Premier League Player Rankings: Emre Can In, Vardy Down, Payet Up, New No. 1
It's tough to stay on top in the Premier League player rankings. We have a new No. 1 this week despite previously crowning Riyad Mahrez ahead of the international break, but will it be N'Golo Kante or Mousa Dembele, who both excelled in their respective matches this weekend?
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 one-week wonders do not find their way in. That said, if, for example, Sergio Aguero returns from injury and excels in four straight games, he will find his way in—if a player plays very well, they can cut the queue.
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 / Honourable Mentions
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Dropping Out
Diego Costa, Chelsea
Romelu Lukaku, Everton
Honourable Mentions
Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool
Marko Arnautovic, Stoke City
20. Danny Drinkwater, Leicester City
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Last Week: 20th
Danny Drinkwater just about survives this week and clings onto his position of 20th after a so-so performance against Southampton.
The midfielder made his England bow during the international break but wasn't able to carry that momentum into the Premier League run-in, with N'Golo Kante forced to do much of the good work in midfield—be it tackling, intercepting or starting counters with passes into space.
19. Virgil Van Dijk, Southampton
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Last Week: 15th (-4)
Virgil van Dijk was again good but not great. In the last few weeks he has slipped off, and now he's in danger of dropping out of the top 20 altogether.
This season he's really impressed but has also been exceptionally streaky with his form; he goes through five-week periods of absolute domination, then cools down and returns to earth.
Against Leicester City he was OK, but he got opened up and exposed a few times by channel runs.
18. Michail Antonio, West Ham United
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Last Week: 19th (+1)
West Ham United again asked Michail Antonio to play right-back this week, and he did a good job. The energy, commitment and enthusiasm in his game allows him to file into different roles and still excel.
He's a winger at heart so, in truth, it's not that much of an ask for him to become an attacking full-back, and he powered forward whenever possible to bring a physical edge to the Hammers' build-up play.
17. Timm Klose, Norwich City
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Last Week: Unranked (New!)
If you haven't been watching Norwich City there's no shame in that, but you should be aware of the star performer who might just drag them clear of relegation.
Timm Klose, a January signing from Wolfsburg, has overcome a shoddy debut to develop into a leader at the back for the Canaries, playing superbly in four straight games and scoring in the most recent, against Newcastle United.
He's combative, tactically intelligent and has dramatically improved the form of whoever plays alongside him—be it Ryan Bennett and Sebastien Bassong.
16. Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea City
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Last Week: 17th (+1)
Swansea City were pretty flat in the first half against Stoke City, with only Wayne Routledge impressing from the right-hand side as a runner.
But a second-half formation shuffle put Gylfi Sigurdsson in a better position to succeed, and from the No. 10 position, he immediately began to worry the Potters' defence.
Ten minutes later he was on the scoresheet—albeit thanks to a deflection—and it was the first of an impressive two-goal comeback.
15. Emre Can, Liverpool
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Last Week: Unranked (New!)
Emre Can has bubbled into form nicely over the past month or so, earning him a spot in our player rankings. In fact, he was extremely unfortunate not to get in just ahead of the international break.
Liverpool vs. Tottenham Hotspur was an absolute war in the midfield, but Can looked strong both on the ball and when tracking runners. He's developing into quite the midfield general under Jurgen Klopp's tutelage.
14. Willian, Chelsea
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Last Week: 11th (-3)
Willian wasn't in Chelsea's squad this weekend. They were fine without him, beating Aston Villa 4-0.
13. Roberto Firmino, Liverpool
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Last Week: 12th (-1)
Roberto Firmino missed Liverpool's draw with Tottenham Hotspur due to a hamstring injury. He could be fit for next week, though, with the Guardian reporting he's edging closer to fitness.
12. Wes Morgan, Leicester City
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Last Week: 14th (+2)
Wes Morgan saved the day for Leicester City on Sunday. They came up largely blunt in attack against a good Southampton side and defended for long periods, but the Foxes captain netted a first-half header to secure the 1-0 win.
It was his first goal of the season; what a time to score it.
Leicester then defended like Trojans with Morgan a key part of the resistance, repelling any ball into the box and fighting for every second to ensure the three-point haul was secured.
11. Dimitri Payet, West Ham United
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Last Week: 13th (+2)
Dimitri Payet's free-kick technique might just be one of the strangest we've ever witnessed. He's so good from dead balls now that 25-yard set pieces are essentially akin to penalties for the Frenchman.
He scored a stunner for France during the international break and followed that up with a brilliant one against Crystal Palace, looping an effort up and into the top corner, completely fooling Wayne Hennessey.
10. Christian Eriksen, Tottenham Hotspur
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Last Week: 11th (+1)
Christian Eriksen once again impressed this weekend, putting in a strong, committed display in midfield. He showed energy and dedication, and he tried his best to carve out a few openings.
