EPL 100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 37
Manchester City's dramatic victory over Leicester City on Monday evening set the table for the final matchday: Beat Brighton and the Premier League title is theirs, no matter what Liverpool do.
Sunday represents the final furlong in what has been a remarkable title race and a remarkable season—from the tussle at the top to the struggle at the bottom, inclusive of all the twists and turns wedged between them. It's been a blast.
This is your penultimate edition of the EPL 100. 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
There's been little to choose between Alisson Becker and Lukasz Fabianski over the last few months; they've been the clear best two goalkeepers in the league and have continually churned out good performances of late.
This weekend was Fabianski's golden chance to leap to the top given Alisson conceded two, and he may feel he did enough. He did keep a clean sheet, but he was only forced to make one save and, in fact, gifted Southampton a chance due to some poor distribution.
Jordan Pickford's fifth clean sheet in the space of six games pushes him back into the top 10. David De Gea drops out as a result.
Biggest rise: Jordan Pickford (New!)
Biggest fall: David De Gea (Out)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Alisson Becker (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Lukasz Fabianski (Stay) | West Ham United |
| 3 | Ederson Moraes (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 4 | Bernd Leno (Stay) | Arsenal |
| 5 | Martin Dubravka (Stay) | Newcastle United |
| 6 | Vicente Guaita (Stay) | Crystal Palace |
| 7 | Kepa Arrizabalaga (+1) | Chelsea |
| 8 | Ben Foster (-1) | Watford |
| 9 | Jordan Pickford (New!) | Everton |
| 10 | Hugo Lloris (-1) | Tottenham Hotspur |
Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs
2 of 7
The battle at the top of the goalkeepers mirrors the one we have going here in the right-backs section: Two outstanding performers are borderline inseparable, but we have to make the call one way or the other.
Trent Alexander-Arnold bagged two assists against Newcastle United, showcasing that fantastic delivery of his, but it's not enough to take him top—not after Aaron Wan-Bissaka spent his evening winning tackles and duels for fun...again.
Seamus Coleman's goal-plus-clean sheet combination moves him up another spot. Given the sort of form he's worked his way into, he'd be forgiven for not wanting this season to end. Adam Smith replaces DeAndre Yedlin, who has lost his spot in Rafa Benitez's XI, in the top 10.
Matt Doherty's good performance against Fulham is enough to lift him above Kyle Walker but not over Ricardo Pereira, who shone against Manchester City.
Biggest rise: Adam Smith (New!)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-1)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Stay) | Crystal Palace |
| 2 | Trent Alexander-Arnold (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 3 | Ricardo Pereira (Stay) | Leicester City |
| 4 | Matt Doherty (+1) | Wolves |
| 5 | Kyle Walker (-1) | Manchester City |
| 6 | Cesar Azpilicueta (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Seamus Coleman (+1) | Everton |
| 8 | Yan Valery (-1) | Southampton |
| 9 | Adam Smith (New!) | Bournemouth |
| 10 | Pablo Zabaleta (-1) | West Ham |
Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs
3 of 7
Luke Shaw's late-season fall continues, as he drops below Jonny and Ben Chilwell into fifth place following a subpar performance against Huddersfield Town. That's the sort of game you expect him to be dominating in, not struggling through.
In more positive news for English left-backs, Danny Rose is on the up after a strong showing against Bournemouth. With his side down to nine men, he was forced to get through a lot of work.
Despite being on the losing side, Chilwell was excellent at the Etihad Stadium on Monday night, probably doing enough to convince a manager like Pep Guardiola to spend a lot of money on him this summer.
Biggest rise: Multiple (+1)
Biggest fall: Luke Shaw (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Andy Robertson (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Lucas Digne (Stay) | Everton |
| 3 | Jonny (+1) | Wolves |
| 4 | Ben Chilwell (+1) | Leicester |
| 5 | Luke Shaw (-2) | Manchester United |
| 6 | Matt Ritchie (Stay) | Newcastle |
| 7 | Jose Holebas (Stay) | Watford |
| 8 | Danny Rose (+1) | Tottenham |
| 9 | Ryan Bertrand (-1) | Southampton |
| 10 | Nacho Monreal (Stay) | Arsenal |
Centre-Backs
4 of 7
Another week, another Everton clean sheet, another boost for a Toffees defender. Kurt Zouma hops above Jan Bednarek after the two endured contrasting times on the pitch: The former was dominant, the latter meek.
Two members of Wolves' central defensive trio as well as Issa Diop and Shane Duffy all looked very solid this weekend, so all rise at least one. Sokratis Papastathopoulos was probably the worst of the top 20 this week; his strange afternoon against Brighton was underlined by the yellow card he was shown...for diving!
