Premier League Player Rankings: Silva Out, Martial Up, Mane Down
Premier League action returned with a bang last weekend, and therefore, so do our divisional player rankings.
We have three new entries—two from a fully in-form Arsenal attack—and a new No. 1 due to an injury to David Silva that forced him to drop from the top 20. Manchester United's big victory over Everton and Leicester City's comeback against Southampton have heavily influenced the rankings.
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 (note: no Georginio Wijnaldum or Raheem Sterling for this reason).
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.
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
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Dropping Out
David Silva, Manchester City: Silva was our No. 1 ahead of the international break, but he will miss a month due to injury, and as a result, he drops out.
Andre Ayew, Swansea City: The hot start has burnt out a little for Ayew.
Jonjo Shelvey, Swansea City: Like Ayew, he's not impacting games as heavily anymore.
20. Romelu Lukaku, Everton
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Last Week: 20
Differential: None
Romelu Lukaku may have been on the receiving end of a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United, but on an individual basis, he played well.
He was entirely isolated up front as the Red Devils took over but still worked hard to try and hold the ball up two against one with the defenders. A ridiculous David de Gea save stopped him netting a goal he probably deserved based on his overall performance.
19. Willian, Chelsea
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Last Week: Unranked
Differential: New!
As a team, Chelsea have been pretty turgid this season, but Willian has been their bright spot. Where Pedro, Oscar, Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic have struggled in midfield, Willian has picked up the slack.
He's shown a prowess from free-kick situations over the last several weeks, clipping lovely balls in to be headed home, and his manic pressing and work rate paid dividends against Aston Villa this weekend, allowing him to rob Joleon Lescott and tee up Diego Costa for an easy finish.
18. Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham Hotspur
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Last Week: 19
Differential: +1
Toby Alderweireld contributed toward another clean sheet on Saturday, as Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool played out a scoreless draw.
The Belgian struggled a little in building play due to the ferocious press the Reds showed in patches, but his defensive work—and in particular his dealing with the rapid Divock Origi—was enough to keep the away side at bay.
Tottenham have conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League so far (seven, tied with Arsenal), and Alderweireld has been the defensive line's best performer so far.
17. John Stones, Everton
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Last Week: 13
Differential: -4
"[It was his] first match in nearly a month, and it showed," wrote ITV after giving John Stones a a four-out-of-10 grade for his performance against Manchester United. Short, sweet and largely accurate.
He used the international break to recover from an ailment but struggled to adapt to the pace and power of Premier League football in his first game back, and the Red Devils put his defensive line to the sword, netting three without reply.
Stones moves down the ranking as a result, though a rebound is fully expected next week.
16. Sadio Mane, Southampton
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Last Week: 14
Differential: -2
Sadio Mane's been in red-hot form, with two goals and two assists in his last three games prior to this fixture, per WhoScored.com, but unfortunately, he looked blunted against Leicester City.
One excellent run on goal late on was halted brilliantly by Danny Simpson, but, ultimately, the threat from Southampton came via set pieces and aerial deliveries—not trickery on the deck.
15. Mesut Ozil, Arsenal
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Last Week: Unranked
Differential: New!
Mesut Ozil has truly found form in 2015. It took him a while to acclimatise to English football, but ever since he returned from injury at the beginning of the year, he's been on fire.
He's accumulated six assists for the season so far, per WhoScored.com, bagging two in his most recent game against Watford. His wonderful, languid style looks a little awkward at times, but he's ruthless when given space, and the weighting on his passes is just sublime.
14. Bacary Sagna, Manchester City
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Last Week: 15
Differential: +1
Bacary Sagna stepped over to the left side of the defence on Saturday to ease Manchester City's injury crisis on that flank. Having been naturalised at right-back and seen playing time in the centre at Arsenal, filling in on the left completed the set for the versatile defender.
His defending was good, as he adapted to doing the opposite of his usual job quickly, and it was his slammed cross that forced Wilfried Bony's second goal.
So far this season, Sagna has been one of Manuel Pellegrini's most consistent, useful assets in the race for the title.
13. Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
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Last Week: Unranked
Differential: New!
Alexis Sanchez's form has taken a dramatic turn for the better over the last four weeks, banishing memories of an iffy opening five games and putting in some truly stellar performances.
His electric outing against Watford saw him bag a goal, but the real story was the way he took the defence apart with a series of twists, turns and darts. He was in stunning form for Chile during the international break, and he carried that confidence back into the Premier League.
With six goals in his last three Premier League games, it was an easy decision to move Alexis into the top 20 and start him high up.
12. Winston Reid, West Ham United
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Last Week: 12
Differential: None
“With [Winston Reid] it is not a big one," Slaven Bilic informed London24.com ahead of West Ham's weekend win over Crystal Palace.
The New Zealand centre-back is no stranger to knocks and strains, and he missed the victory with James Collins taking his place.
West Ham will be hoping their captain is fit and available ahead of next week.
11. Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City
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Last Week: 17
Differential: +6
Kevin De Bruyne put in another stonking performance this weekend, further endearing himself to the Etihad Stadium crowd. He's really stepping up in place of City's key injured players.
