Premier League Player Rankings: Chelsea Dominate the Top Order
Those of you who support Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will enjoy this edition of the Premier League player rankings. Those of you who support Arsenal won't like it quite so much.
Ranking Criteria
- It's a season-long ranking based on performances over the entire campaign—no longer does it take into account a four-to-six-week period of form (like previous editions did). Therefore, whoever is No. 1 is effectively our choice for Player of the Season should the campaign finish this week.
- Only Premier League form is considered—no Champions League, no domestic cups and no international football.
- We pore over hours of film to accurately grade the players on a weekly basis. All teams are covered properly, and experts are sought out for advice as and when required.
- Performing well on a consistent basis is key. Players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Dele Alli, who have endured poor patches spanning months this season, have a lot of work to do in order to set the record straight.
- A player must have meaningfully participated (started or played in excess of 20 minutes) in more than 50 per cent of his team's games to be eligible for the ranking. You wouldn't christen anyone Player of the Season having played less than half the games.
40-36
1 of 1640. Claudio Yacob, West Bromwich Albion (-1)
Yacob wasn't in the squad for West Bromwich Albion's win over Stoke City. In his place, Jake Livermore put in a brilliant full league debut for the club. Should the Argentinian be concerned?
39. Heung-Min Son, Tottenham Hotspur (new!)
Won the penalty that secured Spurs the match against Middlesbrough and was a thorn in the Teessiders' side all game. Great movement; great use of space.
38. Ben Foster, West Bromwich Albion (-2)
Didn't have to work too hard to keep his fifth clean sheet of the season. Stoke's attack faltered as soon as Peter Crouch lost his physical battle with Craig Dawson and Gareth McAuley.
37. Michael Keane, Burnley (-3)
Tried his best to stymie the threat of Watford, but with his team playing with 10 men for much of the game, it wasn't possible.
36. Tom Heaton, Burnley (-2)
Made some good saves to ensure Burnley weren't beaten by more than just a one-goal margin at Watford.
35-31
2 of 16
35. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Manchester United (new!)
Now that United manager Jose Mourinho has seen the sense to play him, he's reaping the benefits. Mhkitaryan's performance against Leicester City was electric.
34. Oriol Romeu, Southampton (-4)
A mixed performance. Played the pass over the top for Manolo Gabbiadini's debut goal, but he struggled to shut West Ham United down in midfield and lost out in the physical matchup with Pedro Obiang.
33. Marcos Alonso, Chelsea (new!)
Alonso scored his fourth Premier League goal of the season on Saturday, drawing him level with Kevin De Bruyne, Nolito and Paul Pogba to name three.
32. Fernandinho, Manchester City (+5)
Pep Guardiola rolled out the surprising tactic of playing Fernandinho at right-back against Swansea City, but it worked. The Brazilian tracked his runners and even crossed well.
31. Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea City (new!)
The shining light when Swansea City were awful, and still the shining light now they've sorted themselves out. Impressive from the Iceland international.
30-26
3 of 16
30. Adam Lallana, Liverpool (-4)
The slide continues. Lallana, like every other Liverpool midfielder, struggled to create with any conviction against Hull City.
29. Nordin Amrabat, Watford (stay)
Will Amrabat get back into this Watford XI immediately when fit? M'Baye Niang and Mauro Zarate have made it a lot faster and quicker in the Moroccan's absence.
28. David Luiz, Chelsea (+3)
Defended well against Arsenal. Dealt with his opponents' movements and also the early press intended to provoke mistakes.
27. Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace (-4)
Palace were shockingly bad against Sunderland, going four down in the first half. Zaha was not exempt from this miserable showing.
26. Idrissa Gueye, Everton (-1)
The same concerns that plague Amrabat should bother Gueye. With Morgan Schneiderlin signed and Tom Davies flourishing, he might have to wait a while to start consistently for Everton again.
25-21
4 of 16
25. Victor Moses, Chelsea (+2)
Moses was excellent in the win over Arsenal, keeping things tight defensively for the most part and then rampaging forward on long, mazy dribbles.
24. Cesar Azpilicueta, Chelsea (+8)
A near-flawless display from Azpilicueta against some good forwards. His one-on-one work with Alexis Sanchez was remarkably assured.
23. Jan Vertonghen, Tottenham Hotspur (-1)
Vertonghen's ankle injury kept him out of Tottenham's double-clean-sheet week.
22. Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City (+2)
Another much-improved, dangerous showing from De Bruyne, whose passing radar appears to have been fixed.
21. Jonny Evans, West Bromwich Albion (stay)
On the cusp of a return from injury. West Brom were solid against Stoke City at the weekend, but Evans will be placed straight back into the XI regardless.
20-16
5 of 16
20. Joel Matip, Liverpool (-7)
A wretched day for Matip, who continues to fumble around in search of his previous, high-end performance levels.
19. Roberto Firmino, Liverpool (-1)
An irritatingly ineffective performance from Firmino in the final third summed up Liverpool's performance against Hull City. He worked hard as usual, but that's not enough right now.
18. Joe Allen, Stoke City (-1)
A similar performance to last week's, and that means he continues to fall. A lot of running, which is crucial to Stoke, but he couldn't help his side break West Brom down.
17. Raheem Sterling, Manchester City (+3)
Man City have improved drastically thanks to the introduction of Gabriel Jesus, and Sterling appears to enjoy playing with him.
16. Virgil van Dijk, Southampton (-4)
Van Dijk didn't play, but he moves down due to several players below him excelling and rightly surging ahead of him.
