EPL100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 8
It's tight at the top of the Premier League. Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea head into the international break locked on 20 points each, split only by goal difference in the table. That comes after the former two drew 0-0 against one another in a tense game at Anfield on Sunday, allowing the latter to creep up and join them.
It was a dramatic ending worthy of capping off another fantastic weekend of Premier League football, in which the goals, drama and, interestingly, red cards flowed.
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 per cent of the games—so, in this case, four out of eight (or more). That rules out Leroy Sane and Lucas Torreira...for now.
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
We start with a new No. 1! Joe Hart is tipped off his perch by the safe hands of Rui Patricio, who put in yet another great performance this weekend and kept another clean sheet.
Wolves have been very strong defensively, but Patricio is still called upon once or twice per game to produce something special, and his double save against Crystal Palace kept a three-point haul intact with a 1-0 victory.
Martin Dubravka also impressed this weekend, while Alisson and Ederson will both be proud of their clean sheets earned at Anfield on Sunday.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+2)
Biggest fall: Neil Etheridge (-4)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Rui Patricio (+1) | Wolves |
| 2 | Joe Hart (-1) | Burnley |
| 3 | Martin Dubravka (+2) | Newcastle |
| 4 | Lukasz Fabianski (-1) | West Ham |
| 5 | Alex McCarthy (-1) | Southampton |
| 6 | Alisson Becker (+1) | Liverpool |
| 7 | Ederson Moraes (+2) | Manchester City |
| 8 | Ben Foster (Stay) | Watford |
| 9 | David De Gea (New!) | Manchester United |
| 10 | Neil Etheridge (-4) | Cardiff City |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
2 of 7
It was going to take a monster performance from Matt Doherty to hold onto the No. 1 spot in a week where Kyle Walker helped City keep a clean sheet at Anfield. The Irishman supplied just that.
Scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win away from home, in addition to contributing to a clean sheet, constitutes a near-perfect performance.
There's little movement at the top, but towards the bottom we have the improving Hector Bellerin and Kieran Trippier climbing slowly.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+1)
Biggest fall: Timothy Fosu-Mensah (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Matt Doherty (Stay) | Wolves |
| 2 | Kyle Walker (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Cesar Azpilicueta (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 4 | Trent Alexander-Arnold (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Stay) | Crystal Palace |
| 6 | Pablo Zabaleta (Stay) | West Ham |
| 7 | Daryl Janmaat (Stay) | Watford |
| 8 | Hector Bellerin (+1) | Arsenal |
| 9 | Kieran Trippier (+1) | Tottenham |
| 10 | Timothy Fosu-Mensah (-2) | Fulham |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
3 of 7
The gloss on Jose Holebas' great start to the season is wearing off in tandem with Watford's decline in form. Jonny and Andrew Robertson both overtake him this week, and Benjamin Mendy may do so next week now he's back from injury.
Ben Chilwell looked good against Everton despite ending up on the losing side. He powered up and down relentlessly, working hard to help Leicester City make up the numbers at both ends following Wes Morgan's red card in the 2-1 defeat.
Danny Rose is looking like his old self again. This weekend saw him put in another good showing.
Biggest rise: Danny Rose (+3)
Biggest fall: Luke Shaw (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Marcos Alonso (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 2 | Jonny (+1) | Wolves |
| 3 | Andrew Robertson (+1) | Liverpool |
| 4 | Jose Holebas (-2) | Watford |
| 5 | Benjamin Mendy (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 6 | Ben Chilwell (+1) | Leicester City |
| 7 | Danny Rose (+3) | Tottenham |
| 8 | Nacho Monreal (+1) | Arsenal |
| 9 | Luke Shaw (-3) | Manchester United |
| 10 | Patrick van Aanholt (-2) | Crystal Palace |
Centre-Backs
4 of 7
Virgil van Dijk remains top of the rankings despite conceding a penalty late on against Manchester City. That speaks to two things: The overwhelming quality of his showing up until that point, and the fact no player just below him was able to take advantage of it.
Joe Gomez was solid at right-back, but you wouldn't say he's had a better overall season than Van Dijk, and Antonio Rudiger actually had a few (uncharacteristic) wobbles against Southampton in Chelsea's 3-0 win.
