EPL100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 7
The Premier League rarely fails to deliver, but its offering in Gameweek 7 felt particularly generous: A brilliant match between Chelsea and Liverpool, more chaos for Manchester United, a Marco Silva clean sheet (!), a Sergio Aguero wondergoal and some late drama in Bournemouth to close the chapter.
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 EPL100, ranking the best players in the Premier League by position.
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 percent of the games—so, in this case, four out of seven (or more).
Players who have appeared in multiple positions (example: Bernardo Silva) 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
No goalkeeper has been forced to make more saves than Joe Hart (34), with Burnley continuing to make him earn his keep. In fairness, he's responding. His performance against Cardiff City on Sunday was the latest in a string of great ones.
Rising into the top 10 this week is Alisson Becker. He's undoubtedly one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and his absence from this list has been questioned over the weeks, but he needs to actually do things to earn his spot.
Against Chelsea he did, producing a couple of superb one-on-one saves, but too often he passes through games untroubled as his defence is so strong.
Biggest rise: Alisson Becker (New!)
Biggest fall: Neil Etheridge (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Joe Hart (Stay) | Burnley |
| 2 | Rui Patricio (Stay) | Wolves |
| 3 | Lukasz Fabianski (Stay) | West Ham |
| 4 | Alex McCarthy (+2) | Southampton |
| 5 | Martin Dubravka (Stay) | Newcastle |
| 6 | Neil Etheridge (-2) | Cardiff City |
| 7 | Alisson Becker (New!) | Liverpool |
| 8 | Ben Foster (-1) | Watford |
| 9 | Ederson Moraes (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 10 | Petr Cech (Stay) | Arsenal |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
2 of 7
We have a new No. 1 in the right-back stakes: Wolves' Matt Doherty.
He's overcome some minor early struggles to begin dominating games from the flank, and his clean sheet-assist combination on Saturday against Southampton lifts him above everyone else.
Dropping two spots is Trent Alexander-Arnold, who had quite a tough time with Eden Hazard at Stamford Bridge, while DeAndre Yedlin drops out completely after a poor showing against Leicester City.
Biggest rise: Pablo Zabaleta, Matt Doherty (+3)
Biggest fall: DeAndre Yedlin (Out)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Matt Doherty (+3) | Wolves |
| 2 | Kyle Walker (-1) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Cesar Azpilicueta (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 4 | Trent Alexander-Arnold (-2) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Stay) | Crystal Palace |
| 6 | Pablo Zabaleta (+3) | West Ham |
| 7 | Daryl Janmaat (-1) | Watford |
| 8 | Timothy Fosu-Mensah (Stay) | Fulham |
| 9 | Hector Bellerin (New!) | Arsenal |
| 10 | Kieran Trippier (New!) | Tottenham |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
3 of 7
It might seem harsh for Andrew Robertson to drop one spot, and in isolation, it might just be. But these rankings work within a context, and while Robertson was fine against Chelsea (not that involved, actually), Jonny was superb against Southampton and deserves third spot on balance.
The Wolves wing-back contributed to another home clean sheet and scored the all-important second goal, icing the game.
Creeping into 10th is Danny Rose, who enjoyed his best performance in some time against Huddersfield Town and is starting to look a little like the 2016-17 version of himself. This is good news.
Biggest rise: Jonny (+2)
Biggest fall: Ryan Bertrand (Out)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Marcos Alonso (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 2 | Jose Holebas (Stay) | Watford |
| 3 | Jonny (+1) | Wolves |
| 4 | Andrew Robertson (-1) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Benjamin Mendy (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 6 | Luke Shaw (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 7 | Ben Chilwell (Stay) | Leicester City |
| 8 | Patrick van Aanholt (Stay) | Crystal Palace |
| 9 | Nacho Monreal (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 10 | Danny Rose (New!) | Tottenham |
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Centre-Backs
4 of 7
We expected a goal-fest between Chelsea and Liverpool on Saturday; instead we got a central defensive masterclass.
Virgil van Dijk was fantastic, Joe Gomez was largely brilliant and even David Luiz was dominant. All of those performances are worth praising, but Antonio Rudiger's is worth lauding.
The German had the game of his life, defending tenaciously, passing through the lines well and committing to some last-ditch activities that had Stamford Bridge roaring. His goal-line clearance and three-second struggle for balance as he chased the second ball were amazing.
