EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 36
Two teams really want that title. Two teams are fighting desperately to stay up. And four teams are seemingly doing everything they can to surrender a UEFA Champions League spot to someone else.
Ladies and gentlemen, the final stretch of this Premier League season has been downright weird so far, and it's probably only going to get weirder.
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, 18 (or more) out of 36.
Players who have appeared in multiple positions (such as 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
1 of 7
Another game, another David De Gea clanger.
In three straight matches he's made an error that's led to a goal, this latest one being a muffed catch that allowed Marcos Alonso to convert the rebound, and each of those errors has been costly in the race for the top four.
In better news, we welcome a new face at a very late stage: Vicente Guaita. He's now played enough games (18) to qualify, so we can recognise his strong shot-stopping and superb aerial command.
Bernd Leno's Arsenal might have lost 3-0 to Arsenal, but from an individual standpoint he was excellent, making a series of good saves and bouncing back from his midweek horror show against Wolves.
Biggest rise: Vicente Guaita (New!)
Biggest fall: David De Gea (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Alisson Becker (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Lukasz Fabianski (Stay) | West Ham United |
| 3 | Ederson Moraes (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Bernd Leno (+1) | Arsenal |
| 5 | Martin Dubravka (-1) | Newcastle United |
| 6 | Vicente Guaita (New!) | Crystal Palace |
| 7 | Ben Foster (-1) | Watford |
| 8 | Kepa Arrizabalaga (-1) | Chelsea |
| 9 | Hugo Lloris (Stay) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| 10 | David De Gea (-2) | Manchester United |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
2 of 7
Both Kyle Walker and Matt Doherty can consider themselves unfortunate to move down. They acquitted themselves well in their respective games but still drop, and that's because of something out of their control: the steam train that is Ricardo Pereira.
When he gets going there's no stopping him, and against Arsenal, he was at 100 per cent. An assist for Jamie Vardy in the dying stages capped an all-action performance from the Portuguese.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka retains his spot at the top after another flawless defensive performance. Seamus Coleman offered up something similar but doesn't quite have enough in the tank to overtake Yan Valery or Cesar Azpilicueta...for now.
Biggest rise: Ricardo Pereira (+2)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Stay) | Crystal Palace |
| 2 | Trent Alexander-Arnold (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 3 | Ricardo Pereira (+2) | Leicester City |
| 4 | Kyle Walker (-1) | Manchester City |
| 5 | Matt Doherty (-1) | Wolves |
| 6 | Cesar Azpilicueta (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Yan Valery (Stay) | Southampton |
| 8 | Seamus Coleman (Stay) | Everton |
| 9 | Pablo Zabaleta (Stay) | West Ham |
| 10 | DeAndre Yedlin (Stay) | Newcastle |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
3 of 7
Every one of our top five left-backs impressed in one way or another this weekend.
From Andy Robertson and Luke Shaw's assists, through Jonny's raw energy and into the solid defensive work of Ben Chilwell and Lucas Digne, they all showed up.
That means the only movement is a rather inconsequential one: Jose Holebas hopping above Ryan Bertrand, who didn't have his best game in Southampton's 3-3 draw with Bournemouth and only really looked solid once he dropped into central defence.
Biggest rise: Jose Holebas (+1)
Biggest fall: Ryan Bertrand (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Andy Robertson (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Lucas Digne (Stay) | Everton |
| 3 | Luke Shaw (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 4 | Jonny (Stay) | Wolves |
| 5 | Ben Chilwell (Stay) | Leicester |
| 6 | Matt Ritchie (Stay) | Newcastle |
| 7 | Jose Holebas (+1) | Watford |
| 8 | Ryan Bertrand (-1) | Southampton |
| 9 | Danny Rose (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 10 | Nacho Monreal (Stay) | Arsenal |
Centre-Backs
4 of 7
Gameweek 36 highlighted the paucity of strong centre-back performances the league is dealing with at the moment. Six of last week's top 10 either didn't play or didn't play well, creating some awkward movements that we'll explain here:
- Jan Vertonghen moves up despite not playing. Consider that a marker for how bad Sokratis Papastathopoulos was.
- Sokratis usually looks good even if Arsenal are struggling, but he succumbed to the malaise against Leicester City.
- Antonio Rudiger looked out of sorts and went off injured at Old Trafford, but with John Stones managing just seven minutes off the bench and Toby Alderweireld duped by Marko Arnautovic for West Ham's goal, he doesn't lose standing.
- At least Michael Keane, Fabian Schar, Kurt Zouma and Ben Mee were good.
