EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 17
Consecutive double gameweeks? Premier League, you spoil us!
With plenty of football to shape the landscape of these rankings, don't be surprised to see some big moves up and down across the different positions. The left-back play was particularly strong, as were the attacking-midfield and winger efforts, but the centre-backs left an awful lot to be desired.
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.
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To be eligible, a player must have taken part in at least half the games his team has played.
Goalkeepers
David De Gea wasn't able to produce another Arsenal-esque performance to steal Manchester United a win in the derby, but he did excel against AFC Bournemouth midweek and was crucial to their three-point haul.
Ederson Moraes made spectacular saves in both of his games as his great season continued, but there's still a hefty gap between the top two at this stage.
Kasper Schmeichel kept no clean sheets in gameweeks 16 and 17, but his distribution against Southampton led directly to goals.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+1)
Biggest fall: Thibaut Courtois (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | David De Gea (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 2 | Ederson Moraes (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Nick Pope (Stay) | Burnley |
| 4 | Kasper Schmeichel (+1) | Leicester City |
| 5 | Thibaut Courtois (-1) | Chelsea |
| 6 | Lukasz Fabianski (Stay) | Swansea City |
| 7 | Jordan Pickford (Stay) | Everton |
| 8 | Asmir Begovic (+1) | AFC Bournemouth |
| 9 | Petr Cech (New!) | Arsenal |
| 10 | Hugo Lloris (New!) | Tottenham |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
We welcome Victor Moses back this week, as he's now begun racking up the games post-injury. He was pretty solid against Huddersfield Town, is largely immune from the West Ham United debacle given he didn't start and was fantastic the week before against Newcastle United.
Cedric Soares had a nightmare against Leicester City midweek, so he falls, while his opposite number for the evening, Danny Simpson, rises one.
Biggest rise: Danny Simpson (+1)
Biggest fall: Cedric Soares (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Kyle Walker (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Antonio Valencia (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 3 | Joe Gomez (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 4 | Kiko Femenia (Stay) | Watford |
| 5 | Matthew Lowton (Stay) | Burnley |
| 6 | Victor Moses (New!) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Kieran Trippier (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 8 | Cedric Soares (-2) | Southampton |
| 9 | Danny Simpson (+1) | Leicester City |
| 10 | Hector Bellerin (-1) | Arsenal |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
Alberto Moreno picked a bad week to get injured, as a slew of strong left-back performances from around the league have resulted in him dropping three spots.
Most notable of these was Fabian Delph's, who was held at fault for the goal conceded in the Manchester derby by some, but really that was Nicolas Otamendi's faux-pas, and there's little he could do to adjust in such a short time.
Ryan Bertrand got through an immense amount of running against Arsenal and assisted against Leicester City (sort of) so holds rank, while Marcos Alonso, Stephen Ward and Christian Fuchs all impressed, too.
Biggest rise: Fabian Delph (+2)
Biggest fall: Alberto Moreno (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Fabian Delph (+2) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Ashley Young (-1) | Manchester United |
| 3 | Sead Kolasinac (-1) | Arsenal |
| 4 | Ryan Bertrand (Stay) | Southampton |
| 5 | Ben Davies (-2) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 6 | Stephen Ward (+1) | Burnley |
| 7 | Marcos Alonso (+1) | Chelsea |
| 8 | Alberto Moreno (-3) | Liverpool |
| 9 | Christian Fuchs (+1) | Leicester City |
| 10 | Charlie Daniels (-1) | AFC Bournemouth |
Centre-Backs
This week we lose Eric Bailly due to a lack of games, so a spot in the top five has opened up. Andreas Christensen swoops in graciously and nabs it; he wasn't fantastic against West Ham, but he did well against Huddersfield and benefits from a number of bad showings from others.
Nacho Monreal was complicit in an incredibly error-prone Arsenal defence for two straight games, while Christian Kabasele made some rash moves and Christopher Schindler struggled. This results in the likes of Harry Maguire soaring and Chris Smalling entering at a high point.
The weekly task of how to gauge Otamendi's performance—complete with errors and goals once again—was typically difficult.
Biggest rise: Harry Maguire (+6)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Cesar Azpilicueta (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 2 | John Stones (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | James Tarkowski (Stay) | Burnley |
| 4 | Andreas Christensen (+2) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Ben Mee (Stay) | Burnley |
| 6 | Phil Jones (+1) | Manchester United |
| 7 | Nicolas Otamendi (+4) | Manchester City |
| 8 | Jan Vertonghen (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 9 | Jamaal Lascelles (+1) | Newcastle United |
| 10 | Antonio Rudiger (+2) | Chelsea |
| 11 | Nacho Monreal (-3) | Arsenal |
| 12 | Harry Maguire (+6) | Leicester City |
| 13 | Christian Kabasele (Stay) | Watford |
| 14 | Chris Smalling (New!) | Manchester United |
| 15 | Davinson Sanchez (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 16 | Toby Alderweireld (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 17 | Kurt Zouma (+2) | Stoke City |
| 18 | Christopher Schindler (-3) | Huddersfield Town |
| 19 | Lewis Dunk (-3) | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 20 | Wes Morgan (New!) | Leicester City |
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
This season we've been classing Kevin De Bruyne as slightly more attacking than David Silva, thus they're in different sections, and to be frank, that's saved us a mighty headache of ranking one above the other each week.
