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EPL100: Ranking of Premier League's Best Players After Matchday 5

Sam Tighe

Welcome back, Premier League football. Ten games stretched from Saturday afternoon through to Monday night, beginning with Liverpool taking on Tottenham and ending with a south coast rivalry (of sorts), it was absolute bliss. Please stop taking international breaks!

To help you chew over all the action and assess how every team and player got on, B/R returns with another season of the EPL100, ranking the best players in the Premier League by position. It's important to note this ranking's movements covers the last two gameweeks' worth of performances, as there was no EPL100 after Gameweek 4.

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 more than 50 percent of the games—so, in this case, three out of five or more.

In a situation where a player has played in multiple positions (example: Bernardo Silva), they will fall into the category they've played the most minutes in. If those values are level, they will fall into the category they most recently played in.

Goalkeepers

OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

The porous nature of Burnley's midfield and defence is ensuring Joe Hart is kept very busy. Ahead of the international break, he impressed against Manchester United with a penalty stop. Afterwards against Wolves, he made save after save to bail the Clarets out.

With regard to Alisson's fall down the rankings, remember this takes into account his error against Leicester City. Saturday's performance against Spurs was much better, with his grip being firm when taking in shots, but it's not enough to stop the slide.

Biggest rise: Joe Hart (New!)

Biggest fall: Alisson Becker (-6)

       

Top 10 Goalkeepers
Rank Player Club
1 Neil Etheridge (Stay) Cardiff City
2 Joe Hart (New!) Burnley
3 Alex McCarthy (+1) Southampton
4 Rui Patricio (+2) Wolves
5 Lukasz Fabianski (+5) West Ham
6 Ben Foster (-4) Watford
7 Ederson Moraes (-2) Manchester City
8 Asmir Begovic (New!) Bournemouth
9 Alisson Becker (-6) Liverpool
10 Wayne Hennessey (New!) Crystal Palace

Right-Backs/Right Wing-Backs

Sam Bagnall - AMA/Getty Images

Daryl Janmaat's place at the top of this section is far from secure. With Cesar Azpilicueta, Kyle Walker and Trent Alexander-Arnold all finding their groove, he's got a real job on to hold them at arm's length.

Matt Doherty enters the ranking at No. 5. He took a few games to get up to speed to life in the Premier League but is now showing his best level. The man of the match against Burnley on Sunday, he attacked with purpose and defended studiously.

Kieran Trippier drops like a stone due to two poor showings in a row.

Biggest rise: Matt Doherty (New!)

Biggest fall: Kieran Trippier (-7)

        

Top 10 RBs/RWBs
Rank Player Club
1 Daryl Janmaat (Stay) Watford
2 Cesar Azpilicueta (+1) Chelsea
3 Kyle Walker (+2) Manchester City
4 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Stay)
Liverpool
5 Matt Doherty (New!) Wolves
6 Aaron Wan-Bissaka (+1) Crystal Palace
7 DeAndre Yedlin (+3) Newcastle United
8 Adam Smith (Stay) Bournemouth
9 Kieran Trippier (-7) Tottenham
10 Hector Bellerin (New!) Arsenal

Left-Backs/Left Wing-Backs

James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images

That Benjamin Mendy would total four assists by this point is a somewhat believable claim; that Jose Holebas would too is distinctly less so. Still, credit to the Greek set-piece master: He's been effective from dead balls and strong defensively too.

This group feels very strong. From Holebas to Ben Chilwell in seventh, it's packed with top performers. Marcos Alonso's a creative monster, Andrew Robertson's incredibly reliable and Luke Shaw's really finding his feet.

Jonny enters the top 10 after successive solid showings in clean-sheet victories for Wolves. 

Biggest rise: Jonny (New!)

Biggest fall: Multiple (-2)

       

Top 10 LBs/LWBs
Rank Player Club
1 Jose Holebas (Stay) Watford
2 Marcos Alonso (Stay) Chelsea
3 Andrew Robertson (+1)
Liverpool
4 Luke Shaw (Stay)
Manchester United
5 Benjamin Mendy (-2) Manchester City
6 Jonny (New!) Wolves
7 Ben Chilwell (-2) Leicester City
8 Patrick van Aanholt (-1) Crystal Palace
9 Ryan Bertrand (Stay) Southampton
10 Nacho Monreal (-2) Arsenal

Centre-Backs

OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

Consistently high-performing centre-backs are in short supply right now. There are some wild shifts in this section (some names, such as Harry Maguire and Steve Cook, have completely disappeared) and that's representative of the up-and-down play in this position.

At least you can count on Virgil van Dijk and Aymeric Laporte to put together consecutive strong games, and they're clearly ahead of this pack. The ones from Craig Cathcart to Toby Alderweireld are pretty good too, but from Chris Smalling down, they're either struggling for consistency or dipping in and out of the XI.

Biggest rise: Ryan Bennett (New!)

Biggest fall: Steve Cook (Out!)