Biggest rise: Ben Mee (+3)
Biggest fall: Sokratis Papastathopoulos (-5)
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
5 of 7
N'Golo Kante didn't look 100 per cent fit to take part at Old Trafford in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United but did so anyway. It wasn't a vintage performance, though, and he drops down one as Georginio Wijnaldum—solid against Huddersfield Town—takes his place.
The biggest mover this week is Etienne Capoue, who stood out for the right reasons as Watford lost to Wolves. Idrissa Gueye was similarly excellent against Crystal Palace in a destructive role.
Lucas Torreira's form has dipped over the last month or two, and he now finds himself down in 13th place—a season low.
Biggest rise: Etienne Capoue, Jordan Henderson (+3)
Biggest fall: Lucas Torreira (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Bernardo Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Fernandinho (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | David Silva (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Georginio Wijnaldum (+1) | Liverpool |
| 5 | N'Golo Kante (-1) | Chelsea |
| 6 | Joao Moutinho (Stay) | Wolves |
| 7 | Declan Rice (Stay) | West Ham |
| 8 | Fabinho (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 9 | Paul Pogba (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 10 | Moussa Sissoko (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 11 | Idrissa Gueye (+1) | Everton |
| 12 | Etienne Capoue (+3) | Watford |
| 13 | Lucas Torreira (-2) | Arsenal |
| 14 | Ruben Neves (+2) | Wolves |
| 15 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (-1) | Watford |
| 16 | Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (+1) | Southampton |
| 17 | Jordan Henderson (+3) | Liverpool |
| 18 | Ilkay Gundogan (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 19 | Ashley Westwood (Stay) | Burnley |
| 20 | Wilfred Ndidi (New!) | Leicester |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
6 of 7
The headline story here is Diogo Jota leaping into sixth, replacing Leroy Sane.
It's happened for a mix of reasons, with Jota's irresistible form part of it, but also Sane's lack of minutes of late. He started against Burnley but didn't play well, and a lack of rhythm surely had something to do with that.
Nathan Redmond climbs into the top 10 for the first time this season. He's been excellent all term, not just since Ralph Hasenhuttl was appointed in December. However, because his team-mates failed to convert all the chances he created, his assist tally didn't look too strong. That's been slowly rectified over the last few months.
His colleague James Ward-Prowse joins in 18th. We've lost count of how many positions and roles he's fulfilled this season, but we haven't lost count of the number of goals he's scored. He knocked in his seventh of the campaign on Saturday to go joint-top of the club's league scoring charts with striker Danny Ings.
Ryan Fraser stepped off the bench to assist against Saints, but he moves down in the wake of the James Maddison masterclass against Arsenal.
Biggest rise: James Ward-Prowse (New!)
Biggest fall: Christian Eriksen (-2)
| 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 | Diogo Jota (+1) | Wolves |
| 7 | Leroy Sane (-1) | Manchester City |
| 8 | James Maddison (+1) | Leicester |
| 9 | Ryan Fraser (-1) | Bournemouth |
| 10 | Nathan Redmond (+1) | Southampton |
| 11 | David Brooks (+1) | Bournemouth |
| 12 | Christian Eriksen (-2) | Tottenham |
| 13 | Wilfried Zaha (Stay) | Crystal Palace |
| 14 | Gerard Deulofeu (Stay) | Watford |
| 15 | Richarlison (Stay) | Everton |
| 16 | Gylfi Sigurdsson (Stay) | Everton |
| 17 | Felipe Anderson (Stay) | West Ham |
| 18 | James Ward-Prowse (New!) | Southampton |
| 19 | Lucas Moura (-1) | Tottenham |
| 20 | Dele Alli (-1) | Tottenham |
Strikers
7 of 7
Sergio Aguero widened the gap between himself and the rest of the Premier League's strikers this weekend, scoring the only goal in a game Manchester City had to win against Burnley.
Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang disappointed in yet another away match, with the former dropping three spots as a result. Raul Jimenez, Jamie Vardy and Callum Wilson were all excellent and deserve to rise above him.
Salomon Rondon's super, yet slightly under-the-radar season continued with a bullish performance and an assist against Brighton.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+1)
Biggest fall: Alexandre Lacazette (-3)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Sergio Aguero (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 3 | Harry Kane (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 4 | Roberto Firmino (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Raul Jimenez (+1) | Wolves |
| 6 | Jamie Vardy (+1) | Leicester |
| 7 | Callum Wilson (+1) | Bournemouth |
| 8 | Alexandre Lacazette (-3) | Arsenal |
| 9 | Salomon Rondon (+1) | Newcastle |
| 10 | Marcus Rashford (-1) | Manchester United |
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
