EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 34
Now that the UEFA Champions League quarter-final frenzy has died down, it's time to turn our attention back to the Premier League's run-in. With just four gameweeks remaining, the battle at the top intensifying and the struggle to avoid the drop reopening, there's rarely been as much to play for at this stage.
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, 17 (or more) out of 34.
Players who have appeared in multiple positions (Wilfried Zaha, Mohamed Salah and Bernardo Silva) are categorized by the spot they have played in most. If those values are level, they fall into the category for the role they played most recently.
Our rankings provide a week-to-week idea of who has been the best in each position this season. So if a Team of the Season were crowned right now, the No. 1s in each category would be our choices.
Goalkeepers
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The most notable mover this week is Ben Foster, and it's for the wrong reasons. Among a tight cluster of closely related performers in the middle of the pack, the Watford No. 1's grievous error to allow Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score drops him three spots.
Martin Dubravka's on the rise thanks to a commanding showing against Leicester City, while Alisson Becker's clean, solid performance against Chelsea edges him slightly further from Lukasz Fabianski at the top.
Bernd Leno's been dependable for several weeks. It's not out of the question that he'll challenge for second, or even first, over the home stretch.
Biggest rise: Martin Dubravka (+3)
Biggest fall: Ben Foster (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Alisson Becker (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Lukasz Fabianski (Stay) | West Ham United |
| 3 | Bernd Leno (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 4 | David De Gea (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 5 | Martin Dubravka (+3) | Newcastle United |
| 6 | Ederson Moraes (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 7 | Kepa Arrizabalaga (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 8 | Ben Foster (-3) | Watford |
| 9 | Hugo Lloris (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 10 | Rui Patricio (Stay) | Wolves |
Right-Backs/Right-Wing-Backs
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We are so, so short of right-back talent in the Premier League.
The top five have all had good seasons, but beyond that it's picking between the inconsistent (Cesar Azpilicueta, Seamus Coleman) or the generally underwhelming (Ashley Young, DeAndre Yedlin).
Yan Valery is excepted from those groupings somewhat, as he only made the first-team breakthrough in December and is therefore playing catchup.
The most positive story from this section this week is Kyle Walker, who is arguably uniquely qualified to deal with the threat of Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha—and proved as much.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+1)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Trent Alexander-Arnold (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Stay) | Crystal Palace |
| 3 | Kyle Walker (+1) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Ricardo Pereira (-1) | Leicester |
| 5 | Matt Doherty (Stay) | Wolves |
| 6 | Cesar Azpilicueta (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Yan Valery (+1) | Southampton |
| 8 | Seamus Coleman (-1) | Everton |
| 9 | Ashley Young (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 10 | DeAndre Yedlin (Stay) | Newcastle |
Left-Backs/Left-Wing-Backs
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Ryan Bertrand's steady rise continues; he's been excellent over the past few months and on Saturday handled Wolves with aplomb.
We welcome Nacho Monreal to the rankings, who has played more games at left-back/left-wing-back than centre-back, so he lands here. His season has been very stop-start due to injury, but in the games he's played, he's generally been good. Danny Rose drops out as a result.
Matt Ritchie delivered the game-winning assist against Leicester City and then dug in to help protect the lead. It's not the first time that's happened, and it won't be the last.
Biggest rise: Ryan Bertrand, Matt Ritchie (+1)
Biggest fall: Jose Holebas, Sead Kolasinac (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Andy Robertson (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Luke Shaw (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 3 | Lucas Digne (Stay) | Everton |
| 4 | Ben Chilwell (Stay) | Leicester |
| 5 | Jonny (Stay) | Wolves |
| 6 | Ryan Bertrand (+1) | Southampton |
| 7 | Matt Ritchie (+1) | Newcastle |
| 8 | Jose Holebas (-2) | Watford |
| 9 | Nacho Monreal (New!) | Arsenal |
| 10 | Sead Kolasinac (-2) | Arsenal |
Centre-Backs
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It might seem strange to see Antonio Rudiger move up, given he injured his knee against Liverpool, but for 40 minutes he looked solid, and it was after his departure that Chelsea caved inward.
Michael Keane also missed a second straight game, so there's grounds for a swap.
Burnley boys James Tarkowski and Ben Mee are trending the right way, the former moving up three and the latter joining the ranking. They've helped their team sail clear of relegation worries.
Lewis Dunk has had a difficult month and drops out.
Biggest rise: Ben Mee (New!)
