EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 3
Gameweek 3 of the Premier League is complete and we still have four perfect teams. Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and, surprisingly, Watford are leading the pack at the top of their table, extracting great performances from a large number of their players from the off.
To help you chew over all the action and assess how every team and player got on, B/R returns with another season of the EPL 100, ranking the best players in the Premier League by position.
Only performances in the 2018-19 Premier League season affect the ranking; reputations, cup performances and European showings matter not.
To be eligible, players have to have played at least 130 of the available 270 league minutes so far. That's a generous allotment, allowing star names whose seasons have started from the bench—such as Eden Hazard—into the rankings.
In a situation where a player has played in multiple positions (example: Ricardo Pereira or Bernardo Silva), they will fall into the category they've played the most minutes in. If those values are level, they will fall into the category they most recently played in.
Goalkeepers
1 of 7
Compared to his first two Premier League gameweeks, Neil Etheridge's third outing was relatively quiet; despite Cardiff City coming under a lot of pressure, he only had to make one save of note.
Alisson Becker creeps into the top three, impressing against Brighton & Hove Albion with both hands and feet, while Ben Foster's excellent performance against Crystal Palace nabs him second. His first-half stops kept Watford in the contest.
Lukasz Fabianski has now conceded nine goals in three games, but you'd struggle to blame him for that. He is actually playing pretty well.
Biggest rise: Rui Patricio (New!)
Biggest fall: Wayne Hennessey (Out)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Neil Etheridge (Stay) | Cardiff City |
| 2 | Ben Foster (+4) | Watford |
| 3 | Alisson Becker (+1) | Liverpool |
| 4 | Alex McCarthy (-2) | Southampton |
| 5 | Ederson Moraes (+1) | Manchester City |
| 6 | Rui Patricio (New!) | Wolves |
| 7 | Mat Ryan (New!) | Brighton |
| 8 | Hugo Lloris (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 9 | Martin Dubravka (New!) | Newcastle |
| 10 | Lukasz Fabianski (-1) | West Ham |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
2 of 7
It's a joy to watch Trent Alexander-Arnold when he's in a confident mood, and on Saturday against Brighton he looked very confident. His defensive game was secure, his distribution good (one outside-of-the-boot pass in particular drew gasps), and he cracked the woodwork with a dipping free-kick.
It was a performance that sees him shuttle up the rankings, but it's not enough to displace Daryl Janmaat, who had another good game for Watford, or outlast Kieran Trippier, who kept a clean sheet and grabbed an assist at Old Trafford on Monday night.
The ever-consistent Cesar Azpilicueta, predictably, is also in that conversation at the top.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+3)
Biggest fall: Adam Smith (-5)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Daryl Janmaat (Stay) | Watford |
| 2 | Kieran Trippier (+3) | Tottenham |
| 3 | Cesar Azpilicueta (-1) | Chelsea |
| 4 | Trent Alexander-Arnold (+3) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Kyle Walker (+2) | Manchester City |
| 6 | Martin Montoya (-3) | Brighton |
| 7 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (-1) | Crystal Palace |
| 8 | Timothy Fosu-Mensah (New!) | Fulham |
| 9 | Adam Smith (-5) | Bournemouth |
| 10 | DeAndre Yedlin (Stay) | Newcastle United |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
3 of 7
Benjamin Mendy was given a rough ride by Wolves' Helder Costa and Adama Traore this weekend, and although he did produce a few typically excellent crosses, his overall performance was weighed down by his inability to keep a handle on his winger.
That paves the way for a new No. 1, and it's Jose Holebas who pips Marcos Alonso to the position. They've both been ridiculously productive over three games considering they are left-backs—the former has a goal and two assists, the latter one of each.
Andrew Robertson was in dominant form against Brighton and nips into fourth ahead of Ben Chilwell. Luke Shaw played well despite his side losing 3-0 on Monday and is rather unlucky so many others in his position group are excelling; he must make do with sixth again.
Biggest rise: Nacho Monreal (New!)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Jose Holebas (+1) | Watford |
| 2 | Marcos Alonso (+1) | Chelsea |
| 3 | Benjamin Mendy (-2) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Andrew Robertson (+1) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Ben Chilwell (-1) | Leicester City |
| 6 | Luke Shaw (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 7 | Patrick van Aanholt (Stay) | Crystal Palace |
| 8 | Nacho Monreal (New!) | Arsenal |
| 9 | Ryan Bertrand (New!) | Southampton |
| 10 | Charlie Daniels (-2) | Bournemouth |
Centre-Backs
4 of 7
It shouldn't surprise you to see the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Aymeric Laporte at the top of this section. They are big names, cost big money, and you can bank on them to perform well.
What you may not have expected, though, is Christian Kabasele or Michael Keane—two players who have started the campaign tremendously without attracting too much fanfare—in similarly high positions. Keane suffered a head injury that will keep him out for a month. That's a big shame, as he looked to be finally putting his career back on track.
Antonio Rudiger's performance against Newcastle United is worth picking out for the right reasons: He was strong, fluid, calm on the ball and even smacked the bar from 30-plus yards.
James Tarkowski already has two goals to his name this season, but his defending—you know, the crucial bit—hasn't been up to standard. He drops for the second week running.
Biggest rise: Michael Keane (New!)
