EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 20

Premier League football at Christmas. It's relentless, isn't it?

At the time of year when many leagues, notably Germany and Spain, take at least a week off to recuperate and participate in festivities, England opts to up the ante, cramming as many fixtures in as humanly possible, dizzying and dazzling spectators in the process.

We have updated our lists to take into account the latest two gameweeks 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.

Goalkeepers

Manchester United were uncharacteristically sloppy in defence over the last two gameweeks, and that brought about the concession of four goals in two matches for David De Gea—a rather uncommon sight.

Ederson Moraes, on the other hand, kept two clean sheets, both with ease, and it means the Brazilian is now very close to stealing top spot off his cross-city rival. Watch this space.

Biggest rise: Jordan Pickford (+2)

Biggest fall: Lukasz Fabianski (-3)

Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs

Victor Moses takes advantage of injuries and iffy form elsewhere to surge up to third. He's really started to find his groove of late, making Chelsea's right side a serious threat.

Outside of the Nigerian's rise, little else has happened in this category, largely because none of Antonio Valencia, Kiko Femenia, Matthew Lowton or Cedric Soares took to the pitch over the Christmas period.

Biggest rise: Victor Moses (+2)

Biggest fall: Multiple (-1)

Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs

Like his colleague Moses, Marcos Alonso is enjoying a much-improved patch of form. He has to play every game as there's no back-up for him, so down periods are to be expected, but when he's hot, he's winning games for Chelsea thanks to set-piece wizardry and solid defensive work.

Falling in the Spaniard's wake is Ashley Young, who while still impressive in some areas (notably crossing), has struggled defensively along with every other Manchester United player in the last week.

Biggest rise: Marcos Alonso (+3)

Biggest fall: Ashley Young (-2)

Centre-Backs

The top four here is static, but below is where the fun begins. Only Christian Kabasele (19th) held his position, with everyone else rising, falling, entering or departing during this manic period.

Nicolas Otamendi helped Manchester City to two clean sheets and performed a superb, acrobatic goal-line clearance against Newcastle United to bail his colleagues out. Jan Vertonghen went one better, denying Shane Long a tap-in with an eye-popping goal-line clearance of his own.

Biggest rise: Davinson Sanchez (+7)

Biggest fall: Phil Jones & Chris Smalling (-7)

Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders

Fernandinho moving down two feels bonkers, given he's playing just as well as ever, but Philippe Coutinho's incredible form of late demands he moves into second.

Steven Defour and Abdoulaye Doucoure swap spots in sixth and eighth, with the former's free-kick at Old Trafford likely to live long in the memory of Burnley fans.

Eric Dier moved back into midfield following Davinson Sanchez's return to fitness and immediately upped his game, tidying things up nicely as Tottenham destroyed two opponents in succession, Burnley and Southampton.

Biggest rise: Multiple (+2)

Biggest fall: Multiple (-2)

Attacking Midfielders/Wingers

Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah, Raheem Sterling and Eden Hazard are machines. They always play either well or superbly, scoring, assisting and creating with regularity.

Jumping up into the top 10 is Jesse Lingard, who has become a key feature of this Manchester United attack and bailed them out of embarrassment with a two-goal cameo against Burnley.

Mesut Ozil and Juan Mata both enjoyed at least one excellent game over the festive period, while Dele Alli's mini-renaissance has been a welcome sight for Tottenham fans who had likely begun to worry over his lack of form.

Biggest rise: Jesse Lingard (+6)

Biggest fall: Richarlison (-4)

Strikers

Consecutive hat-tricks ensure Harry Kane not only keeps his spot at the top but extends his lead over all others by a significant margin. Eighteen goals already. Incredible.

Roberto Firmino also enjoyed himself last week, turning in big performances against both Arsenal and Swansea City. Things are relatively tight among the six strikers below Kane, so two excellent showings on the spin can result in a huge climb like his.

Laurent Depoitre has been a revelation for Huddersfield Town this season, and if he continues to plunder goals at a semi-regular rate he will be seen as one of the signings of the season come May.

Biggest rise: Roberto Firmino (+6)

Biggest fall: Gabriel Jesus (-3)

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All statistics via WhoScored.com