EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 11
Hold on to your hats, people. This week's edition of the EPL 100 is a wild one, containing three new No. 1s, plus major shakeups in several other categories. Don't ever suggest we don't treat you well.
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, six out of 11 (or more). That means Lucas Torreira and Anthony Martial are finally eligible, but Leroy Sane still isn't. Danny Rose and Riyad Mahrez drop out this week due to a lack of appearances.
Players who have appeared in multiple positions (example: Bernardo Silva) are categorized by the spot they've played most. If those values are level, they fall into the category they played most recently.
The idea is for it to give you an idea of, on a week-to-week basis, who the best in each position has been so far this season. So, if the "best in each position" award was given out this week, or a Team of the Season was crowned this early, the No. 1s in each category would be your choices.
Goalkeepers
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Just one of our top-10 goalkeepers, Martin Dubravka, managed to keep a clean sheet this week in Newcastle's 1-0 win over Watford. That isn't the only reason he rises to the top of the pile—he's been excellent all season and is fully deserving—but it did pave a path for him.
Ederson Moraes' glaring, mistimed challenge that gave away a penalty against Southampton in Manchester City's 6-1 win drops him three, while Hugo Lloris' performance for Tottenham Hotspur against Wolves earns him a rise of four.
In a topsy-turvy week, Brighton and Hove Albion's Mat Ryan does well just to stand still.
Biggest rise: Hugo Lloris (+4)
Biggest fall: Alex McCarthy (-4)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Martin Dubravka (+1) | Newcastle |
| 2 | Lukasz Fabianski (-1) | West Ham |
| 3 | Rui Patricio (Stay) | Wolves |
| 4 | Ben Foster (+3) | Watford |
| 5 | David De Gea (+3) | Manchester United |
| 6 | Hugo Lloris (+4) | Tottenham |
| 7 | Joe Hart (-3) | Burnley |
| 8 | Ederson Moraes (-3) | Manchester City |
| 9 | Mat Ryan (Stay) | Brighton |
| 10 | Alex McCarthy (-4) | Southampton |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
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Two categories down, two new No. 1s. We're off to a strong start, aren't we?
Kyle Walker was good without necessarily being great against Southampton. That's all he needed to be to rise to the top given the performance Matt Doherty put in the night before against Tottenham, though.
The real storyline in this section is Pablo Zabaleta, who over the last six weeks has been monstrous, finding a level most thought completely beyond him. He's playing like a man possessed.
Kieran Trippier may have grabbed another assist against Wolves, but he looks like a genuine weak link in Spurs' XI almost every week. Some might suggest an overall assist tally of three (from 10 starts) merits a higher spot; our retort is that those assists paper over some pretty serious cracks.
That he even cracks the top 10 is a damning indictment on the standard of right-back play in the Premier League so far this term.
Biggest rise: Pablo Zabaleta (+4)
Biggest fall: Trent Alexander-Arnold (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Kyle Walker (+1) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Matt Doherty (-1) | Wolves |
| 3 | Pablo Zabaleta (+4) | West Ham |
| 4 | Cesar Azpilicueta (-1) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (-1) | Crystal Palace |
| 6 | Hector Bellerin (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 7 | Trent Alexander-Arnold (-2) | Liverpool |
| 8 | Adam Smith (Stay) | Bournemouth |
| 9 | DeAndre Yedlin (New!) | Newcastle |
| 10 | Kieran Trippier (Stay) | Tottenham |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
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It's distinctly less exciting over here in the left-backs section, with the top six unmoving and Lucas Digne (+2) the biggest riser.
We've lost Danny Rose to a lack of playing time, while Nacho Monreal falls out after not featuring in any of the last three games.
That's made room for two new entries: Paul Dummett, who almost always does his defensive duties well, and Chris Lowe, who has a habit of making some serious headway down the flank for Huddersfield—and his crossing isn't too bad either.
