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Well, the 2018/19 Premier League season is finally over, and despite Liverpool pushing them to the very last day, the title has once again made its way to the Etihad with Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Manchester City. Elsewhere, the final two Champions League spots went to Chelsea and Tottenham, while at the bottom of the table, we’ve said goodbye to Huddersfield, Fulham and Cardiff.
With no more games left to play, essentially what we have in this month’s power rankings encompasses the performance of the Premier League’s best players across the entire season.
As always, any players who haven’t played in at least 50% of their club’s minutes – 1710 minutes to be exact – are ineligible. And with all results being based on a formula that takes certain variables and individual statistics into account, reputation counts for nothing.
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Here are the Premier League’s 10 best players for May 2019.
#10 Ryan Fraser – Score: 22.4 (NR)
Bournemouth’s flying winger-come-forward Ryan Fraser has been one of the pleasant surprises of the 2018/19 season, and so it’s no surprise that he’s broken into the top ten for this final month with a score of 22.4. The Scottish international really hit a patch of great form in his last few games, delivering 4 assists in 5 appearances, giving him a total of 14 – second only to Eden Hazard.
Fraser scores highly in other areas, too; his total of 93 key passes puts him ahead of all but Hazard in that category too, while his 23 interceptions and 20 clearances – with just 6 fouls to his name – mean that he’s stronger than almost all of his fellow attackers from a defensive standpoint too.
A total of 7 goals keeps him below some of the more prolific players on this list but if he can beat that total next season and make it into double figures, he could well prove to be one of the league’s finest players – and it may be tricky for Bournemouth to keep him for much longer.
#9 Paul Pogba – Score: 22.8 (=)
Paul Pogba – and Manchester United in general – might’ve come in for a ton of criticism as the season came towards its end, but the French midfielder has still managed to cling onto the 9th spot in these rankings for the final month of 2018/19. Despite United’s season largely petering out, Pogba had time for one final great performance – a Man of the Match-level showing against West Ham that saw him score his first Premier League goals since February.
Whether Pogba remains at Old Trafford next season is very much up in the air right now; he’s been linked with a move to Real Madrid and there have been reports of dressing room tension between him and some of United’s other players, but the truth is that he hasn’t been anywhere near as bad this season as some would have you believe.
With 13 goals and 9 assists to his name he’s been by far United’s most productive attacker, but he also has solid defensive statistics; with 9 shot blocks and 47 tackles to his name, he’s behind only two purely defensive players in those areas. Not bad for a midfielder who’s often accused of a lack of work ethic!
#8 Sadio Mane – Score: 23.0 (NR)
It comes as no surprise that Liverpool’s Sadio Mane is the highest new entry on this list in the final month of Premier League action. Since the last update in early April, Mane has scored 5 goals, including braces against Huddersfield and against Wolves on the final day of the season. With 22 goals in his 36 league games, the Senegal forward also became one of 3 winners of the Golden Boot.
Only a blind man would try to claim that Mane hasn’t been fantastic this season, but where could he improve if he wants to rise up these rankings in 2019/20? Well, he could chip in with a few more assists for a start. With just 1 assist to his name this season he lags way behind the other players in this month’s top 10 – even defender Virgil Van Dijk has more.
Outside of that, though? For almost a pure attacker his defensive statistics are solid; his passing success rate of 78.2% is excellent and he’s made 45 key passes, and by scoring 22 goals with just 87 shots – compared to 137 shots for Mo Salah for example – his conversion rate is great too. More assists then could take him into the upper echelon of the rankings next season.
#7 Mohamed Salah – Score: 24.2 (=)
It’s another month of non-moving for Mohamed Salah, although Liverpool’s Egyptian superstar has certainly had a better month than he did last time around. We mentioned that he simply couldn’t score in the last update, but that lean spell was well and truly ended shortly after with a flurry of 6 goals in the final 6 games.
Those goals took him to a total of 22 in 38 games – not quite as good as he managed last season, when he delivered an unbelievable 32 goals in 36 games, but still enough to win him the Golden Boot alongside his teammate Sadio Mane and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Overall, Salah’s conversion rate could still be better; he took 137 shots in order to score his 22 goals compared to 87 for Mane and 94 for Aubameyang, but he’s still one of the most dangerous attackers the Premier League has to offer right now, and if he can keep his late form going into 2019/20, he’s going to score plenty of goals again next term.
#6 Raheem Sterling – Score: 24.3 (-2)
Despite a wildly successful season that saw him become arguably Manchester City’s key man in their title charge as well as a prime component in Gareth Southgate’s England side and a beacon of hope against the scourge of racism, Raheem Sterling has slipped two places in these rankings after the final month of 2018/19.
