GOAL50 2021 Head to Head: Kerr vs Kirby

This year's GOAL50 is a little different.

For the first time, it will be you, the readers, who will crown the best male and female players in the world.

It is not something you will do just by picking your No.1 though. Instead, a number of randomly selected head-to-heads are put in front of you where you must pick one or the other.

The unpredictable nature of the mini-battles mean there will be some very tough ones - such as if Chelsea team-mates Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby appear side-by-side.

Both on the women's shortlist this year, the pair had an incredible season with the Blues, forming a deadly partnership that would fire the club to a second successive Women's Super League title, the Continental Cup trophy and the Women's Champions League final.

The Conti Cup final summed it all up. Kerr's hat-trick in the 6-0 thrashing of Bristol City saw all three goals set up by Kirby, who had the favour returned when Kerr slipped her through for her second of the day.

Kirby ended that game involved in all six goals. It was another monumental performance in a superb comeback season for the England international.

In 2019-20, the forward did not play for Chelsea beyond November, having been diagnosed with pericarditis, a heart condition. There were concerns she might never play again.

However, she returned in the summer and started the season in form that defied an incredibly difficult period away from the game. That form never disappeared, as Kirby ended the season with 16 goals and 11 assists from 18 league games - only Manchester City's Chloe Kelly could join her on double figures for both.

In the Champions League, she sat level with Barcelona's Jenni Hermoso as the competition's top goalscorer.

Player of the Year in the WSL? Few could disagree. However, what happened after the club season ended is what might make some people vote for Kerr instead.

If Kirby had the best season with Chelsea, the Aussie striker was only just behind her. She scored 21 goals in 22 league games, falling just one short of breaking Vivianne Miedema's record for a single season. She also racked up eight assists, bagged a hat-trick in the aforementioned Conti Cup final and came up big in Europe - particularly with her two goals in the quarter-final tie with Wolfsburg.

Both players then flew to Japan for the Olympics and had very different experiences. Kirby struggled with an injury that limited her to 75 minutes of football for Great Britain, who were knocked out in the quarter-finals by an Australia side captained by none other than, you guessed it, Kerr.

She scored twice in that win and six times in six games in the tournament overall as Tony Gustavsson's team reached an unlikely semi-final.

The U.S. women's national team would deny them a medal, but Kerr's goal in that Bronze Medal match would still be of huge significance, as it would make her the Matildas' all-time top goalscorer.

Is Kerr's Olympics enough to tip the scales in her favour? Or was Kirby's club season so good that she edges it? We can't decide. Only you can.

GOAL50 voting will close on November 16, with the winners to be announced the next day. Make sure that you have your say!