Biggest rise: Lucas Digne (+2)
Biggest fall: Jose Holebas (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Marcos Alonso (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 2 | Andy Robertson (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 3 | Ben Chilwell (Stay) | Leicester City |
| 4 | Benjamin Mendy (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Luke Shaw (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 6 | Jonny (+1) | Wolves |
| 7 | Lucas Digne (+2) | Everton |
| 8 | Paul Dummett (New!) | Newcastle |
| 9 | Jose Holebas (-3) | Watford |
| 10 | Chris Lowe (New!) | Huddersfield |
Centre-Backs
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Virgil van Dijk's gargantuan performance against Arsenal widened the distance between himself and all the other centre-backs in this list. Don't expect a switch at the top for a while—unless Van Dijk has consecutive horror games.
Our biggest riser is Nathan Ake, who put in another excellent showing despite seeing his side's resistance crumble against Manchester United late on in a 2-1 defeat. He made crucial blocks and distributed well from the back. It might not be long before a top club tests the waters for him.
Wolves' decline in results has continued the descent of Ryan Bennett and Willy Boly. Federico Fernandez's commanding performances at the heart of Newcastle's defence have been crucial to the club's haul of four points from two games.
Biggest rise: Nathan Ake (+5)
Biggest fall: Ryan Bennett (-5)
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
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It takes quite the performance for Liverpool's midfield to be outmanned, outwrestled and outrun, but through Lucas Torreira (and to a lesser extent Granit Xhaka) Arsenal managed exactly that last weekend.
The Uruguayan's been excellent whenever he's taken to the pitch this season; the reason he's only now receiving recognition in the form of a top-10 berth is because manager Unai Emery drip-fed him into the XI, and it's taken him a while to build the requisite playing time and impact.
Joao Moutinho's drop of seven represents not only his below-par performance against Tottenham, but his gradual decline in form over the last three weeks.
Biggest rise: Lucas Torreira (+6)
Biggest fall: Joao Moutinho (-7)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Bernardo Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | David Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Fernandinho (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Etienne Capoue (Stay) | Watford |
| 5 | Jorginho (+1) | Chelsea |
| 6 | Georginio Wijnaldum (-1) | Liverpool |
| 7 | Ruben Neves (+1) | Wolves |
| 8 | Lucas Torreira (+6) | Arsenal |
| 9 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (Stay) | Watford |
| 10 | N'Golo Kante (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 11 | Declan Rice (Stay) | West Ham |
| 12 | James Milner (+1) | Liverpool |
| 13 | Mateo Kovacic (-1) | Chelsea |
| 14 | Joao Moutinho (-7) | Wolves |
| 15 | Idrissa Gueye (Stay) | Everton |
| 16 | Philip Billing (+1) | Huddersfield Town |
| 17 | Aaron Mooy (New!) | Huddersfield Town |
| 18 | Paul Pogba (+1) | Manchester United |
| 19 | Jonjo Shelvey (+1) | Newcastle |
| 20 | Nampalys Mendy (New!) | Leicester City |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
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It's time to make a big call. With all due respect to Eden Hazard, who has been amazing so far this season, we're now at a point where Raheem Sterling has arguably outperformed him not only over the last few weeks but throughout the term so far.
The tipping point was Sterling's ridiculous showing against Southampton on Sunday, where he scored and created freely. You could see the confidence oozing from every single one of his deadly dribbles.
The other major storyline is Anthony Martial's +8 boost, bringing him into the top 10. He's enjoyed a real purple patch, demonstrating some incredible finishing during that time.
Biggest rise: Anthony Martial (+8)
Biggest fall: Will Hughes (-5)
Strikers
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It was a tough call between Callum Wilson and Sergio Aguero for the No. 1 spot this week, with both scoring, impressing and adding to their excellent seasonal portfolios so far. In the end, given that both played well, we decided to keep things as they stand.
Wilfried Zaha continues his steep climb; two weeks ago he was 10th, but now he's nestled in fourth. Marko Arnautovic's awesome performance against Burnley results in a big rise for him too.
Harry Kane re-enters the ranking after scoring against Wolves, but while he's netting at a fairly steady rate, his all-round play has been really up and down through 11 games—that's why he's spent time out of the top 10 and now only enters at No. 8.
Aleksandar Mitrovic and Roberto Firmino drop from the top 10. Their performances just aren't cutting it at the moment.
Biggest rise: Marko Arnautovic (+5)
Biggest fall: Troy Deeney (-4)
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
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