But these past five days, it's felt like Silva has overtaken De Bruyne in the overall Player of the Season stakes. He's getting into the box more than ever, scoring more frequently than ever and is the clear heartbeat of an incredible team right now.
Further down, Paul Pogba exits having not played enough games, meaning Philippe Coutinho (average) and Aaron Ramsey (injured) are fortunate to shift upwards, while Harry Winks re-enters, Wilfred Ndidi joins us, and Mikel Merino's return to the pitch paves his path north.
Biggest rise: Mikel Merino (+6)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | David Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | N'Golo Kante (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 3 | Fernandinho (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Nemanja Matic (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 5 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (Stay) | Watford |
| 6 | Philippe Coutinho (+1) | Liverpool |
| 7 | Aaron Ramsey (+1) | Arsenal |
| 8 | Jack Cork (+2) | Burnley |
| 9 | Steven Defour (+2) | Burnley |
| 10 | Cesc Fabregas (-1) | Chelsea |
| 11 | Vicente Iborra (Stay) | Leicester City |
| 12 | Mikel Merino (+6) | Newcastle United |
| 13 | Harry Winks (New!) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 14 | Eric Dier (+3) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 15 | Mario Lemina (-2) | Southampton |
| 16 | Wilfred Ndidi (New!) | Leicester City |
| 17 | Tom Cleverley (-3) | Watford |
| 18 | Tiemoue Bakayoko (+1) | Chelsea |
| 19 | Georginio Wijnaldum (-3) | Liverpool |
| 20 | Aaron Mooy (Stay) | Huddersfield Town |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
Plenty of talking points here.
- No change in the top five, but into sixth is the mercurial Riyad Mahrez, who is in stunning form.
- Christian Eriksen is having a mini-renaissance; Sadio Mane is trending the opposite way.
- Heung-Min Son had an extremely effective week and is finding his feet. He jumps in at 12th.
- JB Gudmundsson is quietly excelling. If he continues in this vein, Burnley won't miss Robbie Brady so much.
- Demarai Gray is on fire.
- Alexis Sanchez may have delivered an assist against Southampton, but that aside, he's done little other than give the ball away for the last two weeks. It's frustrating to watch.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+5)
Biggest fall: Alexis Sanchez (-9)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Kevin De Bruyne (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Mohamed Salah (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 3 | Raheem Sterling (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Eden Hazard (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Leroy Sane (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 6 | Riyad Mahrez (+5) | Leicester City |
| 7 | Richarlison (Stay) | Watford |
| 8 | Christian Eriksen (+2) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 9 | Marcus Rashford (+3) | Manchester United |
| 10 | Sadio Mane (-4) | Liverpool |
| 11 | Anthony Martial (-2) | Manchester United |
| 12 | Heung-Min Son (New!) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 13 | JB Gudmundsson (+5) | Burnley |
| 14 | Demarai Gray (New!) | Leicester City |
| 15 | Marc Albrighton (+4) | Leicester City |
| 16 | Mesut Ozil (-2) | Arsenal |
| 17 | Alexis Sanchez (-9) | Arsenal |
| 18 | Pascal Gross (-2) | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 19 | Anthony Knockaert (-5) | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 20 | Xherdan Shaqiri (-4) | Stoke City |
Strikers
As usual, there's a new No. 1, as Harry Kane reclaims the throne following his brace at the weekend. He played pretty well on Wednesday, too, striking the post and causing issues.
It was incredibly hard to order second to fifth—there's a valid argument for them to be in any position, in truth. Romelu Lukaku netted against AFC Bournemouth but moves down, and that's mostly to do with his anonymous performance in the Manchester derby.
Three new entries prop up the top seven. Wayne Rooney is one goal away from double figures this season!
Biggest rise: Sergio Aguero (+3)
Biggest fall: Alvaro Morata (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Harry Kane (+1) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2 | Sergio Aguero (+3) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Gabriel Jesus (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Alvaro Morata (-3) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Romelu Lukaku (-1) | Manchester United |
| 6 | Jamie Vardy (+1) | Leicester City |
| 7 | Alexandre Lacazette (-1) | Arsenal |
| 8 | Shinji Okazaki (New!) | Leicester City |
| 9 | Wilfried Zaha (New!) | Crystal Palace |
| 10 | Wayne Rooney (New!) | Everton |
All statistics via WhoScored.com
