EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 9
Just when you thought the Premier League couldn't top itself in the drama stakes, this weekend came along. West Ham were butchered on their own patch by promoted Brighton, Everton lost heavily, leading to Ronald Koeman's sacking on Monday, and Jose Mourinho turned on his players as they lost to Huddersfield Town.
We have updated our lists to take into account the latest weekend of action. They are divided into seven position groups and based solely on performances in the Premier League in 2017-18.
To be eligible, a player must have taken part in at least half the games his team has played.
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Goalkeepers
David De Gea's lead at the top is so large, the fact he didn't manage a clean sheet against Huddersfield Town doesn't really matter. He did as much as he could anyway, making a standout point-blank save in the lead-up to Aaron Mooy's goal.
Ederson Moraes rises to second after keeping yet another clean sheet of his own, and once again impressing with his proactiveness and bravery sweeping up.
Jonas Lossl shrugged off his run of iffy form to excel against Manchester United, and even grabbed an assist for Laurent Depoitre's goal.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+1)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | David De Gea (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 2 | Ederson Moraes (+1) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Hugo Lloris (+1) | Tottenham |
| 4 | Nick Pope (-2) | Burnley |
| 5 | Thibaut Courtois (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 6 | Rob Elliot (Stay) | Newcastle United |
| 7 | Jordan Pickford (Stay) | Everton |
| 8 | Lukasz Fabianski (+1) | Swansea City |
| 9 | Jonas Lossl (+1) | Huddersfield Town |
| 10 | Asmir Begovic (-2) | AFC Bournemouth |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
Like De Gea, Kyle Walker now has quite the lead at the top of his positional ranking. Another steady, secure performance at the weekend has led to a big gap opening up between he and Antonio Valencia.
Watford may have conceded four goals, but Kiko Femenia played pretty well and, had Richarlison not produced one of the misses of the season, would have had an assist.
One who did grab an assist was Kieran Trippier, though he had little hand in creating the goal that actually transpired. That's the second time in the space of a month he's fed a hopeful ball toward Harry Kane and reaped the benefits of his colleague's incredible individual work.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+3)
Biggest fall: Joe Gomez (-4)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Kyle Walker (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Antonio Valencia (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 3 | Kiko Femenia (+1) | Watford |
| 4 | Kieran Trippier (+3) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 5 | Cedric Soares (+1) | Southampton |
| 6 | Matthew Lowton (-3) | Burnley |
| 7 | Tommy Smith (+3) | Huddersfield Town |
| 8 | Hector Bellerin (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 9 | Joe Gomez (-4) | Liverpool |
| 10 | Victor Moses (-1) | Chelsea |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
That Ben Davies was on the bench for Tottenham against Liverpool suggests he's feeling fit and fine again, but he might well be worried that Danny Rose was sat alongside him. It'll be interesting to see how that positional battle plays out.
The standout left-backs this week were Sead Kolasinac (very comfortable and solid vs. Everton), Ryan Bertrand (influential on the flank vs. West Brom) and Chris Lowe (just as solid as his team-mates in a historic win over Manchester United).
Biggest rise: Chris Lowe (+4)
Biggest fall: Kieran Gibbs (-3)
Centre-Backs
Last week's top two—John Stones and James Tarkowski—squared off against one another on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium, and it was the former who starred. It paves the way for him to move top of the rankings.
Stones' colleague, Nicolas Otamendi, has overcome some early-season wobbles and impressed of late; as a partnership they look solid, and Otamendi presents a serious goalscoring threat.
Christopher Schindler, Jamaal Lascelles and Lewis Dunk all impressed in their respective matches, too.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+3)
Biggest fall: Ben Mee (-7)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | John Stones (+1) | Manchester City |
| 2 | James Tarkowski (-1) | Burnley |
| 3 | Eric Bailly (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 4 | Phil Jones (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 5 | Jan Vertonghen (+2) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 6 | Jamaal Lascelles (+2) | Newcastle United |
| 7 | Nicolas Otamendi (+3) | Manchester City |
| 8 | Toby Alderweireld (+1) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 9 | Christopher Schindler (+3) | Huddersfield Town |
| 10 | Cesar Azpilicueta (-4) | Chelsea |
| 11 | Davinson Sanchez (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 12 | Ben Mee (-7) | Burnley |
| 13 | Lewis Dunk (+3) | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 14 | Maya Yoshida (Stay) | Southampton |
| 15 | Nacho Monreal (New!) | Arsenal |
| 16 | Ciaran Clark (-1) | Newcastle United |
| 17 | Zanka (+3) | Huddersfield Town |
| 18 | Harry Maguire (+1) | Leicester City |
| 19 | Federico Fernandez (-2) | Swansea City |
| 20 | Christian Kabasele (-2) | Watford |
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
We've had to make some big changes in this area, and they are as follows:
- Kevin De Bruyne has been moved to the attacking midfielder/winger section, so David Silva shifts up one to first, with Mario Lemina following him into second.
