Premier League Player Rankings: New No. 1 as Diego Costa Falls from the Summit
It has finally happened. For the first time since November 22, 2016, we are celebrating a new No. 1 in the Premier League player rankings. Chelsea striker Diego Costa held the honour for more than three months, but now he's been usurped—but by who?
We also welcome three extremely accomplished new faces to the top 40, who are all recovering from poor starts to the season and finishing the campaign with a flourish. If they continue in their current vein of form, they'll soon be up where they belong—in and around the top 20.
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 would effectively be our choice for Player of the Season if the campaign finished 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.
- Players are given a score after every performance, and those scores are averaged out over the course of the season to produce a grade.
- Performing well on a consistent basis is key. Players such as Dele Alli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 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 fewer than half the games.
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40. Christian Eriksen, Tottenham Hotspur (New!)
Christian Eriksen has been in fantastic form over the last three months, so it may surprise you to see him only just enter the ranking at No. 40 this week. But the Dane's issue has been that he didn't play well during the first three months, so in a ranking that scores players weekly and updates on a rolling basis, he gave himself a big hill to climb.
He kicked off December with a two-goal, one-assist performance against Swansea City and hasn't looked back. Expect him to carry on rising from here.
39. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Manchester United (Stay)
Ibrahimovic watched on as Man Utd beat Middlesbrough 3-1, with Marcus Rashford putting in a good performance (despite not scoring).
Readers often question why the Swede is so low in the rankings, and it's because consistency reigns supreme in this scenario. We update this weekly based on how players performed, and those who hit rough patches inevitably suffer and tumble down.
In Ibrahimovic's case, he endured a horrid October spell in which his score plummeted. By our calculations, he's actually had six really bad games (Bournemouth included) in the Premier League this season, and that's the reason he's so low.
38. Romelu Lukaku, Everton (New!)
Lukaku scored his 20th and 21st goals of the Premier League season on Saturday, and yet only just scrapes the bottom of the rankings. Why? Because the Belgian has struggled for consistency (the enemy of our scoring system) and has tended to fill his boots in gluts against lesser teams.
Of his 21 goals, only three have come against top-six teams; two came against Manchester City, whose defence is more like a bottom six side's, and one against Tottenham Hotspur when Jan Vertonghen fell over.
37. Dele Alli, Tottenham Hotspur (New!)
Too often this season Alli has been guilty of either barely affecting the game or doing nothing for 89 minutes and then scoring, but Sunday was different. He was brilliant against Southampton and his goal was the icing on the cake.
It's good to see Alli recover from a poor start to the season and really find his groove; his goalscoring exploits this calendar year have been so impressive.
36. Georginio Wijnaldum, Liverpool (+1)
Put in a masterful performance as Liverpool ground out a draw at the Etihad Stadium, flicking some beautiful passes in behind the defence and keeping things tidy in the middle.
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35. Juan Mata, Manchester United (Stay)
In the absence of many of United's midfield and striking stars, it was important for Mata to step up against Middlesbrough. He did so, putting in a neat and intelligent performance that was topped off by an assist.
34. Marcos Alonso, Chelsea (-1)
Alonso is unlucky to move down after putting in a good shift against Stoke City. His powerful runs and consistent goal threat still take many defenders by surprise.
33. Idrissa Gueye, Everton (+1)
A monstrous performance from Gueye against Hull City on Saturday was only overshadowed by Lukaku's goalscoring exploits. The Senegalese leads the Premier League with 107 tackles completed.
32. Oriol Romeu, Southampton (Stay)
Romeu vs. Victor Wanyama was a battle of current vs. former Southampton midfield powerhouses. It certainly intrigued, and although the former was edged out overall, he acquitted himself well in the process.
31. Fernandinho, Manchester City (Stay)
Produced one of the worst misses of the season against Liverpool, but it's important not to overlook his brilliance in every other area—regardless of position played.
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30. Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea City (-6)
For the first time in a long time, Sigurdsson put in a genuinely sub-par performance for Swansea. His set-piece deliveries were poor, and he couldn't impact the game in open play.
29. Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur (Stay)
Stays put after missing the first of several games with an injury.