15-11
6 of 16
15. Victor Wanyama, Tottenham Hotspur (+1)
Solid and dependable in the centre of the park as usual. Middlesbrough were outmuscled and outperformed in midfield, and Wanyama was a key part of that.
14. Pedro, Chelsea (+1)
Perhaps unlucky only to move up one spot after pulling his weight in a phenomenal Chelsea performance against Arsenal. Diligent defensively and generous with his passing.
13. David Silva, Manchester City (+6)
Silva is on fire right now. Over the last three weeks in particular, it's arguable he's been the best player in the league. Incisive passing, great determination and unlimited creativity.
12. Antonio Valencia, Manchester United (+2)
Valencia put in another excellent performance against Leicester City. He eased to a clean sheet, dominated his flank, won his headers and assisted Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goal.
11. Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool (-5)
Coutinho just hasn't been himself recently, and his latest poor performance was a major factor in his team's failure to even score against Hull. For the first time this season, he is outside the top 10.
10. Sadio Mane, Liverpool
7 of 16
Last Week: 10th
Movement: None
Liverpool fans hoping Sadio Mane would be an immediate antidote to the club's poisonous run of form were left disappointed; he wasn't able to change the course of their awful 2017 so far.
His speed and willingness to dart into space off the ball was welcomed with open arms, but most of the danger he generated came from free-kicks he won. He had one header saved.
9. Kyle Walker, Tottenham Hotspur
8 of 16
Last Week: 11th
Movement: +2
Kyle Walker slipped two last week, but he makes that ground back up again this time after a solid performance against Middlesbrough.
His opponent for the day, Stewart Downing, got nothing out of him from an attacking perspective and was dragged back defensively to cope with Walker's marauding runs (of which there were plenty).
The full-back's crossing could still use some refinement at times, but that's only a minor knock on a good showing.
8. Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
9 of 16
Last Week: 5th
Movement: -3
You'll be hard pressed to find another 90-minute game in which Alexis Sanchez was as ineffectual as he was against Chelsea. He did nothing.
You have to credit the Blues' defensive performers for that—particularly Cesar Azpilicueta, who squared up to him one-on-one brilliantly—but also ask the question of Alexis, who badly underwhelmed.
He moves down three spots as a result.
7. Mousa Dembele, Tottenham Hotspur
10 of 16
Last Week: 9th
Movement: +2
Playing against Middlesbrough may not be the greatest test for defensive lines, but it is tough for central midfielders. The Teessiders' trio of Adam Clayton, Marten de Roon and Adam Forshaw are physical, hardworking and willing to turn the centre into a battle.
Unfortunately for them, Mousa Dembele does all of those things to an even higher standard, and he showed just how good he is in dominating the middle of the pitch on Saturday. His slaloming runs couldn't be stopped, and his passing into the path of Son was stellar.
6. Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham Hotspur
11 of 16
Last Week: 7th
Movement: +1
Tottenham Hotspur managed two clean sheets last week, and Toby Alderweireld was predictably at the centre of both.
Middlesbrough didn't offer too much going forward, but the Belgian still had to be alert to Alvaro Negredo's aggressive movements, and he also cracked the post with a near-post header in the first half.
There were a couple of occasions when Adama Traore worried Spurs down the flanks, but the fact remains Boro didn't manage a single shot on target.
5. Danny Rose, Tottenham Hotspur
12 of 16
Last Week: 3rd
Movement: -3
Danny Rose missed Tottenham Hotspur's 1-0 win over Middlesbrough with a knee injury. We're still waiting to find out how bad it is.
4. Ander Herrera, Manchester United
13 of 16
Last Week: 2nd
Movement: -2
Ander Herrera can consider himself unlucky to move down two spots this week, but there were a couple of players who leapfrogged him after putting in brilliant showings.
Herrera's own performance was good but not as good as theirs. He provided typical energy and snappiness in the middle of the park for Manchester United as they tore Leicester City apart, but the star performers—Mkhitaryan, Ibrahimovic, etc.—stole the limelight.
3. N'Golo Kante, Chelsea
14 of 16
Last Week: 8th
Movement: +5
A second straight monstrous performance from N'Golo Kante has seen the Frenchman move from 13th to 3rd in the space of a week—that's impressive going.
Chelsea shut down the middle of the park brilliantly against Arsenal, and Kante was, of course, key to managing that.
After a slightly wobbly first five minutes, the Blues regularly outfought the Gunners and won most of the second balls.
2. Eden Hazard, Chelsea
15 of 16
Last Week: 4th
Movement: +2
Eden Hazard put in one of the finest performances of his entire career during Chelsea's 3-1 win over Arsenal on Saturday, running rings around the visiting midfielders and defenders at will.
His goal, which saw him pick the ball up in his own half, beat three players and fire home, is one of the best that will be scored this season. It even rivals the scorpion kicks by Olivier Giroud and Mkhitaryan.
Aside from that, he could be seen driving powerfully at opponents and gliding around challenges. His passing into the wide areas was good, too.
1. Diego Costa, Chelsea
16 of 16
Last Week: 1st
Movement: None
A second consecutive Premier League game without a goal for Diego Costa, but that doesn't mean he played poorly. In fact, despite not registering on the scoresheet, the Spain international will be rightly pleased with his functional, bruising display.
He led the Chelsea line superbly, winning his physical battles with Arsenal's centre-backs over and over. He cracked a great header against the woodwork early on which was tucked in by Marcos Alonso on the rebound, so some would credit him with an assist for that, too.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
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