EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 26
Premier League gameweeks on a short turnaround generally lend themselves to chaos. Heavy squad rotations and varying performance levels can produce shocks of the highest order, and we saw those in the form of Watford 4-1 Chelsea and Burnley 1-1 Manchester City.
We have updated our lists to take into account the latest gameweek 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
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Gameweek 26 is a momentous one with regard to the goalkeepers, as Ederson finally overtakes David De Gea and steals his spot at the summit.
It's a move that's been coming for some time, and this week's performance from the Brazilian—in which he made two outstanding saves and impressed under pressure on the ball—sealed it.
Elsewhere, Nick Pope and Lukasz Fabianski played well and therefore move up; Thibaut Courtois did not, and therefore moves down.
Biggest rise: Nick Pope (+2)
Biggest fall: Kasper Schmeichel (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Ederson (+1) | Manchester City |
| 2 | David De Gea (-1) | Manchester United |
| 3 | Nick Pope (+2) | Burnley |
| 4 | Thibaut Courtois (-1) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Lukasz Fabianski (+1) | Swansea City |
| 6 | Kasper Schmeichel (-2) | Leicester City |
| 7 | Asmir Begovic (Stay) | Bournemouth |
| 8 | Jordan Pickford (Stay) | Everton |
| 9 | Hugo Lloris (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 10 | Petr Cech (Stay) | Arsenal |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
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Victor Moses may have been immune from Chelsea's debacle against AFC Bournemouth in midweek, but he was very much a part of the collapse against Watford. He drops below Antonio Valencia again.
The storylines in this right-back section are found toward the bottom: Matthew Lowton returned to the pitch for Burnley and immediately contributed, swinging in a beauty of a cross for Burnley's equaliser against Manchester City; while Timothy Fosu-Mensah has quietly put together a string of good showings from the flank and enters in 10th.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+1)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Kyle Walker (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Antonio Valencia (+1) | Manchester United |
| 3 | Victor Moses (-1) | Chelsea |
| 4 | Joe Gomez (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Kieran Trippier (+1) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 6 | Kiko Femenia (-1) | Watford |
| 7 | Hector Bellerin (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 8 | Matthew Lowton (+1) | Burnley |
| 9 | Cedric Soares (-1) | Southampton |
| 10 | Timothy Fosu-Mensah (New!) | Crystal Palace |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
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Ben Davies jumps to the top of the left-back rankings—though that’s as much to do with his own performances as the fact the likes of Fabian Delph and Ashley Young were absent this week.
The majority of this section stands still, though we do have two new entries in the lower reaches, with Christian Fuchs and Charlie Daniels replacing Ben Chilwell and Arthur Masuaku.
Biggest rise: Ben Davies (+1)
Biggest fall: Fabian Delph (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Ben Davies (+1) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2 | Fabian Delph (-1) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Marcos Alonso (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 4 | Ashley Young (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 5 | Ryan Bertrand (Stay) | Southampton |
| 6 | Andrew Robertson (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 7 | Sead Kolasinac (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 8 | Stephen Ward (Stay) | Burnley |
| 9 | Charlie Daniels (New!) | AFC Bournemouth |
| 10 | Christian Fuchs (New!) | Leicester City |
Centre-Backs
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The recent Chelsea defensive collapse reflects badly on many but well on one person: Andreas Christensen. He’s been absent for all seven of the goals the Blues have conceded over the last two games, protecting his stock and creating a feeling that he’s the lynchpin of this defence.
Jan Vertonghen may have been done at the death by Mohamed Salah on Sunday, but for the most part, he was able to funnel the Egyptian into non-threatening areas. With no strong competition from those below him, he stays top.
Biggest rise: Nacho Monreal (+4)
Biggest fall: Davinson Sanchez (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Jan Vertonghen (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2 | Andreas Christensen (+1) | Chelsea |
| 3 | Cesar Azpilicueta (-1) | Chelsea |
| 4 | Nicolas Otamendi (+1) | Manchester City |
| 5 | John Stones (-1) | Manchester City |
| 6 | Ben Mee (Stay) | Burnley |
| 7 | James Tarkowski (Stay) | Burnley |
| 8 | Nacho Monreal (+4) | Arsenal |
| 9 | Phil Jones (-1) | Manchester United |
| 10 | Jamaal Lascelles (Stay) | Newcastle United |
| 11 | Antonio Rudiger (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 12 | Davinson Sanchez (-3) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 13 | Harry Maguire (Stay) | Leicester City |
| 14 | Chris Smalling (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 15 | Christopher Schindler (Stay) | Huddersfield Town |
| 16 | James Tomkins (+2) | Crystal Palace |
| 17 | Lewis Dunk (Stay) | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 18 | Alfie Mawson (New!) | Swansea City |
| 19 | Shkodran Mustafi (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 20 | Wesley Hoedt (New!) | Southampton |
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
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Fernandinho and N’Golo Kante are in their own little personal battle for second place, and this week sees them swap yet again, with the former tucking in just behind colleague David Silva.