Biggest rise: Willy Boly (+3)
Biggest fall: Multiple (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Virgil van Dijk (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 2 | Aymeric Laporte (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 3 | Michael Keane (Stay) | Everton |
| 4 | Antonio Rudiger (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 5 | Toby Alderweireld (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 6 | John Stones (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 7 | Jan Vertonghen (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 8 | Fabian Schar (Stay) | Newcastle |
| 9 | Kurt Zouma (+1) | Everton |
| 10 | Jan Bednarek (-1) | Southampton |
| 11 | Victor Lindelof (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 12 | Willy Boly (+3) | Wolves |
| 13 | Ben Mee (Stay) | Burnley |
| 14 | Sokratis Papastathopoulos (-2) | Arsenal |
| 15 | Jannik Vestergaard (-1) | Southampton |
| 16 | Conor Coady (+1) | Wolves |
| 17 | Issa Diop (+1) | West Ham |
| 18 | James Tarkowski (-2) | Burnley |
| 19 | Shane Duffy (Stay) | Brighton |
| 20 | Ryan Bennett (Stay) | Wolves |
Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders
5 of 7
Even though we've been conditioned to expect brilliance from Joao Moutinho, he can still blow you away with the odd showing.
Fulham at home may not be the most difficult of games, but Wolves still needed their Portuguese general at full creative tilt to help break them down. He totalled six key passes thanks to an array of incisive and dangerous deliveries, and that paves his path into the top four here.
Lucas Torreira's drop of two is the biggest in this section, and it's the second successive week it's occurred. He's found peak-performance levels quite elusive of late.
Biggest rise: Joao Moutinho (+2)
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 | Joao Moutinho (+2) | Wolves |
| 5 | Georginio Wijnaldum (-1) | Liverpool |
| 6 | N'Golo Kante (-1) | Chelsea |
| 7 | Declan Rice (Stay) | West Ham |
| 8 | Fabinho (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 9 | Paul Pogba (Stay) | Manchester United |
| 10 | Moussa Sissoko (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 11 | Idrissa Gueye (Stay) | Everton |
| 12 | Etienne Capoue (Stay) | Watford |
| 13 | Ruben Neves (+1) | Wolves |
| 14 | Abdoulaye Doucoure (+1) | Watford |
| 15 | Lucas Torreira (-2) | Arsenal |
| 16 | Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Stay) | Southampton |
| 17 | Jordan Henderson (Stay) | Liverpool |
| 18 | Ilkay Gundogan (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 19 | Wilfred Ndidi (+1) | Leicester |
| 20 | Ashley Westwood (-1) | Burnley |
Attacking Midfielders/Wingers
6 of 7
Mohamed Salah has scored four goals in his last four games. When Sadio Mane deserved credit for hauling Liverpool through the middle stretch of the season, Salah deserves credit for making the difference now when the pressure's really on.
Leroy Sane's slide continues. Once again, Pep Guardiola opted not to start him in a high-pressure game, opting for Phil Foden and realigning the midfield instead. On the same pitch, James Maddison—who jumps above him into seventh—looked impressive with the sparing touches of the ball he managed.
Biggest rise: Richarlison (+2)
Biggest fall: Christian Eriksen (-2)
| Rank | Player | Club |
| 1 | Raheem Sterling (Stay) | Manchester City |
| 2 | Eden Hazard (Stay) | Chelsea |
| 3 | Mohamed Salah (+1) | Liverpool |
| 4 | Sadio Mane (-1) | Liverpool |
| 5 | Heung-Min Son (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 6 | Diogo Jota (Stay) | Wolves |
| 7 | James Maddison (+1) | Leicester |
| 8 | Leroy Sane (-1) | Manchester City |
| 9 | Ryan Fraser (Stay) | Bournemouth |
| 10 | Nathan Redmond (Stay) | Southampton |
| 11 | David Brooks (Stay) | Bournemouth |
| 12 | Wilfried Zaha (+1) | Crystal Palace |
| 13 | Richarlison (+2) | Everton |
| 14 | Christian Eriksen (-2) | Tottenham |
| 15 | Gerard Deulofeu (-1) | Watford |
| 16 | Gylfi Sigurdsson (Stay) | Everton |
| 17 | Felipe Anderson (Stay) | West Ham |
| 18 | James Ward-Prowse (Stay) | Southampton |
| 19 | Lucas Moura (Stay) | Tottenham |
| 20 | Dele Alli (Stay) | Tottenham |
Strikers
7 of 7
Rarely does Liverpool's defence look like it can't cope with its opponent, but a Salomon Rondon-led Newcastle United outfit made it squirm on Monday night.
The Venezuelan was in typically bullish form, throwing his weight around and smacking shots. Chalk it up as yet another superb performance in what has been a great season for him.
Him swapping with Alexandre Lacazette is the only change here, as the top 10 strikers look pretty much cemented.
Biggest rise: Salomon Rondon (+1)
Biggest fall: Alexandre Lacazette (-1)
| 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 (Stay) | Wolves |
| 6 | Jamie Vardy (Stay) | Leicester |
| 7 | Callum Wilson (Stay) | Bournemouth |
| 8 | Salomon Rondon (+1) | Newcastle |
| 9 | Alexandre Lacazette (-1) | Arsenal |
| 10 | Marcus Rashford (Stay) | Manchester United |
All statistics via WhoScored.com.