Biggest rise: Antonio Rudiger (+4)
Biggest fall: Federico Fernandez (-5)
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
5 of 7
James Milner had his first average game of the season against Chelsea on Saturday, falling short of the spectacular standard he's set so far in 2018-19. He hangs onto the top spot, though, as Joao Moutinho was pretty average, too.
Milner's opposite number on the day, Mateo Kovacic, fared far better, slipping Eden Hazard in for a goal and generally impressing. Declan Rice enters the rankings following a third straight incredible showing, and the key is they're coming against strong sides.
Naby Keita hasn't started the last few Premier League games, so as his influence wanes, he drops downward.
Biggest rise: Declan Rice (New!)
Biggest fall: Naby Keita (-7)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | James Milner (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Joao Moutinho (Stay) | Wolves |
| 3 | Bernardo Silva (+1) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Ruben Neves (-1) | Wolves |
| 5 | David Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 6 | Mateo Kovacic (+3) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Etienne Capoue (-1) | Watford |
| 8 | Jorginho (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 9 | Declan Rice (New!) | West Ham |
| 10 | N'Golo Kante (+5) | Chelsea |
| 11 | Fernandinho (-1) | Manchester City |
| 12 | Georginio Wijnaldum (-1) | Liverpool |
| 13 | Ilkay Gundogan (-1) | Manchester City |
| 14 | Naby Keita (-7) | Liverpool |
| 15 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (-3) | Watford |
| 16 | Jean Michael Seri (-2) | Fulham |
| 17 | Idrissa Gueye (New!) | Everton |
| 18 | Ashley Westwood (+2) | Burnley |
| 19 | Nampalys Mendy (New!) | Leicester City |
| 20 | Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Stay) | Southampton |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
6 of 7
Eden Hazard first, Raheem Sterling second. Then a gap—a pretty damn big one. They've been the two outstanding players in the position this season and are far ahead of everyone else.
The big mover is Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who scored and assisted as Burnley clocked up a second consecutive win. He's Mr. Reliable, capable of making the difference on occasion, but he's always willing to run the hard yards in defence.
There were so many excellent performers in this category at the weekend, even some players who played well, like Roberto Pereyra and Lucas Moura, move down to make way for the true stars.
Leroy Sane is ineligible due to not making enough starts. If his run in the first-team continues, he'll be barging his way into the top 10 shortly.
Biggest rise: JB Gudmundsson (+9)
Biggest fall: Helder Costa (-7)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Eden Hazard (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 2 | Raheem Sterling (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Ryan Fraser (+1) | Bournemouth |
| 4 | Richarlison (+2) | Everton |
| 5 | Sadio Mane (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 6 | James Maddison (+2) | Leicester City |
| 7 | Mohamed Salah (-4) | Liverpool |
| 8 | JB Gudmundsson (+9) | Burnley |
| 9 | Roberto Pereyra (-2) | Watford |
| 10 | Pedro (-1) | Chelsea |
| 11 | Gylfi Sigurdsson (+5) | Everton |
| 12 | Felipe Anderson (+1) | West Ham |
| 13 | Lucas Moura (-2) | Tottenham |
| 14 | Will Hughes (+1) | Watford |
| 15 | Andre Schurrle (-3) | Fulham |
| 16 | Willian (-2) | Chelsea |
| 17 | Helder Costa (-7) | Wolves |
| 18 | Theo Walcott (Stay) | Everton |
| 19 | David Brooks (+1) | Bournemouth |
| 20 | Luciano Vietto (New!) | Fulham |
Strikers
7 of 7
Many of the strikers rate closely so far, so swings in this section can be wild. This week shows as much, as Alexandre Lacazette, Andre Gray and Callum Wilson move at least four spots each, while Raul Jimenez drops out altogether despite doing just fine.
You'll notice no Harry Kane (five goals), no Romelu Lukaku (four goals) and no Glenn Murray (four goals). While it's a bit odd at surface level to leave out some of the league's top scorers, they need to play well in all facets of the game to rank highly.
Lukaku hasn't played well since Sept. 2, and Kane's good performance against Huddersfield Town on Saturday was a relief to Spurs fans, rather than one everyone felt assured of.
Biggest rise: Marko Arnautovic (New!)
Biggest fall: Andre Gray (-6)
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
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