Premier League Player Rankings: Chelsea Continue to Dominate the Top Order
After an agonising break for the pesky FA Cup, the Premier League returned (for the most part) this week and treated us to eight games.
Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Southampton remained out of action due to the EFL Cup final, but Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur both turned on the style to heavily influence the rankings.
Last week Diego Costa just held on to his No. 1 ranking—did he do enough this week to retain it?
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 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.
36-40
1 of 16
40. Yaya Toure, Man City (Stay)
Did not play in the Premier League due to the EFL Cup final forcing a rescheduling of the Manchester derby.
39. Juan Mata, Man Utd (Stay)
Did not play in the Premier League due to the EFL Cup final forcing a rescheduling of the Manchester derby.
38. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Man Utd (Stay)
Was too busy scoring a late winner in a cup final to trouble himself with Premier League play.
37. Harry Kane, Tottenham (Previously unranked)
Soars upwards and into the ranking after a stunning display against Stoke City. A hat-trick plus an assist meant he had a hand in all four goals Spurs scored.
36. Michael Keane, Burnley (Stay)
A mixed performance: Keane gave away a penalty (perhaps unfortunately so) at Hull City, but he also scored an equaliser to earn Burnley just their second away point this season.
31-35
2 of 16
35. Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace (Stay)
A much-improved performance sees him hold fast in the rankings. He looked lively, worked well with Patrick van Aanholt and caused Middlesbrough's defence issues.
34. Marcos Alonso, Chelsea (Stay)
A good all-round showing from the left wing-back, who looked neat on the ball and showed positivity with his runs against Swansea City.
33. Oriol Romeu, Southampton (Stay)
Played a brilliant game of football on Sunday, but to no avail: his Southampton side lost the EFL Cup final to Manchester United 3-2.
32. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Man Utd (Stay)
His Man Utd side played in the EFL Cup final and won it without him, as he tweaked his hamstring days before against AS Saint-Etienne in the Europa League.
31. Nordin Amrabat, Watford (Stay)
Walter Mazzarri will be praying he's close to fitness, as Mauro Zarate's ruptured ACL means he's out for the season and Watford will be in need of a body.
26-30
3 of 16
30. Adam Lallana, Liverpool (-3)
Sort of disappeared in among a terrible Liverpool performance on Monday at Leicester City. A few nice turns and touches, but zero cutting edge from good positions.
29. Fernandinho, Man City (Stay)
City weren't in action as their Manchester derby has been rescheduled.
28. David Luiz, Chelsea (Stay)
A slightly iffy performance from Luiz, who was partially at fault for the goal Swansea scored and generally a little askew with his passing.
27. Idrissa Gueye, Everton (+3)
Scored his first goal of the season and put in what is generally known in the blue half of Liverpool as a typical "Gana" performance—imperious, imposing and all-encompassing.
26. Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea (Stay)
Did struggle at times against Chelsea—his touch deserted him a little—but bagged yet another assist for Fernando Llorente's goal.
21-25
4 of 16
25. Victor Moses, Chelsea (Stay)
Seemed a little overlooked at times when Chelsea were constructing attacking moves, but he played well nonetheless and keeps his position inside the top 25.
24. Roberto Firmino, Liverpool (-6)
Took too many touches in key areas, therefore wasting decent vantage points, and he ended the game without a single shot to his name. Basically, he was extremely ineffectual.
23. Joe Allen, Stoke City (-6)
Just as much a part of an abysmal Stoke performance at White Hart Lane as every other Potter. He drops sharply as a result.
22. Kevin De Bruyne, Man City (Stay)
De Bruyne had a weekend off as his game was postponed due to the EFL Cup final.
21. Joel Matip, Liverpool (-2)
Good in passing forward and driving Liverpool into good areas against Leicester, but defensively the team collapsed in on itself.
16-20
5 of 16
20. Jonny Evans, West Bromwich Albion (+1)
Back from injury and starting his first game in weeks, Evans picked up exactly where he left off: commanding the defence and passing the ball well.
19. Cesar Azpilicueta, Chelsea (+5)
Azpilicueta is Chelsea's form defender at the moment, putting in performance after performance no matter where he is deployed.
18. Jan Vertonghen, Tottenham (+5)
Back to fitness more quickly than expected. Put in a good defensive and passing performance against Stoke before withdrawing in the second half for a deserved rest.
17. Victor Wanyama, Tottenham (+3)
Produced four tackles as he was sporadically required to step in and stop Stoke gaining any form of rhythm. He bossed the middle with ease.
16. Virgil van Dijk, Southampton (Stay)
Watched from the stands as his Saints side lost in the EFL Cup final. How they could have used him in defence.