Van Dijk's opposite number on the day, Aymeric Laporte, was excellent so he jumps into third, while Toby Alderweireld was forced into heroic action several times against Cardiff City.
Kurt Zouma played well and is unfortunate to move down (Nathan Ake and David Luiz were just better), while John Stones is reinstated as he's played 50 per cent of the games now.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+2)
Biggest fall: Craig Cathcart (-5)
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
5 of 7
There's a second change at the top here, with Bernardo Silva's performance at Anfield on Sunday enough to bag him top spot among the central midfielders.
His colleague Fernandinho stepped up to the plate, too, providing a steady hand in a tense midfield battle. We've been waiting for that sort of performance for a while; too often this season the Brazilian has failed to play to his full potential.
Everton are really finding their feet under Marco Silva now, and that's thanks in part to some great performances from the Idrissa Gueye-Tom Davies midfield duo.
Biggest rise: Fernandinho (+4)
Biggest fall: Etienne Capoue (-4)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Bernardo Silva (+2) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Joao Moutinho (Stay) | Wolves |
| 3 | James Milner (-2) | Liverpool |
| 4 | David Silva (+1) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Ruben Neves (-1) | Wolves |
| 6 | Mateo Kovacic (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Fernandinho (+4) | Manchester City |
| 8 | Jorginho (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 9 | Georginio Wijnaldum (+3) | Liverpool |
| 10 | N'Golo Kante (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 11 | Etienne Capoue (-4) | Watford |
| 12 | Declan Rice (-3) | West Ham |
| 13 | Ilkay Gundogan (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 14 | Idrissa Gueye (+3) | Everton |
| 15 | Naby Keita (-1) | Liverpool |
| 16 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (-1) | Watford |
| 17 | Jean Michael Seri (-1) | Fulham |
| 18 | Aaron Mooy (New!) | Huddersfield Town |
| 19 | Philip Billing (New!) | Huddersfield Town |
| 20 | Tom Davies (New!) | Everton |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
6 of 7
Eden Hazard's brilliant performance against Southampton on Sunday placed a firm wedge between himself and the rest of the pack. Even Raheem Sterling's way off him now.
Both of Liverpool's star attackers, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, drop out of the top 10 after another subpar performance from each. Mane just isn't finding his way into games at the moment, while Salah's finishing has been shocking.
More positive stories can be found in Gylfi Sigurdsson (+5) and David Brooks (+12). Brooks has been consistently good all season long, but now he's started adding goals to his game it's time to put some respect on his name.
Biggest rise: David Brooks (+12)
Biggest fall: Sadio Mane (-7)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Eden Hazard (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 2 | Raheem Sterling (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Richarlison (+1) | Everton |
| 4 | Ryan Fraser (-1) | Bournemouth |
| 5 | Gylfi Sigurdsson (+5) | Everton |
| 6 | JB Gudmundsson (+2) | Burnley |
| 7 | David Brooks (+12) | Bournemouth |
| 8 | James Maddison (-2) | Leicester City |
| 9 | Andre Schurrle (+6) | Fulham |
| 10 | Lucas Moura (+3) | Tottenham |
| 11 | Pedro (-1) | Chelsea |
| 12 | Sadio Mane (-7) | Liverpool |
| 13 | Mohamed Salah (-6) | Liverpool |
| 14 | Roberto Pereyra (-4) | Watford |
| 15 | Willian (+1) | Chelsea |
| 16 | Theo Walcott (+2) | Everton |
| 17 | Felipe Anderson (-5) | West Ham |
| 18 | Helder Costa (-1) | Wolves |
| 19 | Will Hughes (-5) | Watford |
| 20 | Luciano Vietto (Stay) | Fulham |
Strikers
7 of 7
Alexandre Lacazette rising to the top of the striker rankings makes it three switches at the summit in one week. Don't say we don't treat you well.
The Frenchman's performance at Craven Cottage on Sunday was sublime, netting two great goals, working ferociously hard, linking play and running the channels.
Below him there are seismic changes everywhere you look, which is symptomatic of about 15 strikers all playing to a pretty similar level so far this term; there really isn't much to split them most weeks.
Biggest rise: Alexandre Lacazette (+5)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-4)
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
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