Premier League Player Rankings: Costa Drops from Top 5, Kante Displaced at No. 1
With two slates of Premier League games to take into account in this week's player rankings, things got busy. Barely anyone stood still, some rose and fell by seven or more spots, one new entry broke in...and a new No. 1 was crowned.
As we move toward the end of the season, it's clear some of the the league's biggest names have got their acts together in time for a final push.
The likes of Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Zlatan Ibrahimovic continue to rise toward their rightful places, but Romelu Lukaku—the division's top scorer—is still struggling for consistency.
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 Alli and 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. Romelu Lukaku, Everton (Stay)
Still stuck down in a low position despite leading the Premier League goalscoring charts? Lukaku's last three games are a perfect example of why he's been unable to climb the rankings.
Against Liverpool, he was easily removed from the game and rendered completely anonymous. Against Manchester United, he made a series of bad decisions in key counter-attacking situations, losing out to Eric Bailly every time he was sprung free. And then against Leicester City, a team with a significantly weaker defence, he netted twice.
He's doing nothing to escape the "flat-track bully" tag quickly becoming associated with him.
39. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City (New!)
Aguero endured a tough first half to his season and was once displaced by Gabriel Jesus, but he has improved massively of late. With a goal in each of his last four games, he's impressed enough to climb into the top 40 for the first time this campaign.
38. Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea City (-2)
Sigurdsson's form continues to dip. He looks tired, and he's no longer making the difference for Swansea in the final third, shooting and creating far less than usual. Paul Clement will be rightly concerned.
37. Georginio Wijnaldum, Liverpool (+1)
Unperturbed by formation changes and new midfield partners, Wijnaldum soldiered on in reliable fashion. He was not as involved as usual, perhaps, but by no means poor.
36. Fernandinho, Manchester City (-4)
Fernandinho didn't play well against Chelsea, and it's genuinely rare that the Brazilian has a bad game. He didn't see any action against Hull City.
35-31
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35. Jonny Evans, West Bromwich Albion (-11)
Evans is this week's biggest mover by quite a distance, and it's not for positive reasons. West Brom appear to have taken their foot off the gas a little, which is understandable, since there's nothing left for them to play for.
34. Idrissa Gueye, Everton (+3)
After a poor Merseyside derby, Gueye was back to his snappy, dominant best against Manchester United and Leicester City. Against the latter, he managed six tackles, more than anyone else on the pitch.
33. Oriol Romeu, Southampton (-2)
Romeu was suspended for Southampton's trip to West Brom, but they managed just fine without him, with Jordy Clasie stepping up in his place and even scoring a screamer.
32. Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace (+3)
Zaha's man-of-the-match performance against Arsenal led to a famous 3-0 win for Palace. He bagged two assists, though he slipped over in delivering them both.
31. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Manchester United (+7)
Ibrahimovic bailed United out against Everton, grabbing them a point, and he had another one ruled out in a tight offside decision. He then put Sunderland to the sword, scoring a scorcher and assisting Marcus Rashford's first goal in a long time.
30-26
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30. Yaya Toure, Manchester City (-5)
Toure didn't get off the bench as City struggled with Chelsea midweek, then he put in a 6/10 performance in the win over Hull City. That body of work isn't enough to see him tread water given many of those around him played superbly.
29. Adam Lallana, Liverpool (-2)
Lallana is still injured, and given the niggly nature of his issue, it's likely Jurgen Klopp will err on the side of caution.
28. Marcos Alonso, Chelsea (Stay)
A beauty of a free-kick helped Chelsea secure early dominance over AFC Bournemouth and keep Alonso in a healthy position in these rankings.
27. Dele Alli, Tottenham Hotspur (+7)
Another huge leap up the rankings as Alli makes a beeline for the top 20. His form in 2017 has been quite special—much like his goal against Watford.
26. Christian Eriksen, Tottenham Hotspur (+7)
Keeping pace with Alli as both creative schemers move onward and upward, Eriksen is consistently ripping defences apart at the moment.
