Premier League 2018-19: Top 3 underperformers so far

The Premier League is home to some of the best talents in the world. But no matter how promising these talents are, sometimes they can't fulfill the potential they possess.

While this season there have been several cases of pleasant surprises, with outstanding performances from new players such as David Brooks from Bournemouth or Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace, there have also been cases of players who couldn't ace the expectations the team had from them. This unsurprisingly has caused them to be benched or being in line for a move out of the club in the upcoming winter transfer window.

Here we look at all the players who've been underperforming this season.

---

1) Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has failed to replicate his Dortmund form in England

Mkhitaryan picked up his form in the second half of last season, performing comparatively better than the Mkhitaryan everyone saw land in England. This gave Arsenal fans some hope, hoping to see the revived Mkhitaryan relive the partnership that he enjoyed with Aubameyang in Dortmund.

However, that hasn't been the case so far this season. Mkhitaryan has continued his dismal performance that we saw in the Manchester United jersey.

So far in the 2018-19 season, Mkhitaryan has produced only average performances. Barely exerting any impact on the game, he hasn't been able to be creatively involved and has already wasted a number of monumental chances.

Even though his poor run of performances has continued, the Gunners manager has preferred to start him over Ozil. That's primarily because of his work rate, and because he complements the three-man defense that Emery has been forced to play due to the injury crisis that Arsenal have been facing in the defense department.

With the January transfer window right around the corner, Arsenal would love to reinforce their attack with a winger, which would also replace Mkhitaryan.

2) Kyle Walker

Kyle Walker was not at his best in City's defeat against Palace

Kyle Walker played an integral part in Manchester City's double last season and also in England's journey until the semi-finals of the World Cup. With his pace, Walker bossed the left wing whenever he played either for City or England.

However, he now looks burned out after playing over 50 matches over the course of the last season, the World Cup and this season. He has clearly had little to no rest, which has been evident in his recent performances.

Walker has offered little to no threat attacking wise, and has been susceptible in defense so far.

The unavailability of Danilo due to an ankle injury so far this season has made it difficult for Pep Guardiola to rotate and give some rest to Walker. Also, the sale of young talented academy graduates full backs Angelino and Pablo Maffeo has baffled fans and football pundits alike.

Danilo's return from injury should give Guardiola the option to rest Walker, in the hope that they can achieve defensive solidity again.

1) Willian

Willian hasn't been impactful under Sarri so far this season.

With the arrival of Maurizio Sarri, Chelsea fans were highly optimistic that the attacking threat they possessed would be used in a more positive way as compared to under their previous manager Antonio Conte.

However, the Blues have failed to capitalize on their blistering start to the 2018-19 campaign. Willian has been out of form for the majority of this season, failing to offer anything to the team on either the attacking or the defensive end.

Most fans would say that Alvaro Morata hasn't been a threat either, but it needs to be noted that Morata has been injured and hasn't featured for Chelsea as extensively this season. 835 minutes for 5 goals doesn't seem so bad!

On the other hand, Willian has been sloppy, giving away the ball easily in essential attacking phases and also losing the ball in the one-on-one duels with opposition players.

Chelsea need to look into their vastly talented youth setup and select someone like Callum Hudson-Odoi to replace Willian.