There was one hairy moment when he was robbed of possession deep and it set up a dangerous Liverpool attack, but beyond that he was as good as can be expected given the tiny amount of space the game flow afforded him.
9. Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea
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Last Week: 9th
Cesc Fabregas was unlikely to have been fatigued after Chelsea's 4-0 win over Aston Villa this weekend. He didn't even need to hit second gear to run the midfield with ease.
With Villa having given up, accepting their relegation fate amid a chorus of boos from the fans, Fabregas dictated play at a trotting pace and set up several Blues attacks with clever passes. He and Ruben Loftus-Cheek linked well together in the centre.
8. Dele Alli, Tottenham Hotspur
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Last Week: 5th (-3)
Dele Alli put in a disappointing shift at Anfield on Saturday. It was a pretty stark comedown from the glitz and glamour of his stellar performance for England against Germany during the international break.
Lots of rogue touches crept into his game, he struggled due to a lack of space, and he was eventually withdrawn by Mauricio Pochettino due to the inefficient nature of his display.
With Spurs chasing the win, he was subbed off. Rarely, if ever, has that happened this season.
7. Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur
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Last Week: 8th (+1)
Harry Kane enjoyed the classic game of two halves this weekend; in the first, he huffed and puffed to no avail, but in the second, he produced a masterful strike to level the scores and rescue a point.
The Englishman likes to take plenty of shots and will rarely pass when close to goal—making him easy to anticipate and block—and that led to him squandering two or three great avenues in the first period.
But he made up for it with the goal, turning Dejan Lovren superbly and wrapping his foot around a superb finish.
6. Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham Hotspur
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Last Week: 7th (+1)
Over the past few weeks, Toby Alderweireld has slid down the rankings a little due to circumstances he wasn't able to control: When Tottenham Hotspur play weak sides who don't threaten he doesn't have to do a lot, meaning he can't shine.
But Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool asked plenty of questions of Spurs' back line on Saturday and both Alderweireld and Kevin Wimmer had to be on top form.
They both impressed cutting out channel balls, and they both stuck studiously to their markers.
5. Mesut Ozil, Arsenal
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Last Week: 6th (+1)
Mesut Ozil didn't pick up an assist or a goal in Arsenal's 4-0 victory over Watford, but that doesn't mean he wasn't impressive.
Typical Ozil touches here and there paved the way for a neat and tidy performance, and he often drifted into dangerous areas to link dangerous passages of play—particularly from the right side.
That said, he hasn't picked up an assist in the Premier League since the end of February; he needs to get cracking if he wants to beat Thierry Henry's record.
4. Jamie Vardy, Leicester City
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Last Week: 3rd (-1)
Bar one moment when Jamie Vardy nearly forced Jose Fonte into a rather spectacular own goal—Fraser Forster averted the danger with an acrobatic, alert save—things were eerily quiet for the Leicester City striker on Saturday.
He's been scoring far less frequently of late but still impacting games, though this was a departure from even that; he only managed to fire off one shot in the entire game, per WhoScored.com.
3. Riyad Mahrez, Leicester City
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Last Week: 1st (-2)
Riyad Mahrez lasted just one gameweek atop the ladder. His performance this weekend against Southampton was strangely quiet, all told.
He produced some really nice first touches to bring cross-field passes out of the sky but didn't do too much with them.
In fact, Leicester's attacking strategy broke down a little, and they relied on a brilliant header from Wes Morgan to earn a vital victory.
2. N'Golo Kante, Leicester City
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Last Week: 4th (+2)
N'Golo Kante put together some showing on Sunday; his impact in midfield was again a key part of Leicester City's clean sheet against Southampton.
The Saints exerted pressure in extended periods, and the Foxes had to dig in and close the space. Kante did that superbly, and he also produced eight tackles and four interceptions, per WhoScored.com, stealing the ball with regularity and sparking counter-attacks.
He made his France debut last week, scoring in the process, but he refocused to the task at hand brilliantly and was one of Claudio Ranieri's best two players on the day.
1. Mousa Dembele, Tottenham Hotspur
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Last Week: 2nd (+1)
Once again, Mousa Dembele took centre stage in the heart of Tottenham Hotspur's midfield this weekend. He evaded Liverpool's pressing and managed to create chances despite tight marking.
Seb Stafford-Bloor of uMAXit Football sang his praises: "Jurgen Klopp evidently tried to channel as much pressure towards him as possible in an effort to disturb Spurs’ rhythm, but it had very little effect; Dembele skipped and danced and side-stepped tacklers, poked passes into unguarded areas, and casually dismissed any attempts to physically challenge him."
His great performance, in conjunction with Riyad Mahrez's quiet one, is enough to lift him back into top spot.