25-21
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25. David Luiz, Chelsea (+1)
Luiz relished the renewal of grudges against Sergio Aguero in midweek, spurred on by Stamford Bridge's cheers every time he got the better of him. He struggled more against AFC Bournemouth, though. Luiz is a funny one, isn't he?
24. Joel Matip, Liverpool (-3)
Not Matip's finest week, but it wasn't exactly his fault. Jurgen Klopp switched to a three-man defence that led to structural chaos and limited Matip's passing.
23. Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City (-1)
De Bruyne has been moved about the formation quite a lot lately, and it hasn't helped him spark into form. He didn't get off the bench in the win over Hull City.
22. Virgil van Dijk, Southampton (-3)
The story remains the same for Van Dijk: He's injured and will not be rushed back given Southampton are safe and sound.
21. Roberto Firmino, Liverpool (+2)
What. A. Goal.
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20. Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur (+5)
For the first time this season, Kane enters the top 20 of our player rankings. Having left yet another poor start to the campaign firmly behind him, he returned from injury with a bang against Watford, looking sharp as ever.
19. Pedro, Chelsea (-2)
Pedro didn't play badly in either of Chelsea's victories last week, but he loses ground to a couple of better-performing team-mates.
18. Victor Moses, Chelsea (+2)
Moses returned to the Chelsea side and suddenly the team looked balanced, physical, and far more threatening. His low crossing and cutbacks are a weapon the Blues badly miss when he's out.
17. Cesar Azpilicueta, Chelsea (+2)
Azpilicueta has flown under plenty of radars this season, but surely soon people will begin to recognise the many jobs he's doing for this Chelsea side.
16. Kyle Walker, Tottenham Hotspur (-2)
Walker's been rotated in and out of the team of late, making way for Kieran Trippier more often than usual. It's likely Mauricio Pochettino has sensed the player is in need of a rest and is willing to let his back-up play against weaker sides.
15-11
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15. Raheem Sterling, Manchester City (+1)
Benched against Chelsea, for fitness reasons, Sterling made little impact in the 11 minutes he managed at the end of the game. Against Hull City, he was back to his finest, dipping and diving and running at Ahmed Elmohamady.
14. Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool (+1)
Coutinho's second half of the season has been nowhere near as good as the first, and he's been facing questions because of this, but last week he netted two in two to help his side to a handy four points. Much improved.
13. Mousa Dembele, Tottenham Hotspur (-1)
Dembele didn't do anything particularly wrong in his two games, but he moves down as an even more impressive colleague leapfrogs him. Dembele ran his midfield with ease as usual against Watford, but against Swansea, he didn't impact too heavily.
12. Jan Vertonghen, Tottenham Hotspur (+1)
Watford and Swansea City stood little chance of getting the better of the imperious Vertonghen.
11. Antonio Valencia, Manchester United (-1)
Valencia missed both of United's games last week due to injury, but the Ecuadorian is expected to be fit for the UEFA Europa League tie with Anderlecht.
10. Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham Hotspur
7 of 16
Last Week: 11th
Movement: +1
Reports emerged in March that Toby Alderweireld wants wage parity with the likes of Hugo Lloris and Harry Kane. The Sun's Geoff Sweet suggested the £100,000-per-week mark is what the Belgian wants.
If Tottenham have any sense, they'll award him what he wants. These past two games only served to underline how quietly important the Belgian is, cleaning up at the back and starting attacks with a fluidity rarely seen in centre-backs.
9. Danny Rose, Tottenham Hotspur
8 of 16
Last Week: 9th
Movement: Stay
Danny Rose's injury is dragging on a bit, isn't it? The Daily Mail's Adam Crafton reported at the end of March that he might not make the FA Cup semi-final as things haven't gone as planned. That's on April 22!
8. Victor Wanyama, Tottenham Hotspur
9 of 16
Last Week: 8th
Movement: Stay
Victor Wanyama was all set to return to the Tottenham squad against Watford and warmed up with every intention of being involved, but he had to pull out after his injury flared up. Hopefully it's a minor one.
