Power Ranking the Premier League Brazilians

As the Premier League enters its second week, Brazilians are taking to pitches up and down the country and demonstrating their considerable talents in front of a worldwide audience.

With the likes of Fernandinho and Paulinho joining a cast of Premier League Brazilians such as Philippe Coutinho, Oscar and David Luiz, supporters are lapping up the samba flair brought by these players.

But who is performing week in, week out and who is failing to perform at all? Bleacher Report will be bringing you the five top Brazilian performers each week.

The rankings will be based on individual performances in each round of the Premier League, focusing on the last game these Brazilians played rather than their form so far in the season.

So without further ado, let us get the first power rankings for Premier League Brazilians underway.

(Dis) Honourable Mentions

Of course, not every Brazilian will perform on any given weekend, so the dishonourable mentions highlights those who have disappointed for their club.

With seven Brazilians in action over the weekend's fixtures, it was always inevitable that some would fail to make the top five due to some shoddy displays.

Lucas Leiva

The former Gremio star disappointed in Liverpool's 1-0 away win at Aston Villa where he took his usual place alongside Reds captain Steven Gerrard.

A nightmarish second half saw the defensive midfielder lose the ball in key areas several times, and the Brazilian failed to keep up with the pace of the Villans attack. 

Sandro

The former Internacional holding midfielder came on for the final few minutes of the Tottenham's clash with Swansea, so I couldn't really grade his performance.

5: Ramires

Sometimes there's just not enough performing Brazilians to fill a top five for the week, so we begin with one of the round's poorer performances in Ramires.

Manchester United and Chelsea ground out a dull and turgid goalless draw on Monday in what was billed as the first big clash of the season, with new bosses David Moyes and Jose Mourinho going head to head.

Unfortunately, their perceived penchants for defensive football won out, and the two teams played out one of the worst 90 minutes in Premier League history.

Ramires played a big part in the borefest, completing just 74 percent of his passes according to Squawka, in a double pivot alongside Frank Lampard who was equally ineffective.

Between the two midfielders, no more than 99 passes were attempted, with 81 reaching their destination. 

In contrast, United's duo of Tom Cleverley and Michael Carrick attempted 143 passes, completing 127 of them.

Not a good day at the office for Ramires.

4: Fernandinho

Fernandinho enters the top five ahead of Ramires, simply by virtue of his performance, as poor as it was, still not being as bad as the Chelsea man's display.

The €40 million signing from Shakhtar Donetsk was given a timely welcome to the Premier League as newly promoted Cardiff City stunned Manchester City in a surprise 3-2 win for the Welsh side. 

The midfielder struggled to impose himself on the Welsh side's midfield as he and Yaya Toure were dominated by their hard-working opponents, led by Chilean rottweiler Gary Medel.

Fernandinho had considerably less impact on the game than fellow midfielder Toure, making 53 passes—just over half of the Ivorian's 103—with a 79 percent success rate, according to Squawka.

Toure managed an incredible 89 percent pass completion rate in an effort to drive his team back into the game, but the duo were successfully stifled by Cardiff's midfield.

Already there are questions as to whether the money paid for Fernandinho's services was worth it, but the Brazilian has undoubted ability.

Time and patience is needed to allow the Brazilian to settle in. Until then, there will be days just like this one.

3: Philippe Coutinho

By his own standards, Philippe Coutinho had a quiet game for Liverpool in their 1-0 win over Aston Villa, a result which elevated the Reds into second place.

Deployed on the left side of the Liverpool attack for the second successive game despite Brendan Rodgers' intention to play him as a No. 10, Coutinho was largely stifled by the Villans defence.

However, he makes the top five ahead of Ramires and Fernandinho due to the part he played in what proved to be the winning goal as Daniel Sturridge jinked his way past Brad Guzan in goal and slammed home from six yards.

Amidst the countless replays of the sensational goal, Coutinho's role was rather underestimated. 

A superb dummy, allowing Jose Enrique's cross through his legs and distracting the Villa defenders around him, allowed Sturridge to take on Antonio Luna and Guzan unopposed.

One simple feint took out Ron Vlaar, Jores Okore and Fabian Delph, leaving only Antonio Luna for Sturridge to deal with, doing so with aplomb and earning Liverpool all three points.

A big contribution in what was a quiet game for the young Brazilian.

2: Oscar

Now we're starting to see some good performances, and Oscar's display of tactical flexibility against Manchester United was as good as any.

Jose Mourinho deployed the Brazilian in an attacking trio behind Andre Schuerrle, with Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne on either flank.

But Oscar's role was more than just playing as an attacking midfielder. He was the driving force behind the Chelsea attack, picking up the ball from deep and orchestrating attacks from the centre of the park.

Oscar formed a midfield trio by dropping in behind Frank Lampard when the Englishman made his usual foraging runs, displaying excellent tactical sense to prevent any fatal counterattacks.

The Brazilian seems to be developing into a more well-rounded midfielder under Mourinho's guidance, although it is early days yet.

But with more mature performances like this, Oscar has the potential to become one of the Premier League's finest midfielders.

1: Paulinho

And the top five closes with Paulinho as the weekend's top performer, helping Tottenham to a 1-0 win over Swansea City.

Roberto Soldado may have grabbed the headlines with a second penalty in two weeks, but Paulinho was one of the key men driving the Spurs attack.

Paulinho finishes ahead of Oscar due to his impact on Spurs' performance, driving them onwards to victory from midfield, although it was very close between the two.

In truth, the Brazilian could and should have grabbed a goal as he wasted two excellent chances to mark his home debut with a first Premier League goal.

However, Paulinho did impress with his dynamism and energy in midfield, completing 89 percent of his passes, winning two out of three attempted tackles and successfully taking on his man three out of four times, according to Squawka.

With Spurs maintaining their 100 percent record so far, Paulinho's displays could be key to Andre Villas-Boas' ambitions of finishing in the top four.