Premier League Player Rankings: Pelle Up, Shelvey Down, De Bruyne in
Welcome to Bleacher Report's Premier League player rankings, where we make it our mission to quantify the form of the division's best performers and rank them in order of how well they're playing right now.
The rankings are based on players' last six games, with slightly more emphasis placed on their most recent outing. Only Premier League performances are counted, and, typically, one-week wonders do not find their way in by default.
We look beyond the statistical measures and into the performance, reviewing tape and gauging impact. It's not just goals, assists and heroic clearances that impress; it's about how a player contributes to the tactical plan at hand and what impact he has over a 90-minute period.
We have four new additions to chew over, in addition to a new No. 1 and some big changes in the middle of the park. Very few of our in-form stars had a quiet weekend, ensuring maximal excitement and change in the ranking.
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 section below.
Dropping out / Honourable Mentions
1 of 21
Dropping Out
Vincent Kompany, Manchester City: Until injury abates, we have to drop the captain.
Ross Barkley, Everton: Had little impact in the Merseyside derby, replaced by a team-mate in our list.
Aleksandar Kolarov, Manchester City: "Same old story defensively," the Manchester Evening News wrote of Kolarov's performance against Newcastle. It's time he bowed out.
Honourable Mentions
Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal: Five goals in two games? It's almost as if he's trying to make up for zero in his first six.
Mesut Ozil, Arsenal: A stunning showing against Manchester United. Up to four assists and a goal for the season.
Heurelho Gomes, Watford: Saved a penalty during another accomplished performance.
Yohan Cabaye, Crystal Palace: A veritable match-winner against West Bromwich Albion.
20. Romelu Lukaku, Everton
2 of 21
Last Week: Unranked
Differential: New!
Romelu Lukaku replaces team-mate Ross Barkley in our top 20 after scoring the equaliser in the Merseyside derby this weekend.
The Belgian has put together a pretty strong run of showings and, of course, dominated in the second half against West Bromwich Albion last week, so he's rewarded with a spot in our top 20.
The 22-year-old needs to continue in this consistent fashion to win over the many doubters he has—doubters that exist despite his remarkable goal-scoring record in the Premier League considering his age.
19. Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham Hotspur
3 of 21
Last Week: 17
Differential: -2
Toby Alderweireld had a mixed game, and he'll have that nagging feeling he could have perhaps done a bit more to help Tottenham Hotspur secure a result against Swansea City on Sunday.
His passing and distribution was very good from the back, but he lapsed defensively a little and really should have headed his side in front early on from a lovely whipped corner.
18. Andre Ayew, Swansea City
4 of 21
Last Week: 20
Differential: +2
Much better, Andre Ayew! He dropped to 20th last week after several successive anonymous performances and was on the brink of leaving the top 20, but has rescued his position with a goal-scoring showing.
The Ghanaian looked back to his best, probing and creating space in midfield and forcing Tottenham Hotspur to commit men to stop him. His goal was what we have come to expect from him—trademark Ayew.
17. Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City
5 of 21
Last Week: N/A
Change: New!
So far, so good for Kevin De Bruyne; he popped up with yet another goal, making it three in three Premier League games since joining Manchester City.
His strike against Newcastle United—the fourth in a 6-1 victory—was a lovely, looping, volleyed effort converted from an acute angle after finding swathes of space in the penalty box. He also chipped in with two assists, taking that tally to two for the season.
Like Anthony Martial the week before him, he enters the rankings early after hitting the ground running.
16. Jonjo Shelvey, Swansea City
6 of 21
Last Week: 11
Differential: -5
"Kept in the No. 8 role and started with an intensity but couldn't get a consistent grip on things and while there were some nice touches, the challenge that prompted [Christian] Eriksen's second free-kick was clumsy at best," wrote Wales Online's Chris Wathan of Jonjo Shelvey's performance this weekend.
Eriksen scored two free-kicks due to silly fouls from Shelvey and Federico Fernandez, allowing Tottenham Hotspur to grab a point from a tight game. Garry Monk won't be happy at all.
15. Bacary Sagna, Manchester City
7 of 21
Last Week: 15
Differential: None
Bacary Sagna was rested for Manchester City's weekend win, with Pablo Zabaleta preferred instead. His replacement looked a little out-of-sorts early on, but eventually recovered.
14. Sadio Mane, Southampton
8 of 21
Last Week: Unranked
Differential: New!
Sadio Mane destroyed Chelsea's defensive and midfield lines on Saturday, waltzing through them at ease and helping Southampton to a famous 3-1 victory.
In the last two weeks, he's started providing tangible end-product in the form of goals to complement his brilliant on-the-ball showings, and enters the top 20 as a result.
In the summer, Sky Sports reported Mane, 23, was the subject of a Manchester United bid, and the level he's playing at right now shows why.
If he carries on wrecking defensive structures with pace, directness and shooting ability, the big guns will all be in for him once again very soon.
13. John Stones, CB, Everton
9 of 21
Last Week: 13
Differential: None
John Stones was again absent for Everton, failing to recover from an injury in time to play in the Merseyside derby. In his place, Ramiro Funes Mori was pretty damn good.
12. Winston Reid, West Ham United
10 of 21
Last Week: 12
Differential: None
Winston Reid played 67 minutes of West Ham's 2-2 draw with Sunderland this weekend then had to be withdrawn, with James Collins replacing him.
The New Zealand international had been struggling with a hip injury in the build-up to the game and Slaven Bilic had insisted, "It's nothing major," per London24.com.