7. Diego Costa, Chelsea
10 of 16
Last Week: 3rd
Movement: -4
It just isn't happening for Diego Costa at the moment. Since mid-January, his form has got progressively worse, and for the first time in 2017, he slips outside the top five in our rankings.
Chelsea won both of their games last week, but they were essentially in spite of his performances. In particular, against AFC Bournemouth on Saturday, nothing came off for him.
His shanked shot for Adam Smith's own goal may technically be an assist in some quarters, but it was so badly hit, it was more luck than anything else.
6. Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
11 of 16
Last Week: 6th
Movement: Stay
Alexis Sanchez is lucky to keep his spot in sixth place. He didn't play well against Crystal Palace and wasn't particularly impactful against West Ham United in midweek, but he stays put.
Why? Because all three of the players directly below in the rankings last week were injured, missing both games. Had any of them made it to the pitch and played more than 20 minutes, they likely would have done enough to leapfrog the Chilean into sixth and push him down.
Alexis tried his hardest to turn the tide in Arsenal's favour against Palace on Monday, but he ended up spending quite a lot of time in the left-back area trying to recover possession...again.
5. Sadio Mane, Liverpool
12 of 16
Last Week: 6th
Movement: +1
Without playing a game this week, Sadio Mane moves up into the top five.
If you think that seems strange, just know that it's solely because his body of work this season stands more impressive than Diego Costa's, whose iffy performances this past week forced him down the rankings.
4. Ander Herrera, Manchester United
13 of 16
Last Week: 5th
Movement: +1
Welcome back, Ander Herrera! His return to the Manchester United XI was met with a sigh of relief from fans, and over the course of both games last week, he was arguably their best player.
Forced to play a multitude of positions midweek against Everton—including right-back—he remained a positive presence on the pitch, surging forward with the ball and creating chances.
Relocated back to the centre against Sunderland, he grabbed an arbitrary assist for Ibrahimovic's goal and contrived to get Sebastian Larsson sent off, showcasing the darker side to his game. United fans love it; everyone else is infuriated by it.
3. David Silva, Manchester City
14 of 16
Last Week: 4th
Movement: +1
David Silva brought up 300 Manchester City games against Hull City—an act which opened the floodgates of praise from his team-mates.
"I must say he is my favourite player at City, for sure," Pablo Zabaleta told Man City's official website. "David ... is known to everyone as The Wizard," added Vincent Kompany.
He was in a particularly destructive mood against Hull City, ripping their defensive lines apart, and he still managed to deliver six key passes in the loss to Chelsea despite being fouled on a constant basis.
2. N'Golo Kante, Chelsea
15 of 16
Last Week: 1st
Movement: -1
N'Golo Kante loses his spot atop the rankings after only managing to put in one excellent performance out of two last week. If that seems harsh, it only speaks of the tight margins in play at the top.
He was excellent against AFC Bournemouth, and as FourFourTwo's Seb Stafford-Bloor tweeted, played a pass that he is often accused of not being able to play. The ball in question was a long, raking switch pass that set Eden Hazard on course for a goal.
But against Man City, he did look a little leggy; a bit slow to react to things. Chelsea won, but it wasn't a classic Kante game.
1. Eden Hazard, Chelsea
16 of 16
Last Week: 2nd
Movement: +1
Eden Hazard reaches the summit of our rankings for the first time this season. Some may argue it's an overdue achievement, but picking between he, N'Golo Kante and Diego Costa has been a tough task all campaign long.
That said, this week the route to the top opened up easily for Hazard, who sparkled against Manchester City and AFC Bournemouth. There may have been an element of fortune attached to both his goals against the former, but he still made the difference, and against the latter he ran riot.
During the Belgian's spectacular 2014-15 season, in which he led the Blues to the title and won PFA Player of the Year, he managed 14 goals and nine assists in the Premier League. He's already on 14 goals and five assists in 2016-17; five more in any order means he'll beat his own personal best.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
