3 thriller at Stamford Bridge. Two goals and two assists from two matches is a rate few players sustain, but it was enough to see off Palmer and six other nominees in the public vote. He also becomes the first Chelsea player to take the Premier League award since Palmer himself won it in September 2024, which says something about how quickly Xabi Alonso’s new-look front line has clicked.
Manager of the Month: Sergej Jakirović
Hull City’s return to the top flight was supposed to be a season of adjustment. Instead, Jakirović has them sitting third in the table after three matches, unbeaten and yet to concede a Premier League goal. The headline result was a 2-0 win over Manchester United on the opening weekend, a result nobody outside East Yorkshire saw coming, followed by a late winner against fellow promoted side Coventry City and a point away at Aston Villa. Seven points from three games is a return that would flatter most sides new to the division, let alone one built on a modest budget. Jakirović becomes the first Bosnian manager to win the award, beating out Mikel Arteta, Xabi Alonso and Enzo Maresca, all of whom had strong cases of their own after unbeaten starts. What stands out about Hull’s form is the defensive discipline underpinning it, since flying starts built on goals alone tend to fade once the fixture list toughens up, but a back line that hasn’t been breached gives a promoted club something sturdier to build on.
Goal of the Month: Anthony Elanga
Newcastle United had two entries on the August shortlist, and it was Anthony Elanga’s strike against Tottenham Hotspur that took the prize ahead of Joe Willock’s finish against Liverpool and Rayan Cherki’s late winner for Manchester City at Crystal Palace. Elanga collected the ball from a Nico González and Amar Dedic move, took a touch to open up space and curled his shot beyond the goalkeeper. It’s a fitting way for Elanga to mark an early adjustment period at St James’ Park following his summer move from Nottingham Forest, and a reminder of why Newcastle were prepared to spend big to bring him in.
Save of the Month: Jordan Pickford
Jordan Pickford has made this award something close to a habit over the past few seasons, and his stop against Crystal Palace in Everton’s 2-0 win adds another entry to an already lengthy list. It’s the sort of reflex save that separates a clean sheet from a nervy finish, and it beat out competition from Hull’s Konstantinos Tzolakis, Liverpool’s Alisson and Bournemouth’s Djordje Petrovic. For a goalkeeper who has already set records for this particular award, another August nomination and win is less a surprise than confirmation that Everton’s number one remains among the most reliable shot-stoppers in the division.