28. Joe Allen, Stoke City (-3)
Allen's not able to make as big an impact when he's reduced to a defensive-midfield role. That's not to say he played badly against Chelsea—he didn't—but he wasn't unleashed to his full potential either.
27. Adam Lallana, Liverpool (Stay)
What to make of Lallana this week? The miss was horrendous, but all things considered, it was still a good showing from the Englishman. Had he netted, we'd be talking about an excellent showing.
26. Jonny Evans, West Bromwich Albion (+4)
Shoots back up the rankings again after putting in a fantastic showing against Arsenal. The performance was so assured that it prompted the Mirror's John Cross to ponder whether the Northern Irishman would have in fact been a better signing than Shkodran Mustafi last summer.
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25. David Luiz, Chelsea (+3)
Stoke always represent a physical test, and Luiz stood up to it well. His passing radar was in full working order again, too.
24. Yaya Toure, Manchester City (-1)
Played very well for 60 minutes, but he then dropped off in alarming fashion physically and had to be replaced. There's a chance he's played too much football over the last three months.
23. Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City (+3)
A much better performance from De Bruyne saw him bag an assist and hit the woodwork. Obviously he should have scored, but it was only the third-worst miss of the game.
22. Joel Matip, Liverpool (-1)
It wasn't exactly the biggest problem Liverpool had on Sunday and wasn't at fault for the goal, but a defence struggles as a unit and Matip was eventually sucked into said toil.
21. Roberto Firmino, Liverpool (+1)
Produced yet another hardworking performance atop the Liverpool formation and laid off a perfect volleyed pass for Lallana to win the game, but the Englishman miskicked and missed.
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20. Victor Moses, Chelsea (Stay)
Kept reasonably quiet by Stoke's wing wonders, which was something of a surprise. Marcos Alonso had a lot more joy on the opposite flank.
19. Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool (-4)
The slump continues, so therefore the fall in the rankings does. Had one chance to cut in and shoot after Fernandinho inexplicably allowed him to do so, and he fired wide.
18. Virgil van Dijk, Southampton (-1)
Still injured.
17. Cesar Azpilicueta, Chelsea (+2)
We write the same thing for Azpilicueta every week because he puts in very similar performances. File under: steady, solid, and smart.
16. Jan Vertonghen, Tottenham Hotspur (+2)
It's not that often that Vertonghen is the more impressive of Tottenham's central defenders—that gong usually goes to Toby Alderweireld—but this weekend he was the performance leader.
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15. Pedro, Chelsea (-3)
Moves down three only because a couple of players below him excelled. Admittedly, Pedro didn't sparkle against Stoke and was outperformed by Willian, but he didn't play poorly.
14. Kyle Walker, Tottenham Hotspur (-1)
Produced a few powerful runs against Southampton, but he had his hands full with England colleague Ryan Bertrand on the flank.
13. Raheem Sterling, Manchester City (+1)
Gave James Milner a torrid time down the flank as the two duelled, and he should have won a penalty after being clipped by him in the box.
12. Mousa Dembele, Tottenham Hotspur (-2)
Collected an arbitrary assist for Christian Eriksen's wonder goal and played reasonably well, but he moves down a couple of spots to make room for some even more impressive performers.
11. Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham Hotspur (-2)
"There's your Toby Alderweireld mistake for the season. A collector's item, like a misprinted stamp," tweeted journalist Raj Bains after the Belgian skewed his lines and allowed James Ward-Prowse to find the net on Sunday. His near-faultless exterior has taken a rare hit.
10. Antonio Valencia, Manchester United
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Last Week: 11th
Movement: +1
Antonio Valencia's relentlessly consistent and effective season rolled on this weekend against Middlesbrough, where he pulled off a difficult tactical role and scored in a 3-1 win.
Jose Mourinho used a formation that shifted between a back three and a back four whether it was on or off the ball, leaving Valencia free as a right-winger to push forward but also culpable tracking back to help Eric Bailly in space.
As ever, he never stopped running and was rewarded in the final minute as he chased and harried Victor Valdes on the ball, forcing a panicked slip and then slotting home from a yard out.