Abdoulaye Doucoure’s swashbuckling showing on Monday drew the attention of social media, the Frenchman widely praised for his box-to-box performance. He does this almost every week, and his consistency is rewarded with a spot in the top five.
Mario Lemina, Mousa Dembele, Aaron Ramsey were all excellent and leap upward, while we welcome fresh faces in Lewis Cook and James McArthur, too.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+6)
Biggest fall: Cesc Fabregas (-6)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | David Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Fernandinho (+1) | Manchester City |
| 3 | N'Golo Kante (-1) | Chelsea |
| 4 | Paul Pogba (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 5 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (+1) | Watford |
| 6 | Nemanja Matic (-1) | Manchester United |
| 7 | Aaron Ramsey (+6) | Arsenal |
| 8 | Jack Cork (Stay) | Burnley |
| 9 | Mario Lemina (+6) | Southampton |
| 10 | Mousa Dembele (+6) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 11 | Emre Can (-2) | Liverpool |
| 12 | Wilfred Ndidi (+2) | Leicester City |
| 13 | Lewis Cook (New!) | AFC Bournemouth |
| 14 | Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (-3) | Liverpool |
| 15 | Cesc Fabregas (-6) | Chelsea |
| 16 | Eric Dier (-4) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 17 | Georginio Wijnaldum (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 18 | James McArthur (New!) | Crystal Palace |
| 19 | Vicente Iborra (-1) | Leicester City |
| 20 | Mikel Merino (-1) | Newcastle United |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
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No changes in the top six, with Raheem Sterling’s horror miss against Burnley hardly a season-derailing moment, and Eden Hazard’s goal against Watford not enough to catapult him upward.
There is a lot of movement from seventh down, though, with Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Juan Mata, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Richarlison all enjoying the fruits of their labour in the form of a rise.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+4)
Biggest fall: Anthony Martial (-4)
| 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 | Christian Eriksen (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 7 | Mesut Ozil (+1) | Arsenal |
| 8 | Riyad Mahrez (-1) | Leicester City |
| 9 | Alexis Sanchez (+4) | Manchester United |
| 10 | Jesse Lingard (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 11 | Juan Mata (+3) | Manchester United |
| 12 | Sadio Mane (-3) | Liverpool |
| 13 | Dele Alli (+4) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 14 | JB Gudmundsson (+4) | Burnley |
| 15 | Heung-Min Son (-2) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 16 | Anthony Martial (-4) | Manchester United |
| 17 | Marc Albrighton (-1) | Leicester City |
| 18 | Marcus Rashford (-2) | Manchester United |
| 19 | Richarlison (+1) | Watford |
| 20 | Xherdan Shaqiri (New!) | Stoke City |
Strikers
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Harry Kane’s late penalty conversion saved him from a genuinely poor gameweek—he wasn’t much involved in Tottenham’s build-up play and missed his first attempt from the spot—but in the context of these rankings, it really doesn’t mean much. He’s ahead of all other strikers by a distance.
Roberto Firmino and Sergio Aguero were both oddly quiet, and that’s drawn goalscorer Romelu Lukaku and Jamie Vardy a little closer to them in terms of seasonal stock, while another strong performance from Wilfried Zaha lifts him above Alvaro Morata and Gabriel Jesus.
Biggest rise: Wilfried Zaha (+2)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Harry Kane (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 2 | Roberto Firmino (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 3 | Sergio Aguero (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Romelu Lukaku (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 5 | Jamie Vardy (Stay) | Leicester City |
| 6 | Wilfried Zaha (+2) | Crystal Palace |
| 7 | Alvaro Morata (-1) | Chelsea |
| 8 | Gabriel Jesus (-1) | Manchester City |
| 9 | Alexandre Lacazette (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 10 | Glenn Murray (Stay) | Brighton & Hove Albion |
All statistics via WhoScored.com