How did this happen? Well, largely because Sterling’s goals dried up in those final few games; he scored a brace against Crystal Palace midway through April but then didn’t find the back of the net in the league in his final 5 matches, and only managed one assist – against Manchester United – too. But that’s hardly a knock on him as he’s been incredible all season – involved in 27 goals in just 34 matches.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about Sterling? At 24 years old, he still likely has some room to grow before he reaches his prime – meaning he could become even more fearsome for defences in seasons to come.
#5 Sergio Aguero – Score: 24.7 (-3)
Despite missing out on the Golden Boot by a single strike this season, Sergio Aguero has been just as prolific and deadly in front of goal as ever throughout 2018/19. As pure a striker as it gets these days, Aguero finished the season with 21 goals, and didn’t really slow up towards the end either – his winner against Burnley in April was arguably the key goal to ensure City’s title success.
Will 2019/20 be the season which sees Aguero finally slow down? The Argentine striker turns 31 next month and isn’t getting any younger, but seems just as great in front of goal as he’s ever been. With that said, he takes a lot of shots on goal – 118 shots to get his 21 this term – and so if he could convert more of them, then he’d definitely rise up these rankings.
As it was, 2018/19 was another wildly successful season for the oldest player in this top 10; only a fool would bet against him scoring another bagful of goals in 2019/20.
#4 Matt Doherty – Score: 25.1 (+1)
Wolves’ Matt Doherty rises back up the rankings this month into 4th place, after adding another goal and an assist to his ledger in the final 4 games of the season – including finding the back of the net in a tremendous victory for Nuno’s side over Arsenal in late April.
Goals are all well and good of course, but it’s Doherty’s defensive work that’s really earned him such a high place on this list. He’s made more tackles and more interceptions than any other player on this list, and he also scores highly for clearances, blocks, and wins an impressive average of 3.8 aerial duels per game too.
Few people could’ve expected Wolves to finish as highly as they did – 7th – and Doherty’s defensive skill has had a lot to do with that. If he can improve his pass success rate – 71.6%, the lowest in the top ten this month – then he could rise even higher in 2019/20.
#3 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Score: 25.3 (+2)
One of this month’s highest risers, Arsenal’s striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did enough during the final few weeks of the season to claim the Golden Boot alongside Sadio Mane and Mo Salah, scoring 5 goals in the last month to take his total to an impressive 22 in 36 games.
Evidently his goalscoring skills are excellent, but where could the Gabon striker improve? Well, he’s only delivered 5 assists this season, less than the likes of Mane, Salah, Sterling and Aguero, and that could be down to the fact that his total of 33 key passes is the lowest of any attacking player in this month’s top 10.
If Aubameyang could improve his game in that area – playing alongside his strike partner Alexandre Lacazette a little more might help – then he could rise up these rankings, and Arsenal could end up rising up the table back into Champions League contention too.
#2 Virgil van Dijk – Score: 27.6 (+1)
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk might’ve missed out on a Premier League winner’s medal last week as his side were pipped to the post by Manchester City, but the Dutch defender still swept up some big individual awards this season, being named the PFA Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season too. It should come as no surprise then that he’s second in this month’s rankings.
Van Dijk has been simply imperious all season, and you honestly can’t fault him in any areas really. He’s scored 4 goals and made 2 assists, a decent return for a defender, but it’s obviously in his specialist area that he really exceeds. The Dutchman has made 38 tackles and 40 interceptions this season, but he’s also made a ridiculous 199 clearances and 18 blocks – both more than double his nearest rival (Matt Doherty) on this list.
Throw in a seemingly unbeatable aerial presence – he wins an average of 4.8 duels per game, again the highest in these rankings by far – and the fact that he’s committed just 12 fouls all season and has only been booked once, and we’re probably looking at the best central defender on the planet right now. Attackers usually get more plaudits than defensive players, but that isn’t the case when it comes to van Dijk – and there’s no doubt that his praise has been earned.
#1 Eden Hazard – Score: 30.1 (=)
Chelsea might’ve had an up-and-down season with an admittedly decent finish – they’ve secured Champions League football for 2019/20 and are about to play in the Europa League final – but the question on everyone’s lips is where they would be without their Belgian talisman Eden Hazard. The winger-forward has been in phenomenal form throughout 2018/19 and it should come as no surprise that he’s once again top of these rankings.
Hazard has finished the season with 16 goals and 15 assists, and he managed 3 of those goals and 4 of those assists in April alone. And while WhoScored.com’s Man of the Match awards don’t count towards these rankings, in case you were wondering Hazard has picked up an astonishing 14 of those this season, too.
The Belgian’s statistics in terms of forward play are honestly ludicrous – simply put, he creates more chances than any player in these rankings, with his 98 key passes standing head and shoulders over the likes of Sterling (66), Salah (68) and Pogba (55). If his possible move to Real Madrid does indeed pan out, not only will Chelsea miss him – but the Premier League will have lost one of its truly outstanding performers.