9. Victor Wanyama, Tottenham Hotspur
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Last Week: 16th
Movement: +7
Victor Wanyama moves up an eyebrow-raising seven spots this week after putting in what could be considered a trademark performance against his old club, Southampton.
He engaged in a royal tussle with former colleague Oriol Romeu which was great to watch, and predictably the Kenyan shaded it, laying the foundations for a Tottenham win.
They were superb in the first 30 minutes on Sunday, not allowing Saints any time to gain their composure and Wanyama was the key reason why.
Playing on a team with Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, Mousa Dembele and a rock-solid defence can be tough if you're looking for headlines, and it's arguable Wanyama doesn't receive his fair share.
8. Sadio Mane, Liverpool
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Last Week: 8th
Movement: None
Sadio Mane's performance against Manchester City felt hard to quantify. For long periods he looked by far the most dangerous player on the pitch in red, but he didn't actually make any sort of breakthrough.
There was a moment late in the game when he sensed the chance to push the ball into space and take on his man—and had he succeeded, he'd have been one-on-one with the 'keeper—but John Stones wrapped a leg around and stymied the danger. That summed it up: it was a bit "nearly game" for the winger.
7. Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
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Last Week: 7th
Movement: None
Arsene Wenger told reporters after Arsenal's defeat to West Bromwich Albion that Alexis Sanchez's ankle is in a "terrible state," per BBC Sport. He was withdrawn late in the second half after being kicked from pillar to post by a rolling cast of players.
Despite that, though, he was able to net his 18th Premier League goal of the season after finding space at the far post, nipping inside, dodging a tackle and firing home.
It was a brilliant piece of skill eerily reminiscent of his goal against Sunderland earlier in the season, where he displayed extreme patience from just a few yards out.
6. Danny Rose, Tottenham Hotspur
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Last Week: 5th
Movement: -1
According to Sky Sports, Danny Rose will return from injury in April. While his absence was a concern during February, replacement Ben Davies has found his groove and has been suprisingly strong during March.
5. David Silva, Manchester City
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Last Week: 6th
Movement: +1
David Silva enters the top five this week after pulling the strings once again against Liverpool. His performance on Sunday was a joy to watch.
Although slightly overshadowed by Kevin De Bruyne on the day, Silva still brought his patented pot of tricks, flicks and killer passing.
He used the bylines and corners of the box superbly, with Pep Guardiola's plan for the game clearly based around cut-backs; Silva's the perfect man to carry that out.
4. Ander Herrera, Manchester United
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Last Week: 4th
Movement: None
Ander Herrera sat out of Manchester United's latest victory due to the red card he picked up during the FA Cup tie against Chelsea on March 13.
3. Eden Hazard, Chelsea
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Last Week: 3rd
Movement: None
Eden Hazard missed Chelsea's win at Stoke on Saturday with an injury and, according to Sky Sports, he could miss the game against Crystal Palace on the other side of the international break, too.
2. Diego Costa, Chelsea
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Last Week: 1st
Movement: -1
Diego Costa vacates the throne following an underwhelming performance against Stoke. The Potters managed to wind him up and reduce his effectiveness, and it must be said Bruno Martins Indi did a good job in matching him physically.
The Spain international struck the post late on and had that gone in, it probably would have kept him atop the summit for another week.
In truth, though, this drop has been on the cards for a while, as a team-mate of his has impressed even more over the last six weeks.
1. N'Golo Kante, Chelsea
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Last Week: 2nd
Movement: +1
N'Golo Kante is our new No. 1. He's risen steadily over the last few months, turning in consistently excellent showings to counteract Antonio Conte's misuse of him early in the season, and has been biding his time patiently in second place for weeks now.
The debate raging on social media right now is who is Chelsea's most important player, and the choices have been narrowed to three: Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Kante. This weekend at the Bet365 Stadium, Kante won the vote of many with another excellent showing that contributed heavily to a win in which Costa didn't play well and Hazard missed due to injury.
What stood out to many was that his passing took on new levels; so often reduced to the description of "destroyer," Kante showed his forward-passing ability and creativity—something on show more often at Leicester City, but rarely in this current shade of blue.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
