EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 13
The Premier League so rarely disappoints. Its return from the final international break of the year was brilliant, explosive and dramatic—or, in other words, exactly what we've come to expect and demand.
To help you chew over all the action and assess how every team and player got on, B/R returns with another edition of the EPL 100, 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, seven (or more) out of 13. Players such as Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez don't meet that criteria, so they don't feature (for now).
Players who have appeared in multiple positions (examples: Bernardo Silva, 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, on a week-to-week basis, to give you an idea 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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There's a fair amount of movement inside the top 10, with just two players—Martin Dubravka and Ben Foster—staying put. This, weirdly, is despite there being few notable performances of either kind among goalkeepers last week.
Alisson Becker's sure hands surge back into the top 10, while Jordan Pickford again moves up after keeping another clean sheet. Rui Patricio drops four spots after a below-par performance against Huddersfield Town, and Hugo Lloris nips in ahead of Lukasz Fabianski after the Pole conceded four to Manchester City.
Biggest rise: Jordan Pickford, David De Gea (+2)
Biggest fall: Rui Patricio (-4)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Martin Dubravka (Stay) | Newcastle |
| 2 | Hugo Lloris (+1) | Tottenham |
| 3 | Lukasz Fabianski (-1) | West Ham |
| 4 | Jordan Pickford (+2) | Everton |
| 5 | Ben Foster (Stay) | Watford |
| 6 | David De Gea (+2) | Manchester United |
| 7 | Alisson Becker (New!) | Liverpool |
| 8 | Rui Patricio (-4) | Wolves |
| 9 | Ederson Moraes (+1) | Manchester City |
| 10 | Mat Ryan (-1) | Brighton |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
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Amid the fluctuating form of the Premier League's right-backs, Kyle Walker stays consistent. His role at Manchester City means he rarely gets to hit the highest notes, but he almost never hits the low ones either.
Matt Doherty did not play well against Huddersfield Town but had a good lead on third, so he stays put. Below him, it's all change, though. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Trent Alexander-Arnold and DeAndre Yedlin were good, so they move up; Cesar Azpilicueta and Pablo Zabaleta struggled, so they move down.
Wan-Bissaka's solid showing at Old Trafford was probably the pick of the weekend here; he weaved forward well and defended stoutly. Azpilicueta's form this season has been a concern, though; he may have grabbed an assist for Olivier Giroud's goal, but his overall showings haven't been particularly impactful under Maurizio Sarri.
Biggest rise: Trent Alexander-Arnold (+3)
Biggest fall: Cesar Azpilicueta (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Kyle Walker (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Matt Doherty (Stay) | Wolves |
| 3 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (+1) | Crystal Palace |
| 4 | Trent Alexander-Arnold (+3) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Pablo Zabaleta (-2) | West Ham |
| 6 | Hector Bellerin (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 7 | DeAndre Yedlin (+1) | Newcastle |
| 8 | Cesar Azpilicueta (-3) | Chelsea |
| 9 | Ricardo Pereira (Stay) | Leicester City |
| 10 | Seamus Coleman (Stay) | Everton |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
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Five of our top 10 left-backs missed Gameweek 13 due to injury or suspension, resulting in little movement or excitement.
Ben Davies replaces Chris Lowe in 10th, and Lucas Digne moves up three thanks to a solid performance in a clean-sheet victory over Cardiff City, but that's about it.
Benjamin Mendy and Jonny are both injured for a period that could span the rest of the year, meaning that someone like Davies might find themselves in the top five pretty swiftly if they put a good run together.
Biggest rise: Lucas Digne (+3)
Biggest fall: Luke Shaw (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Marcos Alonso (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 2 | Andy Robertson (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 3 | Ben Chilwell (Stay) | Leicester City |
| 4 | Jonny (Stay) | Wolves |
| 5 | Lucas Digne (+3) | Everton |
| 6 | Jose Holebas (Stay) | Watford |
| 7 | Benjamin Mendy (-2) | Manchester City |
| 8 | Luke Shaw (-1) | Manchester United |
| 9 | Paul Dummett (Stay) | Newcastle |
| 10 | Ben Davies (New!) | Tottenham |
Centre-Backs
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It was a really strange week for centre-backs. It seems they were either amazing or pretty terrible, with little middle ground in between.
That's resulted in some strange moves or non-moves, like Joe Gomez's one-place ascension despite not playing (Antonio Rudiger was just that bad), or the trio of Craig Cathcart, Ryan Bennett and Nathan Ake staying put (they didn't play well in defeats, but only one player deserved to overtake them).
We have a new entry in Huddersfield Town defender Terence Kongolo, whose performance in his side's 2-0 win against Wolves was brilliant and who deserves commendation for a strong season so far. Shane Duffy rises a whopping eight spots, partly in recognition of his excellent campaign, and partly because so many of those in our mid-range were underwhelming.
