EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 18
What a way to start the festive Premier League period.
From Liverpool's stellar performance on Friday, through Manchester City's shock defeat to Crystal Palace and Manchester United's incredible start to the post-Jose Mourinho era on Saturday, up to Tottenham's outright demolition of Everton on Sunday, it was a weekend that will live long in the memory.
Those four results play a clear role in the reordering of our EPL 100.
Only performances in the 2018-19 Premier League season affect this ranking. Reputations, cup performances and European showings matter not.
To be eligible, players need to have started at least 50 per cent of the games—so, in this case, nine (or more) out of 18. That rules the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri, Heung-Min Son, Sead Kolasinac and Fabinho out for the time being.
Players who have appeared in multiple positions (Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Richarlison) are categorized by the spot they've played most. If those values are level, they fall into the category for the role they played most recently.
The idea is for our rankings to give you an idea on a week-to-week basis of who the best in each position has been this season. So, if a Team of the Season was crowned this early, the No. 1s in each category would be our choices.
Goalkeepers
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The best Premier League goalkeeping performance of the weekend came from Ben Foster. He made seven saves at London Stadium, several of which were excellent, en route to a clean sheet.
That earns the Watford man a rise of one, tucking him in just behind Alisson Becker, who was very good against Wolves; Lukasz Fabianski, who made two super saves against the Hornets; and Martin Dubravka, who kept a clean sheet against Fulham.
Entering the top 10 this week is Asmir Begovic, who was second only to Foster this weekend in terms of performance.
Biggest rise: Asmir Begovic (New!)
Biggest fall: Joe Hart (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Martin Dubravka (Stay) | Newcastle |
| 2 | Lukasz Fabianski (Stay) | West Ham |
| 3 | Alisson Becker (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 4 | Ben Foster (+1) | Watford |
| 5 | Hugo Lloris (-1) | Tottenham |
| 6 | Bernd Leno (+2) | Arsenal |
| 7 | Ederson Moraes (-1) | Manchester City |
| 8 | Asmir Begovic (New!) | Bournemouth |
| 9 | Joe Hart (-2) | Burnley |
| 10 | David De Gea (New!) | Manchester United |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
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Most right-backs dread facing up one-on-one with Leroy Sane, but if we're not mistaken, Aaron Wan-Bissaka looked like he enjoyed his duel against the Germany international on Saturday.
An excellent performance from him facilitates a move into second, a rise of five, as his good fortune corresponded with bad showings from Kyle Walker and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Ricardo Pereira's similarly monstrous showing against Chelsea is rewarded with a move into the top five. He was defensively superb and contributed to the move that culminated in the winning goal.
Biggest rise: Aaron Wan-Bissaka (+5)
Biggest fall: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cesar Azpilicueta (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Matt Doherty (Stay) | Wolves |
| 2 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (+5) | Crystal Palace |
| 3 | Kyle Walker (-1) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Pablo Zabaleta (-1) | West Ham |
| 5 | Ricardo Pereira (+2) | Leicester City |
| 6 | Cesar Azpilicueta (-2) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Trent Alexander-Arnold (-2) | Liverpool |
| 8 | Hector Bellerin (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 9 | Kiko Femenia (+1) | Watford |
| 10 | Kieran Trippier (-1) | Tottenham |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
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The contrast between Ben Chilwell and Marcos Alonso's performances at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was stark. The former's was good enough to see him displace the latter at No. 2 in our left-back rankings.
Jose Holebas' part in a gritty clean sheet earned against West Ham is recognised with a bump of two. Going the other way is Lucas Digne, whose Everton defence conceded a whopping six goals to Tottenham.
Luke Shaw's slide halts after returning and playing well against Cardiff City.
Biggest rise: Jose Holebas (+2)
Biggest fall: Lucas Digne (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Andy Robertson (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Ben Chilwell (+1) | Leicester City |
| 3 | Marcos Alonso (-1) | Chelsea |
| 4 | Jonny (Stay) | Wolves |
| 5 | Jose Holebas (+2) | Watford |
| 6 | Ben Davies (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 7 | Lucas Digne (-2) | Everton |
| 8 | Luke Shaw (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 9 | Paul Dummett (New!) | Newcastle |
| 10 | Benjamin Mendy (-1) | Manchester City |
Centre-Backs
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Sometimes certain sections can be hard to compile at times, either because almost everyone played brilliantly or almost everyone was awful. In this case, we're looking at the latter.
Aymeric Laporte, John Stones, Antonio Rudiger, Michael Keane, Issa Diop, David Luiz and the Wolves trio all disappointed to varying degrees. That they all dropped the ball on the same week means the large majority of them stay put, though. Good timing, guys.
In more positive news, we have a couple of new entries at the bottom: Victor Lindelof was great against Cardiff City, and Harry Maguire was even better against Chelsea.