"De Bruyne plays in any of the support positions in behind Sergio Aguero...meaning he can take Silva’s No. 10 role when needed, or play out wide if either Jesus Navas or Raheem Sterling are underperforming," uMAXit Football's Rob Pollard noted last week.
De Bruyne's versatility means he's basically assured of a spot in the XI, and he seems happy to play in any of the three roles.
He pulled strings and grabbed an assist as City smashed AFC Bournemouth 5-1.
10. Graziano Pelle, Southampton
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Last Week: 10
Differential: None
Graziano Pelle has emerged as a prime playmaker for Southampton. His dominant form has encouraged his team to look for him and play off him regularly, and he's become the fulcrum of the attack.
But Saturday was one of his quieter days. He was unable to impact the game anywhere near as heavily as he did against Swansea City or Chelsea.
Pelle did head a corner on to the post in the build-up to Virgil van Dijk's opener, but other than that, he was quiet.
9. Eric Dier, Tottenham Hotspur
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Last Week: 9
Differential: None
Eric Dier was suspended for Tottenham Hotspur's match against Liverpool, having already accumulated five bookings. In his absence, Mousa Dembele excelled.
8. Matteo Darmian, Manchester United
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Last Week: 11
Differential: +3
This was a much better performance from Matteo Darmian. Last week we moved him down after being given the runaround against Alexis Sanchez, but this was a certifiable step forward on the road to recovery.
A clean sheet will help, and he made zero errors in tracking and tackling. He even bustled forward a little more, growing in confidence as the game went on.
Dealing with a rotating cast of Steven Naismith, Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku isn't easy, but Darmian handled it well.
7. Jefferson Montero, Swansea City
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Last Week: 4
Differential: -3
Jefferson Montero played well for Ecuador during the international break, but those who expected him to bring his form back to south Wales were left disappointed.
Stoke City double-teamed him on Monday, blocking him out of the game where possible and intercepting his crosses with gusto.
He ended up a bit of a non-entity—something that has happened a few times this season due to the sheer amount of attention he's receiving.
6. Yaya Toure, Manchester City
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Last Week: 8
Differential: +2
Returning from a hamstring injury that kept him out of Manchester City's last fixture, Yaya Toure impressed in a tidy role at the heart of his side's midfield on Saturday.
He wasn't required to do any heavy lifting—Kevin De Bruyne, Wilfried Bony and Raheem Sterling did all the damage necessary—and simply kept the play ticking over, passing accurately and retaining the ball under pressure.
5. Fernandinho, Manchester City
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Last Week: 7
Differential: +2
Another week, another stellar performance from Fernandinho in the heart of Manchester City's midfield. He's been one of the most consistent players this season not just in City blue, but across all of the Premier League.
An all-action, combative display off the ball was complemented by some diligent work on it, picking out Pablo Zabaleta superbly in the build-up to his side's first goal and passing neatly throughout.
City's forwards have earned all the headlines this season, but the form of their Brazilian midfielder has been absolutely brilliant. As the only player to start all nine league games so far, he's been the glue that holds the team together.
4. Anthony Martial, Manchester United
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Last Week: 6
Differential: +2
Anthony Martial was shifted to the left wing for Manchester United's win over Everton due to Louis van Gaal's persistence with Wayne Rooney in a central position, but he got on with his job without complaint and starred in a multi-faceted role.
He's played wide before (at Monaco), so it's not an entirely new position for him, but the ease with which he slotted into the role was astounding.
Martial provided direct running, physicality and finesse when required, and he even managed to suffocate Seamus Coleman on his return to the XI.
3. Riyad Mahrez, Leicester City
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Last Week: 5
Differential: +2
It's probably safe to say Claudio Ranieri will stop benching Riyad Mahrez now. His nickname "The Tinkerman" is fairly self-explanatory, but not even he can justify not starting this electric Algerian winger from this point on.
Two goals down at the half to Southampton, Leicester City needed an offensive spark. Mahrez answered the call, coming on and weaving his typical path of destruction among defenders before grabbing an assist for Jamie Vardy's 91st-minute equaliser.
2. Dimitri Payet, West Ham
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Last Week: 3
Differential: +1
Dimitri Payet oozes class in everything he does, and no goal will back that up that more than his late chipped effort to seal West Ham's three-point haul away to Crystal Palace last weekend.
Approaching Wayne Hennessey one-on-one, he faked a shot, sat the goalkeeper down and then lifted a delicate effort over his head. Stunning.
His overall game was pretty good—he rarely gave the ball away and countered well as usual—and he moves up into second as a result.
1. Jamie Vardy, Leicester City
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Last Week: 2
Differential: +1
With David Silva dropping from the rankings due to injury, Jamie Vardy is elevated to the No. 1 spot. The Leicester City man is breaking new ground atop our rankings.
He has nine goals in nine games, including two in his most recent bout with Southampton. Trailing by two at the half, a relentless Vardy epitomised the spirit of the Foxes, pouring forward and eventually securing a late equaliser.
According to WhoScored.com, no team has won more points from a losing position this season than Leicester, and Vardy is a major reason why.
