EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 28
It's been a while—more than two weeks in fact—so we thought it was about time we produced another edition of the EPL 100.
It's important to remember the timeframe and games this one covers: It's the last two gameweeks (27 and 28), plus Wolves' draw with Newcastle United at the end of GW26. That's 21 games, with everyone assessed at least twice, if not three times.
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, 14 (or more) out of 28.
Players who have appeared in multiple positions (Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mohamed Salah) are categorized by the spot they've played in 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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Lukasz Fabianski can consider himself unfortunate to be vacating top spot this week, but Alisson Becker’s last two performances have been rock-solid. That one-on-one save against Jesse Lingard on Sunday was incredible.
Hugo Lloris had a shocker in the 2-0 defeat against Chelsea on Wednesday, where he was beaten in questionable circumstances for Pedro's goal and then played a part (however big or small) in the ludicrous Kieran Trippier own goal.
Martin Dubravka recorded back-to-back clean sheets without too much trouble.
Biggest rise: Martin Dubravka (+2)
Biggest fall: Hugo Lloris (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Alisson Becker (+1) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Lukasz Fabianski (-1) | West Ham United |
| 3 | David De Gea (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 4 | Ederson Moraes (+1) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Ben Foster (-1) | Watford |
| 6 | Martin Dubravka (+2) | Newcastle United |
| 7 | Bernd Leno (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 8 | Hugo Lloris (-2) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 9 | Jordan Pickford (Stay) | Everton |
| 10 | Kepa Arrizabalaga (Stay) | Chelsea |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
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Even had Aaron Wan-Bissaka not been injured, Trent Alexander-Arnold's performance against Watford was so good there wouldn't have been any stopping his rise to No 1.
His crossing is among the best in the league, and his reward for consistently excellent deliveries was three assists to go with his clean sheet.
There's little else going on in Trent's wake; Wan-Bissaka and Matt Doherty move down as a result of the upward surge, and everyone else stays put.
Biggest rise: Trent Alexander-Arnold (+2)
Biggest fall: Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Matt Doherty (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Trent Alexander-Arnold (+2) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (-1) | Crystal Palace |
| 3 | Matt Doherty (-1) | Wolves |
| 4 | Kyle Walker (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Ricardo Pereira (Stay) | Leicester City |
| 6 | Ashley Young (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 7 | Cesar Azpilicueta (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 8 | DeAndre Yedlin (Stay) | Newcastle |
| 9 | Pablo Zabaleta (Stay) | West Ham |
| 10 | Martin Montoya (Stay) | Brighton & Hove Albion |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
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Luke Shaw's duo of excellent performances this past week, coming against Liverpool and Crystal Palace, are enough to continue his steady rise. He's now second, and there's a fair gap between he and Ben Chilwell in third.
Lucas Digne and Sead Kolasinac turned in good showings so move up, while we also welcome two new faces in the lower reaches: Matt Ritchie, who transfers over from the wingers section, and Ryan Bertrand, who played well against Fulham and looks fully fit once again.
Adam Smith's had a rough few weeks and drops out of the top 10 altogether.
Biggest rise: Sead Kolisinac (+2)
Biggest fall: Adam Smith, Ben Davies (Out)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Andy Robertson (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Luke Shaw (+1) | Manchester United |
| 3 | Ben Chilwell (-1) | Leicester |
| 4 | Jonny (Stay) | Wolves |
| 5 | Lucas Digne (+1) | Everton |
| 6 | Jose Holebas (-1) | Watford |
| 7 | Sead Kolasinac (+2) | Arsenal |
| 8 | Marcos Alonso (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 9 | Matt Ritchie (New!) | Newcastle |
| 10 | Ryan Bertrand (New!) | Southampton |
Centre-Backs
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It's all change in the centre-back section. With so much to get through, we'll opt for bulletpoint form.
- Virgil van Dijk's brace-clean sheet combination sends him even further ahead of the pack.
- Mistakes crept into Toby Alderweireld's game this week, and that drops him a spot, with John Stones moving ahead despite not even playing.
- Fabian Schar has finally played enough games to feature, and he enters at eighth. Yes, he's been that good.
- Jan Bednarek can now enter as well, and he begins at 12th. It's a wonder why Mark Hughes kept him so far from the XI; since Ralph Hasenhuttl has taken charge he's been a consistent starter and a key player.
- Davinson Sanchez might just be the only Tottenham player who came out of the Chelsea loss with any credit whatsoever.
- Ryan Bennett's drop of six is not all his fault. He didn't play so well, but Schar and Bednarek's entries have pushed him further down, exaggerating the fall.
Biggest rise: Fabian Schar (New!)
