EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 10
The 2017-18 Premier League season is 10 weeks old. Ten! Can you believe it?
It's at this stage that things generally start to "take shape," and this term that's proved to be the case. The top six are the "top six" we commonly refer to, a slew of middling clubs occupy midtable, and it's only really Everton and Crystal Palace who look out of place.
We have updated our lists to take into account the latest weekend of action. They are divided into seven position groups and based solely on performances in the Premier League in 2017-18.
To be eligible, a player must have taken part in at least half the games his team has played.
Goalkeepers
David De Gea and clean sheets just go together. He collected yet another one this weekend—his eighth of the season—and is still yet to concede a goal at home in the league. It's getting a bit silly.
Jonas Lossl holds his ground, as although he conceded three at Anfield, he impressed with a penalty save. He was about as busy as Lukasz Fabianski and Jordan Pickford—two 'keepers who are conceding a lot but still playing well.
Nick Pope stole the show on Monday night with an array of good claims and saves.
Biggest rise: Nick Pope (+1)
Biggest fall: Hugo Lloris (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | David De Gea (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 2 | Ederson Moraes (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Nick Pope (+1) | Burnley |
| 4 | Hugo Lloris (-1) | Tottenham |
| 5 | Thibaut Courtois (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 6 | Rob Elliot (Stay) |
Newcastle United |
| 7 | Jordan Pickford (Stay) | Everton |
| 8 | Lukasz Fabianski (Stay) | Swansea City |
| 9 | Jonas Lossl (Stay) | Huddersfield Town |
| 10 | Asmir Begovic (Stay) | AFC Bournemouth |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
Kyle Walker's superb patch of form continued on Saturday with a strong performance against West Bromwich Albion. He notched an assist for Raheem Sterling's goal—his fourth of the league campaign already—with a low, driven cross.
Antonio Valencia continues his stay just behind Walker after helping Manchester United to a clean sheet, while Joe Gomez rises notably after playing well against Huddersfield. As bad as Liverpool's reputation for defending is, they've conceded just one goal in five home games, and Gomez has been the best defender of them all.
Biggest rise: Joe Gomez (+6)
Biggest fall: Kiko Femenia (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Kyle Walker (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Antonio Valencia (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 3 | Joe Gomez (+6) | Liverpool |
| 4 | Cedric Soares (+1) | Southampton |
| 5 | Kieran Trippier (-1) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 6 | Matthew Lowton (Stay) | Burnley |
| 7 | Kiko Femenia (-3) | Watford |
| 8 | Mame Diouf (New!) | Stoke City |
| 9 | Tommy Smith (-2) | Huddersfield Town |
| 10 | Hector Bellerin (-2) | Arsenal |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
Fabian Delph played his fifth Premier League game of the season on Saturday, finally paving the way for him to enter the rankings as a result of participating in at least half of his team's schedule so far.
He starts at No. 3 having impressed in all but one of his five games, taking up Benjamin Mendy's mantle and ensuring City, in truth, haven't skipped a beat. That's a testament to him.
Sead Kolasinac leapfrogs Ben Davies into first following his all-conquering, one-assist, one-goal display against Swansea City. Ashley Young also enters having played five games himself.
Biggest rise: Sead Kolasinac (+1)
Biggest fall: Ryan Bertrand (-3)
Centre-Backs
It's tight at the top between three, and Eric Bailly takes back the No. 1 spot having returned to fitness and helped Manchester United hold Spurs goalless.
Cesar Azpilicueta, Ben Mee, Lewis Dunk and Nacho Monreal all played well once again, and they've all put together good or very good spells of form. The same cannot be said for Toby Alderweireld, who just doesn't look himself at the moment.
Last week we praised Nicolas Otamendi for ironing out the errors in his game and playing well, so what does he do? Gifts Matt Phillips a goal with a weak chest-pass back to the goalkeeper in his next game.
Biggest rise: Nacho Monreal (+6)
Biggest fall: Nicolas Otamendi (-7)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Eric Bailly (+2) | Manchester United |
| 2 | James Tarkowski (Stay) | Burnley |
| 3 | John Stones (-2) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Phil Jones (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 5 | Jan Vertonghen (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 6 | Cesar Azpilicueta (+4) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Ben Mee (+5) | Burnley |
| 8 | Lewis Dunk (+5) | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 9 | Nacho Monreal (+6) | Arsenal |
| 10 | Jamaal Lascelles (-4) | Newcastle United |
| 11 | Toby Alderweireld (-3) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 12 | Davinson Sanchez (-1) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 13 | Christopher Schindler (-4) | Huddersfield Town |
| 14 | Nicolas Otamendi (-7) | Manchester City |
| 15 | Harry Maguire (+3) | Leicester City |
| 16 | Kurt Zouma (+4) | Stoke City |
| 17 | Maya Yoshida (-3) | Southampton |
| 18 | Ciaran Clark (-2) | Newcastle United |
| 19 | Federico Fernandez (-2) | Swansea City |
| 20 | Zanka (-3) | Huddersfield Town |
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
Fernandinho's one-goal, one-assist showing clears his path into second, but if he's got eyes on the top spot, there's still a long way to go before he displaces David Silva.