Biggest fall: Vincent Kompany (Out)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Virgil van Dijk (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Aymeric Laporte (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Christian Kabasele (+3) | Watford |
| 4 | John Stones (-1) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Jan Vertonghen (+2) | Tottenham |
| 6 | Craig Cathcart (-1) | Watford |
| 7 | Joe Gomez (+4) | Liverpool |
| 8 | Michael Keane (New!) | Everton |
| 9 | Antonio Rudiger (+5) | Chelsea |
| 10 | Toby Alderweireld (New!) | Tottenham |
| 11 | Steve Cook (-7) | Bournemouth |
| 12 | Jannik Vestergaard (Stay) | Southampton |
| 13 | Willy Boly (New!) | Wolves |
| 14 | James Tarkowski (-5) | Burnley |
| 15 | Nathan Ake (+1) | Bournemouth |
| 16 | Harry Maguire (+3) | Leicester City |
| 17 | Maxime Le Marchand (-7) | Fulham |
| 18 | Sol Bamba (New!) | Cardiff |
| 19 | Conor Coady (New!) | Wolves |
| 20 | Shane Duffy (Stay) | Brighton |
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
5 of 7
Two of Liverpool's current midfield three—James Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum—know their places in the XI are far from secure. As a result, they're playing out of their skins to retain them.
Milner was again excellent this weekend, and it was his aggressive tackling that won the ball high up in the move that led to Mohamed Salah's winner against Brighton. Meanwhile, Wijnaldum patrolled deeper areas and broke up the visitors' rhythm.
Surprisingly, Fernandinho was extremely sloppy against Wolverhampton Wanderers, misplacing simple passes and dawdling on the ball. He drops pretty far as a result, allowing a series of players to move up ahead of him.
Watford duo Etienne Capoue and Abdoulaye Doucoure have been brilliant, as have new boys Jorginho and Jean Michael Seri. Mousa Dembele only has one start under his belt but was excellent in it, plus his cameo off the bench in Gameweek 2 was a key reason Spurs came away with a win.
Biggest rise: Mousa Dembele (New!)
Biggest fall: Fernandinho (-11)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | James Milner (+1) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Ruben Neves (-1) | Wolves |
| 3 | Naby Keita (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 4 | N'Golo Kante (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Etienne Capoue (+1) | Watford |
| 6 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (+2) | Watford |
| 7 | Jorginho (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 8 | Jean Michael Seri (+2) | Fulham |
| 9 | Georginio Wijnaldum (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 10 | Mousa Dembele (New!) | Tottenham |
| 11 | David Silva (New!) | Manchester City |
| 12 | Joao Moutinho (New!) | Wolves |
| 13 | Eric Dier (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 14 | Nampalys Mendy (New!) | Leicester City |
| 15 | Ilkay Gundogan (-1) | Manchester City |
| 16 | Fernandinho (-11) | Manchester City |
| 17 | Tom Cairney (Stay) | Fulham |
| 18 | Jonjo Shelvey (Stay) | Newcastle |
| 19 | Wilfred Ndidi (-7) | Leicester City |
| 20 | James McArthur (New!) | Crystal Palace |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
6 of 7
There was a boom-or-bust nature to Richarlison's 2017-18 season with Watford, with the Brazilian tending to produce either brilliant or terrible showings with zero middle ground between them.
Early evidence suggests he'll take that philosophy into 2018-19 with Everton, as this weekend he followed two goalscoring weekends with...a foolish red card.
He drops off top spot as a result, with Roberto Pereyra swooping in to take his place. The Watford man has been electric in his three games, scoring three times and proving the deadliest player on the pitch on each occasion.
Lucas Moura's incredible showing at Old Trafford propels him from nowhere into second, while Eden Hazard marked his first start of the season with a goal. He has now played enough minutes to enter the ranking.
Mohamed Salah has yet to kick into full gear, but he's still deciding games. His two goals and one assist have been crucial to Liverpool's haul of nine points.
Biggest rise: Lucas Moura (New!)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-9)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Roberto Pereyra (+4) | Watford |
| 2 | Lucas Moura (New!) | Tottenham |
| 3 | Eden Hazard (New!) | Chelsea |
| 4 | Raheem Sterling (+7) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Richarlison (-4) | Everton |
| 6 | Sadio Mane (-4) | Liverpool |
| 7 | Mohamed Salah (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 8 | Theo Walcott (+4) | Everton |
| 9 | Pedro (-3) | Chelsea |
| 10 | Gylfi Sigurdsson (+5) | Everton |
| 11 | Bernardo Silva (-8) | Manchester City |
| 12 | Dele Alli (-7) | Tottenham |
| 13 | Felipe Anderson (New!) | West Ham |
| 14 | Andre Schurrle (New!) | Fulham |
| 15 | Demarai Gray (+3) | Leicester City |
| 16 | James Maddison (-7) | Leicester City |
| 17 | Ryan Fraser (-9) | Bournemouth |
| 18 | Ricardo Pereira (-5) | Leicester City |
| 19 | Will Hughes (-9) | Watford |
| 20 | Christian Eriksen (Stay) | Tottenham |
Strikers
7 of 7
No striker has taken the league by storm in these early stages.
Sergio Aguero has been the most impressive—his hat-trick against Huddersfield Town in Gameweek 2 doing him plenty of favours in that regard—but this weekend he was foiled by the woodwork twice, preventing him from pulling away from the pack.
Instead, a host of others have closed the gap.
Aleksandar Mitrovic entered beast mode against Burnley, Harry Kane manhandled Manchester United's defence, and Wilfried Zaha scored again.
Biggest rise: Aleksandar Mitrovic (+6)
Biggest fall: Alvaro Morata (Out)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Sergio Aguero (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Callum Wilson (Stay) | Bournemouth |
| 3 | Aleksandar Mitrovic (+6) | Fulham |
| 4 | Troy Deeney (Stay) | Watford |
| 5 | Wilfried Zaha (+1) | Crystal Palace |
| 6 | Harry Kane (New!) | Tottenham |
| 7 | Andre Gray (-4) | Watford |
| 8 | Danny Ings (-1) | Southampton |
| 9 | Roberto Firmino (New!) | Liverpool |
| 10 | Joselu (New!) | Newcastle |
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
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