11. Matteo Darmian, Manchester United
11 of 21
Last Week: 7
Differential: -4
Matteo Darmian really struggled on Sunday and plummets down the rankings as a result. He was withdrawn at half-time for Antonio Valencia and may need to switch flanks to continue playing in this side.
Nacho Monreal's late pushes forward gave him some real issues on the right, and Alexis Sanchez dribbled through him at will.
Manchester United's defence as a unit played extremely poorly, tackling timidly and backing away in fear of Arsenal's runners, and Darmian was the chief culprit.
10. Graziano Pelle, Southampton
12 of 21
Last Week: 16
Differential: +6
Graziano Pelle put in a brilliant performance at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening, making the bench for our Premier League Team of the Week (he was never going to make the XI due to Sergio Aguero's five-goal haul).
The Italian dominated aerially and brought down longer passes to initiate slick phases of play, allowing his quicker team-mates to feed off him and cross for him at will.
Pelle bagged two assists for the first two Saints goals, then capped the win with the third—a rare strike from him away from St. Mary's Stadium.
9. Eric Dier, Tottenham Hotspur
13 of 21
Last Week: 10
Differential: +1
Eric Dier put in a good performance closing out the space against Swansea City in midfield, tracking markers and trying to remove dangerous opportunities, but he fell foul of his fifth yellow card of the season and will miss the next match as a result.
Five yellows from eight games is alarming—should he continue his current trajectory, he'd end up with over 20 bookings for the season—and Mauricio Pochettino will need to collar him and ask him to calm down in games.
He's emerged as an impact figure in midfield for Spurs; they can't have him missing too many games.
8. Yaya Toure, Manchester City
14 of 21
Last Week: 8
Differential: None
Yaya Toure missed Manchester City's 6-1 win over Newcastle United due to a hamstring problem, per the Daily Mail. He was substituted at half-time against Borussia Monchengladbach and failed to make the squad here.
7. Fernandinho, Manchester City
15 of 21
Last Week: 14
Differential: +7
Fernandinho was once again the key man in the middle for Manchester City, putting together two very good halves even when the tide was turning against his team for a short spell.
He crunched through four tackles, bagged one assist and retained an 88 percent pass completion rate, per WhoScored.com, mixing up accurate, short passes with surges and tempo-increasing attempts.
Partnered by Fernando this week and without Yaya Toure, there appeared to be a few teething issues, but they were solved after about 40 minutes.
6. Anthony Martial, Manchester United
16 of 21
Last Week: 9
Differential: +3
Anthony Martial fed off scraps on Sunday as Manchester United were pinned in and taken down by a rampant Arsenal side. That said, he still managed to impress.
The 19-year-old made the most of several inaccurate, hopeful punts forward and turned them into passes, managed one shot on the swivel that was superbly saved by Petr Cech and generally linked the lines together as well as possible.
Considering what he was up against, it was a pretty good showing. With Matteo Darmian and Yaya Toure in poor form or absent, Martial moves up again.
5. Riyad Mahrez, Leicester City
17 of 21
Last Week: 3
Differential: -2
Riyad Mahrez was an unused substitute for Leicester City's victory over Norwich City on Saturday. Claudio Ranieri's nickname is "The Tinkerman" for this exact reason—he took one of the Premier League's best players of the season so far and benched him for a tough away game.
In fairness to the Italian, Mahrez was sub-par against Arsenal and his team did win against the Canaries.
4. Jefferson Montero, Swansea City
18 of 21
Last Week: 6
Differential: +2
Jefferson Montero was again extremely dangerous on Swansea City's left flank, matching up one-on-one with Kyle Walker and running him all over the show.
The Ecuadorian was matched for pace and directness for once, but his guile and slanting shoulders gave him the edge in a brilliant individual battle. Montero clipped a nice ball in for Andre Ayew to slot home early on and worried Walker all game.
3. Dimitri Payet, West Ham
19 of 21
Last Week: 1
Differential: -2
A mixed bag for Dimitri Payet, which sees him depart top spot after just a week in the position.
He scored West Ham's equaliser in a 2-2 draw against Sunderland, displaying a poacher's instinct by slotting home the rebound after Costel Pantilimon failed to hold a long-range shot, but did give the ball away in the build-up to Jeremain Lens' goal.
Not his usual dominant self despite playing against 10 men for a fair portion, but by no means a poor showing.
2. Jamie Vardy, Leicester City
20 of 21
Last Week: 2
Differential: None
Another week, another brilliant performance from Jamie Vardy. It's still fairly difficult to fathom, but he really has been one of the very best players in the Premier League this season.
Against Norwich City, he was at his tireless best, hitting the channels, chasing long balls and fashioning them into chances. He converted a penalty he won himself and tormented the Canaries' back line all day.
"He is in a great moment and the the strikers live for this kind of moment—now everything he does is gold," Claudio Ranieri told reporters after the game (h/t ITV).
1. David Silva, Manchester City
21 of 21
Last Week: 4
Differential: +3
David Silva returns to the summit after a truly stunning performance in Manchester City's 6-1 win over Newcastle United.
"[Sergio] Aguero may have taken all the plaudits with his five-goal heroics, but David Silva was once again mesmeric, tormenting Newcastle with his vision, guile and touch whenever he was on the ball," the Mirror's David McDonnell wrote after the game. No goals for the Spaniard, but, boy, did he pull the strings.
His touch, ability to glide between challenges and phenomenal consistency in digging out the perfect pass make him near-unstoppable, and he's been very, very consistent this season too.
