EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 30
We're officially into the home stretch. This weekend the "games played" figure ticked into the 30s, opening the door to the final phase of this fascinating Premier League season.
This edition of the EPL 100 brings you a check-in on which players have been the best in each position heading into said stretch, allowing you to keep effective tabs on those who could prove the difference in the weeks ahead.
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 games—so in this case, 15 (or more) out of 30.
Players who have appeared in multiple positions (Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mohamed Salah and Bernardo Silva) 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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Jordan Pickford may have saved a penalty against Newcastle United on Saturday in the 3-2 defeat, but it's still impossible to consider his performance a good one. After all, it also featured a rugby tackle he should have been sent off for, a poor parry that led to a goal and several misjudged beelines for the ball.
That drops him out of the top 10, with Rui Patricio jumping in to take his place on the back of a strong showing at Stamford Bridge.
The standout performer in this category, once again, is Bernd Leno. He's been excellent over the last two weeks and is rewarded with a season-high third-placed ranking.
Ederson Moraes moves down partly due to Leno's rise, but also because he didn't impress against Watford as he struggled a little with his passing and conceded the only shot on target he faced.
Biggest rise: Bernd Leno (+3)
Biggest fall: Jordan Pickford (Out)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Alisson Becker (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Lukasz Fabianski (Stay) | West Ham United |
| 3 | Bernd Leno (+3) | Arsenal |
| 4 | David De Gea (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 5 | Ben Foster (Stay) | Watford |
| 6 | Ederson Moraes (-3) | Manchester City |
| 7 | Hugo Lloris (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 8 | Martin Dubravka (Stay) | Newcastle United |
| 9 | Rui Patricio (New!) | Wolves |
| 10 | Kepa Arrizabalaga (Stay) | Chelsea |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
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There's just one change to speak of in the right-backs section this week, as for the most part too many were simply "steady" or "OK."
The switch is between Martin Montoya and DeAndre Yedlin, with the former coping better than expected against Wilfried Zaha as Brighton & Hove Albion beat rivals Crystal Palace.
Biggest rise: Martin Montoya (+1)
Biggest fall: DeAndre Yedlin (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Trent Alexander-Arnold (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Stay) | Crystal Palace |
| 3 | Matt Doherty (Stay) | Wolves |
| 4 | Kyle Walker (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Ricardo Pereira (Stay) | Leicester City |
| 6 | Cesar Azpilicueta (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Ashley Young (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 8 | Martin Montoya (+1) | Brighton & Hove Albion |
| 9 | DeAndre Yedlin (-1) | Newcastle |
| 10 | Seamus Coleman (Stay) | Everton |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
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On the whole, Everton's defence did not play well against Newcastle United, but even in such bleak times, Lucas Digne found a way to impress. His cross for Dominic Calvert-Lewin's goal was yet another peach.
Sead Kolasinac rises to sixth after an excellent performance against Manchester United in Arsenal's 2-0 win. He looks a man transformed and worked so hard on Sunday evening he appeared to vomit on the pitch.
Danny Rose joins the top 10 this week, though in slightly awkward circumstances. He was poor against Southampton in Spurs' 2-1 defeat but is now eligible for the rankings, and assessing the season as a whole, he's good for eighth.
Biggest rise: Danny Rose (New!)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Andy Robertson (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Luke Shaw (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 3 | Lucas Digne (+1) | Everton |
| 4 | Ben Chilwell (-1) | Leicester |
| 5 | Jonny (Stay) | Wolves |
| 6 | Sead Kolasinac (+1) | Arsenal |
| 7 | Jose Holebas (-1) | Watford |
| 8 | Danny Rose (New!) | Tottenham |
| 9 | Ryan Bertrand (+1) | Southampton |
| 10 | Matt Ritchie (-1) | Newcastle |
Centre-Backs
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With Aymeric Laporte, John Stones and Toby Alderweireld all out of action, there's not much happening at the top here. Fortunately, a little further down there's plenty to sink your teeth into.
Victor Lindelof turned in his first bad performance for a long time, looking like the pre-Christmas version of himself while trying to keep up with Arsenal. He's not the headline drop, though. That title goes to David Luiz, who threw his own defensive skills into the spotlight for the wrong reasons yet again vs. Wolves.
Rising fast is Sokratis Papastathopoulos, whose two recent big performances against top-six sides push him into the top 10. Willy Boly was incredible against Chelsea and is rewarded with a rise of five.
Biggest rise: Sokratis (+8)
Biggest fall: David Luiz (-8)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Virgil van Dijk (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Aymeric Laporte (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | John Stones (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Toby Alderweireld (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 5 | Michael Keane (Stay) | Everton |
| 6 | Antonio Rudiger (+1) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Victor Lindelof (-1) | Manchester United |
| 8 | Fabian Schar (Stay) | Newcastle |
| 9 | Jannik Vestergaard (Stay) | Southampton |
| 10 | Sokratis Papastathopoulos (+8) | Arsenal |
| 11 | Jan Bednarek (+2) | Southampton |
| 12 | Jan Vertonghen (-2) | Tottenham |
| 13 | Shane Duffy (+1) | Brighton |
| 14 | Willy Boly (+5) | Wolves |
| 15 | Kurt Zouma (-3) | Everton |
| 16 | Lewis Dunk (+1) | Brighton |
| 17 | Conor Coady (+3) | Wolves |
| 18 | Issa Diop (-2) | West Ham |
| 19 | David Luiz (-8) | Chelsea |
| 20 | Ryan Bennett (-5) | Wolves |
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
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The majority of our top 10 central midfielders were quite quiet this week—either because they didn't excel or didn't actually play.