Biggest rise: Shane Duffy (+8)
Biggest fall: Willy Boly, Issa Diop (-5)
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
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It's time for a change at the top here, as one Silva leapfrogs another. David scored in his third successive league match on Saturday, and that—combined with Bernardo's absence—is enough to take him to the top.
It might seem harsh to remove Bernardo from the summit in a week he wasn't given the chance to defend his crown, but it's been a coin-flip between them for top spot for some time, and David's goalscoring form gives him the edge.
Arsenal's Lucas Torreira and Everton's Idrissa Gueye are playing great football and deserve big boosts; Huddersfield Town duo Aaron Mooy and Philip Billing have been brilliant all season in a relatively poor team; and Moussa Sissoko's recent resurrection lands him a spot just inside the top 20.
Biggest rise: Aaron Mooy, Philip Billing (+7)
Biggest fall: Mateo Kovacic (-4)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | David Silva (+1) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Bernardo Silva (-1) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Fernandinho (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Lucas Torreira (+3) | Arsenal |
| 5 | Idrissa Gueye (+3) | Everton |
| 6 | Etienne Capoue (-2) | Watford |
| 7 | Georginio Wijnaldum (-1) | Liverpool |
| 8 | Jorginho (-3) | Chelsea |
| 9 | Aaron Mooy (+7) | Huddersfield Town |
| 10 | Philip Billing (+7) | Huddersfield Town |
| 11 | Ruben Neves (-2) | Wolves |
| 12 | Declan Rice (Stay) | West Ham |
| 13 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (-3) | Watford |
| 14 | N'Golo Kante (-3) | Chelsea |
| 15 | Joao Moutinho (-2) | Wolves |
| 16 | Jonathan Hogg (+3) | Huddersfield Town |
| 17 | James Milner (-3) | Liverpool |
| 18 | Moussa Sissoko (New!) | Tottenham |
| 19 | Mateo Kovacic (-4) | Chelsea |
| 20 | Jonjo Shelvey (Stay) | Newcastle |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
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Raheem Sterling capped an excellent month with a goal and an assist against West Ham United, tormenting full-back Arthur Masuaku to the point a half-time substitution occurred. He's way out ahead of everyone else now—even Eden Hazard.
James Maddison is fortunate that his silly red card only drops him one spot. The reasons for that are twofold: First, we've lost Riyad Mahrez and Pedro to the appearance rule (again), and second, not a single one of those ranked below him last week played well either.
That's also led to Alex Iwobi entering the rankings at 12th. He's been good this season, but we also needed to find a body to fill out the 20.
Nathan Redmond joins us in 18th. He's had a good season despite Southampton's struggles, full of confidence and creativity, but is yet to register an assist because of his colleagues' poor finishing.
Biggest rise: Alex Iwobi (New!)
Biggest fall: Roberto Pereyra (-4)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Raheem Sterling (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Eden Hazard (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 3 | Gylfi Sigurdsson (Stay) | Everton |
| 4 | Ryan Fraser (Stay) | Bournemouth |
| 5 | Mohamed Salah (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 6 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (+1) | Arsenal |
| 7 | David Brooks (+3) | Bournemouth |
| 8 | Sadio Mane (+1) | Liverpool |
| 9 | Anthony Martial (-1) | Manchester United |
| 10 | Roberto Pereyra (-4) | Watford |
| 11 | Willian (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 12 | Alex Iwobi (New!) | Arsenal |
| 13 | James Maddison (-1) | Leicester City |
| 14 | Helder Costa (+2) | Wolves |
| 15 | Felipe Anderson (Stay) | West Ham |
| 16 | Lucas Moura (+1) | Tottenham |
| 17 | Johann Berg Gudmundsson (+1) | Burnley |
| 18 | Nathan Redmond (New!) | Southampton |
| 19 | Andre Schurrle (New!) | Fulham |
| 20 | Demarai Gray (Stay) | Leicester City |
Strikers
7 of 7
When Manchester City score four goals, you expect Sergio Aguero to be responsible for at least one, but last weekend the Argentinian drew a blank. That doesn't mean he played poorly, though, and the performance was enough to retain top spot.
Aleksandar Mitrovic finally perked up, netting a brace as Fulham got off to a winning start against Southampton under Claudio Ranieri. He rejoins the ranking as a result, filing in just under another new entry in Joshua King.
Glenn Murray and Harry Kane each scored their seventh goals of the campaign and are rewarded with sizeable moves upward.
Biggest rise: Glenn Murray (+5)
Biggest fall: Marko Arnautovic (-3)
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
