This past week proved it remains nigh-on impossible to call what's going to happen in the Premier League.

Those who thought they had the season all figured out are reeling, as Manchester City closed to within three points of the previously unassailable Liverpool while Manchester United continue their march toward the top four.

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 the games—so in this case, 13 (or more) out of 25. That rules out the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri and Fabinho for the time being.

Players who have appeared in multiple positions (Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mohamed Salah) 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

Our top two goalkeepers, Lukasz Fabianski and Alisson Becker, went head-to-head on the pitch on Monday—and it's fair to say one looked more safe and assured than the other.

None of Fabianski's five saves were terribly difficult, but his handling was spot-on and his throws to spark counter-attacks were very good. That's a description you could usually attribute to Alisson too, but his performance was a lot shakier, with his distribution actually being troublesome at certain points.

Ben Foster slips in ahead of Ederson Moraes after putting in another excellent showing en route to a clean sheet against Brighton. Bernd Leno may have conceded three, but his nine saves contributed to a faultless individual performance from him.

Martin Dubravka's uncharacteristic error for Tottenham's goal on Saturday drops him two.

Biggest rise: Multiple (+1)

Biggest fall: Martin Dubravka (-2)

Right-Backs/Right-Wing-Backs

It's no mean feat to simply retain the throne among right-backs, such is this position's volatility from one week to the next, so credit Aaron Wan-Bissaka for doing so. He was solid and dependable against Fulham.

Ricardo Pereira has now fallen from first to fourth in the space of two gameweeks, with his mistake in the build-up to Manchester United's goal on Sunday costing both his team and himself. Matt Doherty, who won a penalty against Everton, swaps into second at his expense.

Hector Bellerin's been removed from the top 10 as a result of his season-ending injury. Given he'll play no further part, there's no need for him to take a space.

Biggest rise: Multiple (+2)

Biggest fall: Hector Bellerin (Out)

Left-Backs/Left-Wing-Backs

With Lucas Digne suspended, Jose Holebas struggling against Brighton, Sead Kolasinac playing really poorly against Manchester City and Ben Davies injured, there wasn't much scope for any kind of excitement among the left-backs this week.

Jonny and Luke Shaw both played well, and that's shrunk the gap between themselves and the top two. Also factoring into that were Ben Chilwell and Andy Robertson's so-so showings.

The big disappointment this week was Danny Rose's benching; he was close to the appearances threshold to join the top 10 but needs to start the next three straight to get in now.

Biggest rise: Adam Smith (+1)

Biggest fall: Sead Kolasinac (-1)

Centre-Backs

This week we say goodbye to Joe Gomez, who has now started fewer than half of Liverpool's league games. That, combined with Antonio Rudiger and John Stones' benchings, is the only reason Michael Keane stays where he is—none of the three below him played!

It also helps create a current that Victor Lindelof rides upward in. He put in another smart performance against Leicester City and now ranks just outside the top five.

Jan Vertonghen's back in the top 20 following his return to fitness and form. His performance on Saturday was one of his best in a while—despite it coming from left-back!

Biggest rise: Jannik Vestergaard, David Luiz (+3)

Biggest fall: Nathan Ake, Kurt Zouma (-3)

Defensive Midfielders/Central Midfielders

Last week David Silva jumped ahead of Bernardo Silva. This week they swap places.

They're so closely matched in performances this season that it's simply coming down to who played better in the most recent game. This time, that was Bernardo, who injected life into Manchester City's play when it needed a boost and worked tirelessly in the defensive phase.

Declan Rice put in the sort of monster performance on Monday that we've come to expect from him. One of the main reasons Liverpool struggled to find their flow was that Rice kept destroying their attacks.

You'd expect N'Golo Kante's two-assist performance's to be worth a rise of at least one, but unfortunately for him, Paul Pogba and Joao Moutinho were very good too, so there's nowhere for him to go.

Biggest rise: Ander Herrera (+3)

Biggest fall: Abdoulaye Doucoure (-3)

Attacking Midfielders/Wingers

The top five shifts again. It's never quiet in this section, is it?

Leroy Sane fell victim to Pep Guardiola's rotation policy and, in the wake of excellent showings from Heung-Min Son and Eden Hazard, drops to fourth. Sadio Mane rises into fifth after scoring in his third straight game.

Diogo Jota's steady ascent continued after he did well against Everton. Jesse Lingard cracks the top 10 following a fluent performance against Leicester City, and Nathan Redmond's goal against Burnley is rewarded with his highest rank to date this season.

Biggest rise: Sadio Mane (+3)

Biggest fall: Ryan Fraser (-3)

Strikers

Sergio Aguero's hat-trick against Arsenal was probably the individual performance of the weekend. It ensured Manchester City started what promises to be an examining week in the perfect way, and it lifts him oh-so-close to Mohamed Salah in these rankings too.

Marcus Rashford's neatly taken goal against Leicester City moves him into the top five, while Raul Jimenez—who also continues to score at a rate of knots—rises two after his performance against Everton.

Richarlison clings on to 10th despite not impressing against Wolves. He's lucky none of Josh King, Aleksandar Mitrovic or Danny Ings did any damage this past weekend.

Biggest rise: Raul Jimenez (+3)

Biggest fall: Callum Wilson (-2)

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All statistics via WhoScored.com.