The only change in the top 10 is Joao Moutinho, who was his usual busy self against Chelsea, swapping with Lucas Torreira, who served the first part of a three-match ban this weekend.
In the lower reaches we've lost Ander Herrera (lack of appearances) and James Milner (declining form and importance), creating a couple of quirky moves, like Etienne Capoue and Idrissa Gueye moving up despite not playing that well.
Ashley Westwood and Granit Xhaka both scored on Sunday and join the top 20. Ilkay Gundogan's solid work at the base of midfield for Manchester City is keeping them on track in Fernandinho's absence.
Biggest rise: Ilkay Gundogan (+3)
Biggest fall: James Milner (Out)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Fernandinho (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Bernardo Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | David Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Georginio Wijnaldum (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Declan Rice (Stay) | West Ham |
| 6 | Paul Pogba (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 7 | Fabinho (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 8 | N'Golo Kante (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 9 | Joao Moutinho (+2) | Wolves |
| 10 | Moussa Sissoko (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 11 | Lucas Torreira (-2) | Arsenal |
| 12 | Harry Winks (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 13 | Ruben Neves (+1) | Wolves |
| 14 | Etienne Capoue (+2) | Watford |
| 15 | Idrissa Gueye (+2) | Everton |
| 16 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (-1) | Watford |
| 17 | Ilkay Gundogan (+3) | Manchester City |
| 18 | Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (+1) | Southampton |
| 19 | Ashley Westwood (New!) | Burnley |
| 20 | Granit Xhaka (New!) | Arsenal |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
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With time and ideas running out for those in Chelsea blue, Eden Hazard stepped forward and produced a moment of brilliance that earned his team a share of the spoils against Wolves on Sunday. We're losing count of how many times he's done that this season.
Sadly for him, that sweet strike of the ball wasn't enough to secure headline status in this section, as Raheem Sterling's hat-trick against Watford outshone anything anyone else did.
With Mohamed Salah now back on the wing for Liverpool consistently, he moves back to this section and takes up fourth spot. Figuring out who has had the better season out of he and Sadio Mane is a difficult task.
As a result of this reshuffle, Diogo Jota moves down one despite playing well against Chelsea. It might look odd, but every player above him in the ranking has had a better season, so it is fair.
Ryan Fraser's scintillating performance against Huddersfield Town earns him the biggest rise in this section. He clearly enjoys playing with a certain striker in black and red.
Biggest rise: Ryan Fraser (+7)
Biggest fall: Jesse Lingard (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Raheem Sterling (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Eden Hazard (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 3 | Sadio Mane (+2) | Liverpool |
| 4 | Mohamed Salah (New!) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Heung-Min Son (-2) | Tottenham |
| 6 | Leroy Sane (-2) | Manchester City |
| 7 | Diogo Jota (-1) | Wolves |
| 8 | Anthony Martial (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 9 | Ryan Fraser (+7) | Bournemouth |
| 10 | David Brooks (Stay) | Bournemouth |
| 11 | Christian Eriksen (-2) | Tottenham |
| 12 | Nathan Redmond (Stay) | Southampton |
| 13 | James Maddison (+1) | Leicester |
| 14 | Jesse Lingard (-3) | Manchester United |
| 15 | Gylfi Sigurdsson (-2) | Everton |
| 16 | Felipe Anderson (-1) | West Ham |
| 17 | Gerard Deulofeu (Stay) | Watford |
| 18 | Richarlison (+1) | Everton |
| 19 | Willian (New!) | Chelsea |
| 20 | Dele Alli (New!) | Tottenham |
Strikers
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Welcome back to the action, Callum Wilson! The Bournemouth striker marked his return to the pitch after six games out with a goal and an assist. It lifts him into fourth.
Roberto Firmino transfers back to this section after resuming central striking duties for Liverpool and slots in at ninth. Jamie Vardy's perked up considerably under new manager Brendan Rodgers and snatches Wilfried Zaha's place in the top 10.
Competition for places in this section is now at a season-high, with Zaha not the only one playing well but still missing out. Ashley Barnes, Troy Deeney and Glen Murray have all had good seasons and are snapping at the heels of those lower down.
Biggest rise: Callum Wilson (+4)
Biggest fall: Marcus Rashford (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Sergio Aguero (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Harry Kane (+1) | Tottenham |
| 3 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (+1) | Arsenal |
| 4 | Callum Wilson (+4) | Bournemouth |
| 5 | Raul Jimenez (+2) | Wolves |
| 6 | Alexandre Lacazette (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 7 | Marcus Rashford (-2) | Manchester United |
| 8 | Salomon Rondon (+2) | Newcastle |
| 9 | Roberto Firmino (New!) | Liverpool |
| 10 | Jamie Vardy (New!) | Leicester |
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