Biggest fall: Ryan Bennett (-6)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Virgil van Dijk (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Aymeric Laporte (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | John Stones (+1) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Toby Alderweireld (-1) | Tottenham |
| 5 | Victor Lindelof (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 6 | Michael Keane (Stay) | Everton |
| 7 | Antonio Rudiger (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 8 | Fabian Schar (New!) | Newcastle |
| 9 | Jannik Vestergaard (Stay) | Southampton |
| 10 | David Luiz (+2) | Chelsea |
| 11 | Jan Vertonghen (-1) | Tottenham |
| 12 | Jan Bednarek (New!) | Southampton |
| 13 | Federico Fernandez (-2) | Newcastle |
| 14 | Ryan Bennett (-6) | Wolves |
| 15 | Kurt Zouma (Stay) | Everton |
| 16 | Shane Duffy (-3) | Brighton |
| 17 | Lewis Dunk (-3) | Brighton |
| 18 | Davinson Sanchez (+1) | Tottenham |
| 19 | Issa Diop (+1) | West Ham |
| 20 | Conor Coady (-3) | Wolves |
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
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Welcome—finally—to the party, Fabinho!
His spell out of the side at the beginning of the season (and odd game on the bench since) has delayed his entry, but in Gameweek 28 he passed the threshold.
He hits the top 10 immediately, such has been his brilliance, and if he continues to find this level of performance over the final 10 weeks, top spot isn't out of the question.
The biggest fall in this section is Ruben Neves, who, surprisingly, has put together back-to-back poor showings at the heart of Wolves' midfield. That's certainly impacted their results. Mateo Kovacic replaces Jorginho in 20th as he outperformed him against Tottenham.
Biggest rise: Fabinho (New!)
Biggest fall: Ruben Neves (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Fernandinho (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Bernardo Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Georginio Wijnaldum (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 4 | David Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Paul Pogba (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 6 | Fabinho (New!) | Liverpool |
| 7 | Declan Rice (-1) | West Ham |
| 8 | Lucas Torreira (-1) | Arsenal |
| 9 | Joao Moutinho (-1) | Wolves |
| 10 | N'Golo Kante (+2) | Chelsea |
| 11 | Harry Winks (-2) | Tottenham |
| 12 | Moussa Sissoko (-2) | Tottenham |
| 13 | Ander Herrera (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 14 | Ruben Neves (-3) | Wolves |
| 15 | James Milner (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 16 | Etienne Capoue (-2) | Watford |
| 17 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (-1) | Watford |
| 18 | Idrissa Gueye (Stay) | Everton |
| 19 | Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Stay) | Southampton |
| 20 | Mateo Kovacic (New!) | Chelsea |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
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Our sincerest apologies: There isn't a lot happening at the top here.
Most of the top 10 either didn't play or played poorly, with Sadio Mane the major exception there—though his performance isn't enough to gatecrash the top four.
Felipe Anderson barely touched the ball and gave away a penalty against Manchester City so he drops, with Nathan Redmond and James Maddison taking advantage of that.
Gerard Deulofeu's hat-trick last Friday launches him into the top 20, as does Pedro's stunning showing vs. Tottenham. Gylfi Sigurdsson's brace against Cardiff City earns him the biggest rise.
Biggest rise: Gylfi Sigurdsson (+4)
Biggest fall: Felipe Anderson (-4)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Raheem Sterling (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Heung-Min Son (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 3 | Eden Hazard (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 4 | Leroy Sane (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Sadio Mane (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 6 | Roberto Firmino (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 7 | Anthony Martial (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 8 | Diogo Jota (Stay) | Wolves |
| 9 | Christian Eriksen (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 10 | David Brooks (Stay) | Bournemouth |
| 11 | Jesse Lingard (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 12 | Nathan Redmond (+1) | Southampton |
| 13 | Gylfi Sigurdsson (+4) | Everton |
| 14 | James Maddison (+1) | Leicester |
| 15 | Dele Alli (-1) | Tottenham |
| 16 | Felipe Anderson (-4) | West Ham |
| 17 | Ryan Fraser (-1) | Bournemouth |
| 18 | Pedro (New!) | Chelsea |
| 19 | Gerard Deulofeu (New!) | Watford |
| 20 | Michail Antonio (Stay) | West Ham |
Strikers
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Mohamed Salah didn't score against Watford but did play extremely well. It saves his stock somewhat, as his terrible performance against Manchester United three days before had him in danger of dropping.
Alexandre Lacazette's impactful appearances are rewarded with a rise of two, while Raul Jimenez's blank against Huddersfield Town drops him the same number.
Ashley Barnes is now knocking on the door of the top 10; he came very close to replacing Wilfried Zaha this week, but the Crystal Palace man's brace against Leicester City kept him afloat.
Biggest rise: Alexandre Lacazette (+2)
Biggest fall: Raul Jimenez (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Sergio Aguero (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Mohamed Salah (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 3 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 4 | Harry Kane (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 5 | Marcus Rashford (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 6 | Alexandre Lacazette (+2) | Arsenal |
| 7 | Callum Wilson (Stay) | Bournemouth |
| 8 | Salomon Rondon (+1) | Newcastle |
| 9 | Raul Jimenez (-3) | Wolves |
| 10 | Wilfried Zaha (Stay) | Crystal Palace |
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