11-15
6 of 16
15. Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool (-3)
Looked Liverpool's brightest spark against Leicester and did score a nice goal, but it's still tough to be overwhelmingly positive about the performance.
14. Raheem Sterling, Man City (+1)
Sat the weekend due to a rearranged fixture. Moves up one spot in the natural sway of the rankings.
13. Kyle Walker, Tottenham (+1)
His speed and willingness to run at Stoke's defence made them skittish from the start. He also threatened Lee Grant's goal with a couple of strikes.
12. Pedro, Chelsea (+1)
Superb against Swansea, working extremely hard to win the ball back in advanced areas and embarking on slaloming, unstoppable runs.
11. Antonio Valencia, Man Utd (Stay)
Was given the weekend off Premier League duty due to the EFL Cup final. Uncharacteristically, he struggled badly in that game, but that doesn't affect his standing here.
10. Sadio Mane, Liverpool
7 of 16
Last Week: 7th
Movement: -3
Sadio Mane was, for a period, Liverpool's likeliest route to a goal against Leicester, but even he eventually faded and had to be substituted.
Some scything runs across the box aside, he ended up with little to his name in regard to chances created. It doesn't help when you're playing with a striker who refuses to shoot and a right-back whose crosses only ever hit the first man, to be fair.
9. Mousa Dembele, Tottenham Hotspur
8 of 16
Last Week: 10th
Movement: +1
Mousa Dembele put in another sturdy performance this weekend, setting the tone in midfield against Stoke and giving his attacking team-mates a platform to attack from.
Dele Alli and Harry Kane's jobs become a lot easier when there's confidence in the midfield to dominate proceedings, and that's precisely what Dembele gives you—plus a few neat forward balls to feed off.
The Belgian's performance wasn't quite spotless—there was an alarming pass to Joe Allen in a horrible area early on—but that was one of few errors.
8. David Silva, Manchester City
9 of 16
Last Week: 9th
Movement: +1
David Silva's latest crack at the Manchester derby was postponed due to the EFL Cup final.
7. Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham Hotspur
10 of 16
Last Week: 8th
Movement: +1
Tottenham fans will have been concerned to see Toby Alderweireld leave the fray early (again), exiting just five minutes into the second half against Stoke. Every fan knows a withdrawal at that time cannot possibly be planned.
According to ESPN FC, it was a precautionary measure. Given they face a stern challenge in Everton on Sunday, manager Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping that nothing severe pops up on any scans.
For the 49 minutes he did spent on the pitch, Alderweireld was generally flawless, spraying the ball about and dealing with Stoke's sporadic attacks with ease.
6. Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
11 of 16
Last Week: 6th
Movement: None
Arsenal were scheduled to play Southampton this weekend, but the EFL Cup final forced that game to be rearranged.
5. Danny Rose, Tottenham Hotspur
12 of 16
Last Week: 5th
Movement: None
Still injured, Ben Davies took to the pitch in place of Danny Rose on Sunday and did a passable impression of him.
4. Ander Herrera, Manchester United
13 of 16
Last Week: 4th
Movement: None
Ander Herrera swapped the Premier League for a cup final at Wembley on Sunday, starring in midfield and delivering an assist for Zlatan Ibrahimovic's winner against Southampton.
3. Eden Hazard, Chelsea
14 of 16
Last Week: 3rd
Movement: None
Eden Hazard found Saturday afternoon tough sledding at times, as Swansea devoted two players to marking him at all times. Wayne Routledge helped Kyle Naughton wherever possible to reduce the space he had to use.
The Belgian still completed eight dribbles, though, and bustled his way to the byline to crack the game open several times.
His assist for Diego Costa's late goal was a product of never-ending attempts to stretch the defence to its breaking point.
2. N'Golo Kante, Chelsea
15 of 16
Last Week: 2nd
Movement: None
N'Golo Kante is now starting to be talked about in Player of the Year terms. Gary Neville put forward his view on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football that the Frenchman deserves it after yet another stellar, consistent season.
Most likely, Neville will have watched the former Leicester man break up play with aplomb and start attacks with ease as Chelsea beat Swansea on Saturday.
It was another classic Kante performance: not flashy, but brutally effectively and vital to the team's inner workings.
1. Diego Costa, Chelsea
16 of 16
Last Week: 1st
Movement: None
Last week we put Diego Costa on notice; we warned him that one more below-par performance would result in him being demoted from the No. 1 spot he's held for so long.
Clearly, he heeded our message.
His performance was far from perfect, though. While his effort could not be faulted, some sticky touches meant moves broke down and quite a few things he tried didn't come off.
But he also strung together a few good attacks, used the byline well to stretch Swansea's defence, and, most importantly, smacked home a late goal to end his mini-drought in the Premier League.