Biggest rise: Nathan Ake (+3)
Biggest fall: Lewis Dunk, Conor Coady, Fabian Balbuena (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Virgil van Dijk (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Aymeric Laporte (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | John Stones (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Joe Gomez (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Toby Alderweireld (+1) | Tottenham |
| 6 | Antonio Rudiger (-1) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Federico Fernandez (Stay) | Newcastle |
| 8 | Michael Keane (Stay) | Everton |
| 9 | Issa Diop (Stay) | West Ham |
| 10 | David Luiz (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 11 | Ryan Bennett (+1) | Wolves |
| 12 | Willy Boly (-1) | Wolves |
| 13 | Nathan Ake (+3) | Bournemouth |
| 14 | Jan Vertonghen (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 15 | Lewis Dunk (-2) | Brighton |
| 16 | Craig Cathcart (+2) | Watford |
| 17 | Conor Coady (-2) | Wolves |
| 18 | Harry Maguire (New!) | Leicester City |
| 19 | Fabian Balbuena (-2) | West Ham |
| 20 | Victor Lindelof (New!) | Brighton |
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
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Manchester City's struggles against Crystal Palace came in part because Fernandinho was absent. He missed his first Premier League game of the season, and—not by coincidence—they lost it after struggling in midfield.
That only strengthens his position as our No. 1.
Moussa Sissoko is our biggest riser, moving into the top 10 after another non-stop performance against Everton. His redemption story has been a real heartwarmer.
Etienne Capoue returned from suspension and immediately became Watford's key man, breaking up play against West Ham expertly and earning a top-five spot once again.
Biggest rise: Moussa Sissoko (+4)
Biggest fall: N'Golo Kante (-5)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Fernandinho (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | David Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Lucas Torreira (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 4 | Bernardo Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Etienne Capoue (+1) | Watford |
| 6 | Jorginho (-1) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Moussa Sissoko (+4) | Tottenham |
| 8 | Georginio Wijnaldum (+1) | Liverpool |
| 9 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (+1) | Watford |
| 10 | Declan Rice (-3) | West Ham |
| 11 | James Milner (+2) | Liverpool |
| 12 | Idrissa Gueye (Stay) | Everton |
| 13 | N'Golo Kante (-5) | Chelsea |
| 14 | Philip Billing (+1) | Huddersfield Town |
| 15 | Ruben Neves (-1) | Wolves |
| 16 | Joao Moutinho (Stay) | Wolves |
| 17 | Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (+3) | Southampton |
| 18 | Aaron Mooy (Stay) | Huddersfield Town |
| 19 | Andre Gomes (-2) | Everton |
| 20 | Mateo Kovacic (-1) | Chelsea |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
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The Premier League delivered so many quality performances from attacking midfield this weekend that we have no choice but to address them in bullet-point format:
- Mohamed Salah takes third off Leroy Sane after another mesmeric showing (albeit from up front).
- Roberto Pereyra was very influential in Watford's win over West Ham.
- Christian Eriksen scored a super goal and helped Spurs dominate Everton.
- James Maddison slid Jamie Vardy in for the winner at Chelsea and worked hard to help his defence.
- David Brooks re-entered Bournemouth's starting XI and repaid the move with two goals.
- Nathan Redmond was incredible against Huddersfield Town, netting one and assisting another.
- Anthony Martial is back in the top 10 (and Jesse Lingard enters the top 20) after that performance against Cardiff City.
Biggest rise: David Brooks (New!)
Biggest fall: Pedro (-5)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Raheem Sterling (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Eden Hazard (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 3 | Mohamed Salah (+1) | Liverpool |
| 4 | Leroy Sane (-1) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Ryan Fraser (+1) | Bournemouth |
| 6 | Felipe Anderson (-1) | West Ham |
| 7 | Roberto Pereyra (+2) | Watford |
| 8 | Anthony Martial (+3) | Manchester United |
| 9 | Sadio Mane (-2) | Liverpool |
| 10 | Christian Eriksen (+2) | Tottenham |
| 11 | Gylfi Sigurdsson (-1) | Everton |
| 12 | James Maddison (+3) | Leicester City |
| 13 | Pedro (-5) | Chelsea |
| 14 | Dele Alli (+1) | Tottenham |
| 15 | David Brooks (New!) | Bournemouth |
| 16 | Willian (-3) | Chelsea |
| 17 | Nathan Redmond (New!) | Southampton |
| 18 | Robert Snodgrass (-2) | West Ham |
| 19 | Riyad Mahrez (-2) | Manchester City |
| 20 | Jesse Lingard (New!) | Manchester United |
Strikers
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In the space of a month, Harry Kane has crept from outside the top 10 to second place in the strikers' rankings. That's indicative of his markedly improving form of late, suddenly vaulting himself into top-scorer contention.
Roberto Firmino looked sharp and decisive against Wolves, another step on the road back to form for him, and Danny Ings followed up his two-goal haul against Arsenal with a strike from the spot against Huddersfield Town. He's enjoying life under new boss Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Sergio Aguero returned to action against Crystal Palace from the bench but couldn't find his usual rhythm, resulting in a drop of two.
Biggest rise: Roberto Firmino (+2)
Biggest fall: Sergio Aguero, Salomon Rondon (-2)
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
