Premier League Player Rankings After Weekend of November 22-24: Clyne Stars
Welcome to the 12th edition of our Premier League player rankings, continuing for another season in its mission to quantify the form of England's top-tier players.
We pick the top 20 players on the basis of form and performances in league games only. Southampton's struggles at Villa Park has caused a reshuffle at the top, and we have two new additions in red-hot form.
The rankings are formed based on the player's last four games, with slightly more emphasis placed on their most recent outing.
Only Premier League performances are counted, and one-week wonders do not find their way in by default (see: David de Gea did not qualify in Week 7 for one great showing but now has after consistently strong form).
Take a look and see if you agree with our selections, and if you feel like we've missed anyone, let us know in the comments below.
Dropping Out
1 of 21
Leighton Baines, Everton—Did not play in the Toffees' win over West Ham.
Victor Wanyama, Southampton—Impressed in patches against Aston Villa, but he failed to trouble the defence and fluffed a few shooting chances.
20. Saido Berahino, West Bromwich Albion
2 of 21
Last Week: 15
Differential: -5
Saido Berahino is slipping fast here. An anonymous performance at Stamford Bridge—albeit largely due to Claudio Yacob's red card rather than anything the striker did—has him clinging to a spot by a thread.
We saw none of his trademark incisive runs, and he struggled to hold the ball up, eventually being replaced by Victor Anichebe. John Terry handled the young Englishman with ease.
19. Joe Hart, Manchester City
3 of 21
Last Week: 20
Differential: +1
Joe Hart wasn't required to do too much on Saturday. He made just two saves and wasn't troubled in the air, per WhoScored.com, and had absolutely no chance for Wilfried Bony's well-worked goal.
The Manchester City man's strong form in recent weeks carried him into our top 20 last week, and an average showing keeps him on the lower rungs of the ladder this time around.
18. Charlie Austin, Queens Park Rangers
4 of 21
Last Week: 16
Differential: -2
It didn't quite fall for Charlie Austin this weekend, as the usually comprehensive finisher fired his chances wide of the mark.
WhoScored.com credited him with six shots in total, but none troubled Tim Krul extensively. His profligacy was punished by Moussa Sissoko, who converted a late chance to win it for Newcastle at the other end.
17. Paul Dummett, Newcastle United
5 of 21
Last Week: New!
Differential: New!
We never thought we'd see the day Paul Dummett enters the top 20 on form and performance, but perhaps that's just due to Alan Pardew playing him out of position at left-back for so long.
At centre-back he's been a rock, key to the Magpies' keeping of four consecutive clean sheets—two of which were against Liverpool and Manchester City!
16. James McCarthy
6 of 21
Last Week: New!
Differential: New!
James McCarthy played another fantastic game in the engine room for Everton on Saturday, and he rises into our top 20 perhaps a week late.
The Irishman showed impressive bite when tested by West Ham in a battleground of a central midfield zone and cleaned up off the ball as usual with ease.
15. Stewart Downing, West Ham
7 of 21
Last Week: 12
Differential: -3
Stewart Downing wasn't fit to play this weekend after sustaining an injury on international duty with England. The midfielder was withdrawn early against Scotland, but Sam Allardyce still had to make do without his star on Saturday.
West Ham lost 2-1.
14. Fraser Forster, Southampton
8 of 21
Last Week: 7
Differential: -7
Woops.
Fraser Forster gets bored like every other goalkeeper on a dominant team, and perhaps he summoned a little too much of Manuel Neuer on Monday night, gifting Aston Villa a goal in a rare lapse of concentration.
He rushed out stupidly to meet Gabby Agbonlahor but didn't get there, leading to the striker netting from a simple clearance from Ciaran Clark.
13. Branislav Ivanovic, Chelsea
9 of 21
Last Week: 14
Differential: +1
On another day, Branislav Ivanovic could have had three assists. He continually bombarded forward from right-back and entered the box, got around West Bromwich Albion's left-back and fired in crosses.
Had his team not shown immense levels of profligacy, his name would surely have appeared in the creators' column, but a clean sheet at the other end will please the Serbian regardless.
12. David De Gea, Manchester United
10 of 21
Last Week: 17
Differential: +5
David De Gea received an incredible amount of praise on Twitter this weekend, despite having a good, not great, game. He saved a lot of shots, granted, but he should have done better for Olivier Giroud's goal, and his kicking was absolutely atrocious.
That said, it was still a good performance that played a role in Manchester United's (shock?) win at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal.
11. Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
11 of 21
Last Week: 10
Differential: -1
It was a very odd decision for Arsene Wenger to play Alexis Sanchez wide this weekend, as it's clear his best work comes from the central zones.
Working behind Danny Welbeck in the hole he's been unstoppable, but out wide he struggled to grab hold of the game. Arsenal, as a whole, disappointed against Manchester United and Alexis, for once, was not exempt.
10. Graziano Pelle, Southampton
12 of 21
Last Week: 9
Differential: -1
A worrying trend is occurring: Graziano Pelle keeps getting badly isolated away from home, and the service simply wasn't there on Monday night.
Yes, Jores Okore dealt with him superbly in the air, but the crosses weren't of good quality, and Southampton lumped up hopeful balls too often.
9. Dusan Tadic, Southampton
13 of 21
Last Week: 6
Differential: -3
Dusan Tadic looked a bright spark for Southampton on Monday, despite failing to register an assist. He created chances, picked out reverse passes and swung in dangerous balls whenever possible.
Aly Cissokho had a horrible time trying to contain the Serbian on the right flank, and he was relieved to see him move centrally in the second half to test other areas of the pitch.
8. Diego Costa, Chelsea
14 of 21
Last Week: 11
Differential: +3
Here's a word you don't typically associate Diego Costa with: profligate.
The Spaniard scored the opener against West Bromwich Albion in style, chesting an Oscar pass down and firing home with aplomb but afterward missed a glut of chances to extend the lead.
Ben Foster was in inspired form, but the crowd were left bewildered when Costa failed to double his own tally.
7. Nathaniel Clyne, Southampton
15 of 21
Last Week: 13
Differential: +6
Nathaniel Clyne struggled to evade the double-marking of Charles N'Zogbia and Aly Cissokho for long stretches on Monday evening, but he finally broke through once Aston Villa had shuffled their pack.
With N'Zogbia off injured, Gabby Agbonlahor filtered wide and forgot to mark Clyne's late run into the box for a cross. The result? An equalising goal.
6. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City
16 of 21
Last Week: 3
Differential: -3
An eerily quiet game from Sergio Aguero sees him drop in our rankings. It's a shame, because one more strong performance likely would have seen him hit top spot and displace the two holding midfielders sat above him.
Swansea City bottled him up very well, and bar a few late shots from outside the box, he barely threatened.
5. Oscar, Chelsea
17 of 21
Last Week: 8
Differential: +3
Arguably Chelsea's Man of the Match on day, despite Diego Costa and Eden Hazard goals, Oscar continued his incredible vein of form on Saturday against West Bromwich Albion.
His ball in to Costa for the first goal was a perfect pass, and his tenacity and relentless closing down was vital to the Blues dominating long spells in an easy win.
4. Morgan Schneiderlin, Southampton
18 of 21
Last Week: 2
Differential: -2
Morgan Schneiderlin did his best to create from deep against Aston Villa, but this was never a game that was going to suit him. The home side sat deep and refused to press, leaving the Frenchman switching play in laborious, slow fashion.
Defensively he wasn't tested, and the goal against the Saints came from a colossal Fraser Forster error.
3. Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea
19 of 21
Last Week: 5
Differential: +2
Cesc Fabregas was an injury doubt heading into this weekend after pulling out of the Spain squad, but he started against West Bromwich Albion in what turned out to be a rather easy fixture.
He stole an assist thanks to his quick thinking from a corner, teeing up Eden Hazard for Chelsea's second goal of the game. He didn't really have to hit second gear to control this one, though he did still play some wonderful passes just outside the box.
2. Eden Hazard, Chelsea
20 of 21
Last Week: 4
Differential: +2
Eden Hazard look threatening on Saturday and capped a very good performance with a cheeky near-post goal from a short corner.
It looked all too easy for him throughout, and only Ben Foster, West Bromwich Albion's goalkeeper, was able to stand up to him and deny him over and over. Andre Wisdom struggled mightily; Cristian Gamboa, a second-half substitute, did no better.
1. Nemanja Matic, Chelsea
21 of 21
Last Week: 1
Differential: None
Nemanja Matic went largely untested this weekend as West Bromwich Albion failed to offer up any attacking verve. Claudio Yacob's early red card meant the visitors shrank into a shell and disappeared.
Matic shut down the Baggies whenever they tried to encroach forward, removing the service to Stephane Sessegnon and Saido Berahino.