        

Top 20 CBs
Rank Player Club
1 Virgil van Dijk (Stay)
Liverpool
2 Aymeric Laporte (Stay) Manchester City
3 Craig Cathcart (+3) Watford
4 Joe Gomez (+4) Liverpool
5 Ryan Bennett (New!) Wolves
6 Antonio Rudiger (+3) Chelsea
7 Jan Vertonghen (-2) Tottenham
8 Michael Keane (Stay) Everton
9 Toby Alderweireld (+1) Tottenham
10 Chris Smalling (New!) Manchester United
11 John Stones (-7)
Manchester City
12 Christian Kabasele (-9) Watford
13 Willy Boly (Stay) Wolves
14 Conor Coady (+5)
Wolves
15 Jannik Vestergaard (-3)
Southampton
16 Federico Fernandez (New!) Newcastle United
17 James Tomkins (New!) Crystal Palace
18 Shane Duffy (+2)
Brighton
19 Jamaal Lascelles (New!) Newcastle United
20 Issa Diop (New!) West Ham

Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders

Marc Atkins/Getty Images

In stark contrast to the centre-backs, we're spoilt for quality when it comes to central midfielders.

James Milner's irrepressible performance against Tottenham keeps him in first, while colleagues Naby Keita and Georginio Wijnaldum also retain spots inside the top 10.

Bernardo Silva transfers over from the attacking midfielders/wingers—he's been back and forth all season—and takes third after a scintillating showing against Fulham. David Silva wasn't bad either.

Abdoulaye Doucoure, Etienne Capoue, Jean Michael Seri and Wilfred Ndidi weren't at their best this week. Mateo Kovacic was, though, and has enough appearances under his belt to enter the rankings now.

Biggest rise: Mateo Kovacic (New!)

Biggest fall: Etienne Capoue (-8)

       

Top 20 DMs/CMs
Rank Player Club
1 James Milner (Stay) Liverpool
2 Ruben Neves (Stay) Wolves
3 Bernardo Silva (+8)
Manchester City
4 David Silva (+7) Manchester City
5 Joao Moutinho (+7)
Wolves
6 Naby Keita (-3) Liverpool
7 Jorginho (Stay) Chelsea
8 Georginio Wijnaldum (+1) Liverpool
9 Fernandinho (+7) Manchester City
10 Mateo Kovacic (New!) Chelsea
11 N'Golo Kante (-7) Chelsea
12 Abdoulaye Doucoure (-6) Watford
13 Etienne Capoue (-8) Watford
14 Jean Michael Seri (-6) Fulham
15 Philip Billing (New!) Huddersfield Town
16 Ilkay Gundogan (-1) Manchester City 
17 Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (New!) Southampton
18 Tom Cairney (-1) Fulham 
19 Mario Lemina (New!) Southampton
20 Aaron Mooy (New!)  Huddersfield Town 

Attacking Midfielders/Wingers

Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Eden Hazard's hat-trick against Cardiff City sends him roaring to the top of this section. He's now the Premier League's top scorer on five goals and has played superbly every time he's taken to the pitch.

Backing him up are Raheem Sterling and Ryan Fraser—two similarly productive wingers who have really enjoyed the early stages of this season. A bit further down, Liverpool duo Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah continue to perform well.

Helder Costa of Wolves is fighting for his spot in the XI every time he takes to the pitch as the club's record signing, Adama Traore, is breathing down his neck. So far, it's only inspired Costa to new heights. 

Biggest rise: Ryan Fraser (+14)

Biggest fall: Multiple (-6)

        

Top 20 AMs/Wingers
Rank Player Club
1 Eden Hazard (+2) Chelsea
2 Raheem Sterling (+2) Manchester City
3 Ryan Fraser (+14) Bournemouth
4 Roberto Pereyra (-3) Watford
5 Sadio Mane (+1) Liverpool
6 Mohamed Salah (+1) Liverpool
7 Richarlison (-2) Everton
8 Lucas Moura (-6) Tottenham
9 Pedro (Stay) Chelsea
10 Gylfi Sigurdsson (Stay) Everton
11 Andre Schurrle (+3)
Fulham
12 Helder Costa (New!) Wolves
13 Willian (New!) Chelsea
14 Theo Walcott (-6) Everton
15 James Maddison (+1) Leicester City
16 Will Hughes (+3) Watford
17 Felipe Anderson (-4) West Ham
18 Dele Alli (-6) Tottenham
19 Nathan Redmond (New!)  Southampton
20 Demarai Gray (-5) Leicester City

Strikers

Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Sergio Aguero hasn't scored in three games, but fortunately for Manchester City, he has turned provider, laying on two assists in his last two appearances. It's enough to keep him on top.

Danny Ings and Roberto Firmino are the two big positive movers, each stepping up three spots, and their performance hallmarks are actually quite similar: work rate, creativity and key goals scored.

Aleksandar Mitrovic drops six spots. He has not shown his best form in the last two fixtures.

Biggest rise: Multiple (+3)

Biggest fall: Aleksandar Mitrovic (-6)

       

Top 10 Strikers
Rank Player Club
1 Sergio Aguero (Stay) Manchester City
2 Callum Wilson (Stay)
Bournemouth
3 Troy Deeney (+1)
Watford
4 Wilfried Zaha (+1) Crystal Palace
5 Danny Ings (+3) Southampton
6 Roberto Firmino (+3) Liverpool
7 Andre Gray (Stay) Watford
8 Glenn Murray (New!) Brighton
9 Aleksandar Mitrovic (-6) Fulham
10 Romelu Lukaku (New!) Manchester United

                      

Facebook.com/SamTigheBR

All statistics via WhoScored.com.

   

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