Burnley's two holding midfielders impressed once again; they're full of energy, strong in the press and quietly setting up a memorable season for the Clarets.
Eric Dier was having a great game until one lapse led a Manchester United goal, while Tiemoue Bakayoko endured a game of two halves against AFC Bournemouth.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+4)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | David Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Fernandinho (+4) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Mario Lemina (-1) | Southampton |
| 4 | N'Golo Kante (-1) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Nemanja Matic (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 6 | Steven Defour (+4) | Burnley |
| 7 | Jack Cork (+4) | Burnley |
| 8 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (-4) | Watford |
| 9 | Philippe Coutinho (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 10 | Aaron Mooy (-3) | Huddersfield Town |
| 11 | Mikel Merino (-3) | Newcastle United |
| 12 | Aaron Ramsey (+1) | Arsenal |
| 13 | Grzegorz Krychowiak (+1) | West Bromwich Albion |
| 14 | Tiemoue Bakayoko (-2) | Chelsea |
| 15 | Ruben Loftus-Cheek (New!) | Crystal Palace |
| 16 | Nathaniel Chalobah (Stay) | Watford |
| 17 | Gareth Barry (+3) | West Bromwich Albion |
| 18 | Eric Dier (-1) | Tottenham |
| 19 | Oriol Romeu (New!) | Southampton |
| 20 | Isaac Hayden (-2) | Newcastle United |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
Kevin De Bruyne played well against West Brom but sliced a few wild efforts wide and couldn't get on the scoresheet. It's a measure of how good he's been so far this season that the performance he put in could possibly be considered disappointing.
Raheem Sterling made no such mistakes, though his goal was made incredibly easy for him by the slick build-up play and low cross. He impacts regardless of whether he's starting or stepping off the bench and looks more lethal than ever before.
Of the myriad strong performers in this list, Riyad Mahrez sticks out the most. His first game under Claude Puel was electric, and if we can expect more of that from a new, central role, defenders should be quite concerned.
Biggest rise: Anthony Martial (+6)
Biggest fall: Dele Alli (-9)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Kevin De Bruyne (Stay) |
Manchester City |
| 2 | Raheem Sterling (+2) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Leroy Sane (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Christian Eriksen (-2) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 5 | Marcus Rashford (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 6 | Alexis Sanchez (+2) | Arsenal |
| 7 | Mohamed Salah (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 8 | Riyad Mahrez (+5) | Leicester City |
| 9 | Sadio Mane (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 10 | Richarlison (-4) | Watford |
| 11 | Pascal Gross (New!) | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 12 | Anthony Martial (+6) | Manchester United |
| 13 | Eden Hazard (New!) | Chelsea |
| 14 | Michail Antonio (-2) | West Ham United |
| 15 | Henrikh Mkhitaryan (-1) | Manchester United |
| 16 | Pedro (+2) | Chelsea |
| 17 | Matt Ritchie (-6) | Watford |
| 18 | Danny Welbeck (-2) | Arsenal |
| 19 | Dele Alli (-9) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 20 | Tom Cleverley (-5) |
Watford |
Strikers
Harry Kane's hamstring injury kept him out of Tottenham's visit to Old Trafford, and it's fair to say the team missed his presence. He stays top because no striker did enough to displace him; he has still been the best No. 9 in the Premier League so far this season.
Just below, there's a predictable shuffle, Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata (who both assisted game-winning goals on Saturday) jump up, with Sergio Aguero (who didn't make it off City's bench at West Brom) dropping to fifth.
Jamie Vardy now has as many league goals this term as Gabriel Jesus and Morata, and one more than Alexandre Lacazette.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+1)
Biggest fall: Sergio Aguero (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Harry Kane (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2 | Gabriel Jesus (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Romelu Lukaku (+1) | Manchester United |
| 4 | Alvaro Morata (+1) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Sergio Aguero (-2) | Manchester City |
| 6 | Jamie Vardy (+1) | Leicester City |
| 7 | Alexandre Lacazette (-1) | Arsenal |
| 8 | Shinji Okazaki (Stay) | Leicester City |
| 9 | Roberto Firmino (New!) | Liverpool |
| 10 | Tammy Abraham (New!) | Swansea City |
All statistics via WhoScored.com
from Bleacher Report - Front Page http://ift.tt/2lyV4Gk
Comments
Post a Comment