- Aaron Mooy, Mikel Merino, Aaron Ramsey and Abdoulaye Doucoure—all goalscorers this week—all leap upward.
- Paul Pogba is removed from the ranking as injuries mean he has played fewer than half of Manchester United's nine games.
- Marouane Fellaini drops out for the same reason, meaning we had to dig deep for a 20th, and Gareth Barry hasn't necessarily been playing that well of late.
Biggest rise: Aaron Mooy (+8)
Biggest fall: Grzegorz Krychowiak (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | David Silva (+1) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Mario Lemina (+1) | Southampton |
| 3 | N'Golo Kante (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 4 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (+4) | Watford |
| 5 | Nemanja Matic (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 6 | Fernandinho (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 7 | Aaron Mooy (+8) | Huddersfield Town |
| 8 | Mikel Merino (+6) | Newcastle United |
| 9 | Philippe Coutinho (+2) | Liverpool |
| 10 | Steven Defour (-1) | Burnley |
| 11 | Jack Cork (-1) | Burnley |
| 12 | Tiemoue Bakayoko (+1) | Chelsea |
| 13 | Aaron Ramsey (+6) | Arsenal |
| 14 | Grzegorz Krychowiak (-2) | West Bromwich Albion |
| 15 | Dale Stephens (+4) | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 16 | Nathaniel Chalobah (Stay) | Watford |
| 17 | Eric Dier (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 18 | Isaac Hayden (New!) | Newcastle United |
| 19 | Oriol Romeu (New!) | Southampton |
| 20 | Gareth Barry (New!) | West Bromwich Albion |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
De Bruyne shifts to this section to reflect his role on the pitch of late, and he of course nabs the No. 1 spot. He's been the best player in the Premier League through nine weeks, so although Christian Eriksen has also been superb, he has to vacate and make way.
Alexis Sanchez moves up 10 after destroying Everton, and Anthony Martial falls the same distance after putting in an awful shift against Huddersfield Town. He was hauled off at half-time before he could be sent off.
Dele Alli's excellent showing against Liverpool gives him a much-needed boost.
Biggest rise: Alexis Sanchez (+10)
Biggest fall: Anthony Martial (-10)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Kevin De Bruyne (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Christian Eriksen (-1) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 3 | Leroy Sane (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Raheem Sterling (-2) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Marcus Rashford (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 6 | Richarlison (-2) | Watford |
| 7 | Mohamed Salah (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 8 | Alexis Sanchez (+10) | Arsenal |
| 9 | Sadio Mane (-1) | Liverpool |
| 10 | Dele Alli (+6) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 11 | Matt Ritchie (+3) | Newcastle United |
| 12 | Michail Antonio (-2) | West Ham United |
| 13 | Riyad Mahrez (+7) | Leicester City |
| 14 | Henrikh Mkhitaryan (-8) | Manchester United |
| 15 | Tom Cleverley (Stay) | Watford |
| 16 | Danny Welbeck (-3) | Arsenal |
| 17 | Juan Mata (-1) | Watford |
| 18 | Pedro (New!) | Chelsea |
| 19 | Anthony Martial (-10) | Manchester United |
| 20 | Robbie Brady (Stay) | Burnley |
Strikers
We have five strikers who are scoring regularly and playing well, so the philosophy right now is to put whoever had the best weekend top. That's Harry Kane this time, who scored twice and assisted one as Liverpool fell to his sword.
The battle between Gabriel Jesus (second) and Sergio Aguero (third) for playing time atop this Manchester City team is going to be intriguing, not least because neither seem to be giving up any quarter in the fight.
Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy combined just like old times against Swansea City and ripped the Welsh side's defence apart.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+1)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Harry Kane (+1) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2 | Gabriel Jesus (-1) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Sergio Aguero (+1) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Romelu Lukaku (+1) | Manchester United |
| 5 | Alvaro Morata (-2) | Chelsea |
| 6 | Alexandre Lacazette (+1) | Arsenal |
| 7 | Jamie Vardy (-1) | Leicester City |
| 8 | Laurent Depoitre (New!) | Huddersfield Town |
| 9 | Shinji Okazaki (New!) | Leicester City |
| 10 | Chris Wood (-2) | Burnley |
All statistics via WhoScored.com