Biggest fall: Lewis Dunk (Out)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Virgil van Dijk (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Aymeric Laporte (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | John Stones (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Antonio Rudiger (+1) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Michael Keane (-1) | Everton |
| 6 | Toby Alderweireld (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 7 | Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 8 | Victor Lindelof (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 9 | Jan Bednarek (Stay) | Southampton |
| 10 | Jan Vertonghen (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 11 | Fabian Schar (+2) | Newcastle |
| 12 | Jannik Vestergaard (Stay) | Southampton |
| 13 | Kurt Zouma (-2) | Everton |
| 14 | James Tarkowski (+3) | Burnley |
| 15 | Willy Boly (Stay) | Wolves |
| 16 | Shane Duffy (-2) | Brighton |
| 17 | Ben Mee (New!) | Burnley |
| 18 | Nathan Ake (New!) | Bournemouth |
| 19 | Conor Coady (-1) | Wolves |
| 20 | Fabian Balbuena (New!) | West Ham |
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
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There's a case for a move up for N'Golo Kante, Declan Rice, Paul Pogba and Fabinho, as they all played well. For all of them to do so is impossible, though, so only Kante gets the nod, edging ahead of Georginio Wijnaldum.
In the lower half, we welcome two new faces in Jordan Henderson, who is on a hot streak of form thanks to switching to a more attacking role, and James Ward-Prowse, who has been superb this calendar year, adding personality and goals to his game.
Everton were terrible against already relegated Fulham. Idrissa Gueye drops accordingly.
Biggest rise: James Ward-Prowse (New!)
Biggest fall: Idrissa Gueye (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Fernandinho (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Bernardo Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | David Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | N'Golo Kante (+1) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Georginio Wijnaldum (-1) | Liverpool |
| 6 | Declan Rice (Stay) | West Ham |
| 7 | Paul Pogba (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 8 | Fabinho (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 9 | Joao Moutinho (Stay) | Wolves |
| 10 | Moussa Sissoko (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 11 | Lucas Torreira (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 12 | Harry Winks (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 13 | Etienne Capoue (+1) | Watford |
| 14 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (+1) | Watford |
| 15 | Idrissa Gueye (-2) | Everton |
| 16 | Ruben Neves (Stay) | Wolves |
| 17 | Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Stay) | Southampton |
| 18 | Ashley Westwood (Stay) | Burnley |
| 19 | James Ward-Prowse (New!) | Southampton |
| 20 | Jordan Henderson (New!) | Liverpool |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
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Every now and then, Bournemouth's attack blitzes someone. They have been wildly inconsistent this season, but when they're hot, watch out.
True to form, Ryan Fraser was at the centre of all things good for the Cherries last weekend. He's closing in on 20 combined goals and assists, sitting one short, with 12 assists making up the bulk of his work. David Brooks was also excellent and gets a boost, too.
Further down, we've got some major reshuffling. Anthony Martial may have won a penalty, but his overall performance against West Ham wasn't good, and Everton's attackers fell after a bad day against Fulham.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+2)
Biggest fall: Gylfi Sigurdsson (-4)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Raheem Sterling (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Eden Hazard (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 3 | Sadio Mane (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 4 | Mohamed Salah (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Heung-Min Son (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 6 | Leroy Sane (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 7 | Ryan Fraser (+2) | Bournemouth |
| 8 | Diogo Jota (-1) | Wolves |
| 9 | James Maddison (-1) | Leicester |
| 10 | David Brooks (+2) | Bournemouth |
| 11 | Nathan Redmond (Stay) | Southampton |
| 12 | Christian Eriksen (+2) | Tottenham |
| 13 | Anthony Martial (-3) | Manchester United |
| 14 | Wilfried Zaha (New!) | Crystal Palace |
| 15 | Felipe Anderson (+2) | West Ham |
| 16 | Richarlison (-3) | Everton |
| 17 | Gerard Deulofeu (-1) | Watford |
| 18 | Lucas Moura (New!) | Tottenham |
| 19 | Gylfi Sigurdsson (-4) | Everton |
| 20 | Dele Alli (-2) | Tottenham |
Strikers
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Sunday's match between Liverpool and Chelsea was your quintessential Roberto Firmino exhibit. He didn't score and didn't assist but showed good form, setting the tone up front by linking play well and helping press.
He jumps into fifth, replacing Raul Jimenez, who was nonexistent against Southampton.
Callum Wilson dropped four spots last week, but he responded with a goal and two assists, leading to a rise of two. Clearly he's the sort of player who responds to a public dressing down!
Biggest rise: Callum Wilson (+2)
Biggest fall: Several (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Sergio Aguero (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 3 | Harry Kane (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 4 | Alexandre Lacazette (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 5 | Roberto Firmino (+1) | Liverpool |
| 6 | Raul Jimenez (-1) | Wolves |
| 7 | Callum Wilson (+2) | Bournemouth |
| 8 | Jamie Vardy (-1) | Leicester |
| 9 | Marcus Rashford (-1) | Manchester United |
| 10 | Salomon Rondon (Stay) | Newcastle |
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
