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After the first international break of the season, the Premier League is back. We’ve had the first ever Nations League fixtures, and although they were slightly more exciting than the usual meaningless friendlies, we all welcomed the return of the Premier League.
The biggest game of matchday five saw Liverpool travel to Wembley to take on Tottenham. The Reds made it five wins out of five with a 2-1 win, but questions will be asked about the referee’s decision not to give a penalty for Sadio Mane’s late challenge on Son Heung Min.
Chelsea joined Liverpool on 15 points out of a possible 15, with a convincing 4-1 win over Cardiff City, Eden Hazard scoring a hat-trick. Arsenal look to be coming to terms with things under Unai Emery, as they picked up a win away at Newcastle United.
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Another manager picking up a much needed three points was Jose Mourinho, who saw his side end Watford’s 100% record with a 2-1 win at Vicarage Road. The most exciting game of the weekend came at Bournemouth, who picked up a 4-2 victory over Leicester City.
On Sunday, West Ham finally won their first point of the season, picking up an impressive 3-1 win away Everton, Andriy Yarmolenko scoring twice. Monday night saw Brighton produce an impressive comeback to draw 2-2 with Southampton from 2-0 down.
Here are the top performers in the Premier League in each position so far this season, taking into account this weekend’s matches.
Goalkeepers
The standout performance of the week came from Manchester United’s David de Gea, who produced a number of very good saves to help earn United all three points away at Watford. It hasn’t been a great start to the season for the Spaniard, but he looked back to his best on Saturday. At the other top clubs, we haven’t seen too many top performances from ‘keepers this season, mainly because they haven’t been called upon.
One goalkeeper at a top club who didn’t put in a good performance was Tottenham’s Michel Vorm, who had a bit of a horror show against Liverpool. Neil Etheridge continues to put in some strong performances for Cardiff City, despite their poor form. Rui Patricio has settled in well at Wolves, while Alex McCarthy has made the most of his chance at Southampton. Joe Hart doesn’t make the top five just yet, but he was excellent against Wolves on Sunday afternoon.
Top five
5) Ederson (Manchester City)
4) David de Gea (Manchester United)
3) Rui Patricio (Wolves)
2) Alex McCarthy (Southampton)
1) Neil Etheridge (Cardiff City)
Full backs/Wing backs
Throughout this season, it has been the big names that have put in the top performances at full-back. It was a slightly different story this week, as both Benjamin Mendy and Luke Shaw were left out for their respective sides. In their absence, it was Wolves’ Matt Doherty who was the best full-back from the weekend. The right wing-back had a massive influence in the opposition’s final third, setting up Raul Jimenez for the winger.
Adam Smith is another full-back who had a good week but doesn’t quite make it into the top ten on this list. Marcos Alonso continues to put in consistent performances for Chelsea and was once again excellent in their win over Cardiff. The Watford pair of Jose Holebas and Daryl Janmaat were on the losing side for the first time this season against Manchester United on Sunday, but both retain their spots in the top ten, having been strong performers in their opening four wins.
Top ten
10) Daryl Janmaat (Watford)
9) Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
8) Matt Doherty (Wolves)
7) Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
6) Andrew Robertson (Liverpool)
5) Kieran Trippier (Tottenham)
4) Jose Holebas (Watford)
3) Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City)
2) Kyle Walker (Tottenham)
1) Marcos Alonso (Chelsea)
Centre-backs
It has been Liverpool who have played the defence in the country this season, conceding just two goals in the league ahead of Portsmouth and Yeovil Town, who have each conceded three. Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez have been at the heart of their success. The pair have formed an excellent partnership and will be crucial in any success that the Reds hope to have over the coming season.
Again, it’s Watford who continue to impress in this position despite their defeat to Manchester United at the weekend. It has been Christian Kabasele and Craig Cathcart who have been at the heart of their success, and despite their first loss, they have still been two of the more impressive performers in the Premier League.
It is still the top sides who dominate this list, with Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger, and Manchester City’s John Stones and Aymeric Laporte who are also high up on this list.
Top ten
10) Willy Boly (Wolves)
9) Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham)
8) Jannik Vestergaard (Southampton)
7) Craig Cathcart (Watford)
6) John Stones (Manchester City)
5) Joe Gomez (Liverpool)
4) Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City)
3) Christian Kabasele (Watford)
2) Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea)
1) Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Central midfielders
On Saturday, Gary Lineker apologised to James Milner having previously criticised the midfielder for the lack of an impact he had in midfield. Obviously, I doubt Milner lost too much sleep over the comments, but he has been brilliant so far in the Premier League this season. Despite all the money that Liverpool spent over summer, Milner looks to have been their most important player this season and looks irreplaceable at the moment.
Milner isn’t the only midfielder thriving at the moment. The Chelsea pair of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho have both made very good starts to the season and have been instrumental to their 100% start to the season.
Wolves’ Portuguese duo Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho have also been excellent, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has made up for his red card against Leicester City and scored a brilliant goal against Brighton on Monday night, the longest range goal scored so far this season.
Top ten
10) Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Southampton)
9) Abdoulaye Doucoure (Watford)
8) Jean Michael Seri (Fulham)
7) David Silva (Manchester City)
6) Jorginho (Chelsea)
5) Joao Moutinho (Wolves)
4) Etienne Capoue (Watford)
3) Ruben Neves (Wolves)
2) N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
1) James Milner (Liverpool)
Attacking midfielders/Wingers
On Saturday, Maurizio Sarri claimed that Eden Hazard may be the best player in Europe after his hat-trick helped Chelsea come from a goal down to beat Cardiff City 4-1 at Stamford Bridge.
The Italian may have slightly overexaggerated, but Hazard has been superb this season and has really stepped up his game under his new manager. Hazard isn’t the only attacking player to take advantage of Sarri’s appointment as manager at Stamford Bridge, as he has been excellent this season.
We are also seeing the best of Bernardo Silva this season. The Portugal international was a bit-part player at the Etihad Stadium last season, but he has taken advantage of Kevin De Bruyne’s injury and has been vital for Pep Guardiola’s side this season. One of the other top performers of the weekend was Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser. The Cherries tore Leicester City apart, and Fraser caused Ricardo Pereira all sorts of problems on the left wing.
Top ten
10) Richarlison (Everton)
9) Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth)
8) Andre Schurrle (Fulham)
7) Lucas Moura (Tottenham)
6) Roberto Pereyra (Watford)
5) Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
4) Pedro (Chelsea)
3) Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
2) Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
1) Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Strikers
We haven’t really seen the best of the big-name strikers this season. Alvaro Morata has looked off the pace at Chelsea, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hasn’t quite looked at his best, while Harry Kane looks terribly fatigued at Tottenham. One man who has been at his best is Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, who seems to have secured his role as City’s first choice striker, ahead of Gabriel Jesus.
There continues to be some debate about the treatment Wilfried Zaha gets from defenders, and whether he needs more protection from referees, but he was in top form once again, netting Crystal Palace’s winner against Huddersfield. Aleksandar Mitrovic has been excellent for Fulham since making the move initially in January and has continued this in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Roberto Firmino added his second goal of the season as Liverpool beat Tottenham.
Top ten
10) Olivier Giroud (Chelsea)
9) Glenn Murray (Brighton and Hove Albion)
8) Danny Ings (Southampton)
7) Troy Deeney (Watford)
6) Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)
5) Callum Wilson (Bournemouth)
4) Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
3) Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
2) Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham)
1) Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
