Project Restart
The Premier League’s top 20 players ranked
Who makes it to No. 1?
Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne, who will be back in action tonight against Arsenal, is the one man to stop Liverpool’s dominance from our list of top 20 Premier League players of the season so far
THE Premier League’s hiatus allowed us time to reflect on the 2019/’20 season so far and so we have ranked the 20 best players in England’s top flight, right up until games were postponed. Using Opta data and some clever maths wizardry to determine how well players have ‘scored’ in particular metrics like ‘attack’, ‘vision’, ‘passing’, ‘defence’, ‘physical’ and ‘dribble’, while also adding in some unquantifiable qualities, we have determined the following list.
1. KEVIN DE BRUYNE
(Manchester City)
JORDAN HENDERSON may be the most important player to any team, but De Bruyne is the best individual by a small distance. The most chances created (96), six goals, more assists than anyone in the division (16, which should be 17 but for a technicality), match-winning performances almost every time he plays... if one of the European giants like Barcelona, Real Madrid or Juventus could pick anyone to sign for free, De Bruyne would surely be first choice. An exceptional talent.
2. JORDAN HENDERSON
(Liverpool)
THERE are more technically gifted midfielders in the league but there are few as essential to how their team functions than Henderson (inset, below), a natural leader who inspires those around him to run that extra bit harder, to leave a bit more in a tackle, to sprint the extra yard to close down a defender.
Without him Liverpool almost lost to West Ham and did lose to Watford, suggesting Henderson is the football equivalent of the little shield bubble you get in Sonic the Hedgehog, with team-mates hitting a spike and made to frantically pick up all those spilled rings in his absence.
Doesn’t create many chances but that’s not his role – Henderson has been the most important player for any Premier League team this season and the key to Liverpool’s title win.
3. TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD
(Liverpool)
THE English Dani Alves, the Scouse Cafu: Alexander-Arnold is redefining what is expected of the modern full-back, with his statistics creating a radar closer to the profile of an attacking midfielder than a defender.
4. VIRGIL VAN DIJK
(Liverpool)
THE best centre-back in the world. Assured in possession, won 74.9 per cent of duels (this is high), won the fourth most headers of any player, and scored four goals. Only Dejan Lovren has been able to make him look anything less than immense, while Joe Gomez has improved massively next to Van Dijk’s composed presence.
5. SADIO MANE
(Liverpool)
LIONEL MESSI is a big fan, I’m a big fan, you’re a big fan – we all like Sadio Mane. And with 14 goals and seven assists so far this season, he has once again proven himself to be one of the most dangerous attackers in world football. Lightning fast, reads the play a step ahead of those around him, always seems to be involved whether in the final third or advancing play from midfield. Roberto Firmino does a lot of clever things off the ball, Mane is better when in possession.
6. SERGIO AGUERO
(Manchester City)
PEP GUARDIOLA has rotated Aguero with Gabriel Jesus this season, ensuring his star striker isn’t burdened with leading the line in every game and it seems to have worked, with Aguero scoring 16 goals in 22 matches. Doing this also means that when one of the forwards is slightly out of form they can be replaced with another raring to go, but when Aguero is on his game there are few strikers in the world as lethal. Produces hits out of nowhere, like Tom Petty trapped in a bunker.
7. MOHAMED SALAH
(Liverpool)
SALAH has 16 goals and six assists this season, playing as the wide right forward in Liverpool’s 4-3-3. At times he has also taken the central striker’s role but wherever played he causes problems. Opposing defences are so preoccupied with preventing Salah finding the back of the net or setting up a team-mate that they leave space for others, particularly Trent Alexander-Arnold, to exploit. Even when he’s quiet, Salah is doing something
8. JACK GREALISH
(Aston Villa)
THERE is a tendency in England to over-hype young English players but Grealish is one of the few entirely deserving of high praise. Has produced stunning moments of individual brilliance this season, like his goal against Manchester United, and has scored seven and assisted six as part of an Villa team which isn’t actually very good at all.
Grealish has made Dean Smith’s team look much better than it is, winning free-kicks all of the time to help relieve pressure. Grealish has been fouled 127 times so far, with Wilf Zaha second on 97.
If this is how good Grealish looks in a Villa side in danger of being relegated, imagine what he could do at one of the top six clubs?
9. JAMIE VARDY
(Leicester City)
WHEN you consider that Vardy recently went seven games in a row without scoring, his total of 19 goals in 26 games is fairly incredible. Doesn’t look to have lost any pace despite having turned 33 in January and leads the scoring charts in the league ahead of stars like Sergio Aguero and Mohamed Salah. Vardy doesn’t really create chances for others because his entire purpose in life is finishing them... but that’s fine.
10. RIYAD MAHREZ
(Manchester City)
HASN’T felt like a first choice for Manchester City since joining from
Leicester last summer but Mahrez has been one of the most consistently productive players in Pep Guardiola’s team in 2019/’20, scoring seven goals and providing eight assists in 23 appearances. But something we can’t measure is his first touch, which is so good that ancient civilisations would have built temples to worship it appropriately. In modern society he gets a few crying emojis on Twitter instead.
11. WILFRED NDIDI
(Leicester City)
THE secret genius of Leicester’s excellent season. Makes a lot of interceptions, plays short and tidy passes, reads the play and makes tackles. There are few players better at Ndidi’s role in European football.
12. MARCUS RASHFORD
(Manchester United)
RASHFORD’S (almost )season-ending injury came at precisely the wrong time, with the forward regularly finding the back of the net on a red-hot run of form. Plays the same position as Raheem Sterling but has been consistently dangerous in front of goal and better at taking on opponents with dribbling: Despite being out of action since January, Rashford is joint sixth in the top scorers’ list, with 14 goals in 22 games, attacking from wide right or left of Anthony Martial.
13. CESAR AZPILICUETA
(Chelsea)
CHELSEA’S best player this season, Azpilicueta has played left-back, right-back, wing-back and centre-back, leading by example with aggressive, determined defending and charging up and down the channel to assist in counter-attacks. Loves a tackle.
14. PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG
(Arsenal)
ARSENAL have been fairly awful this season so far and without their captain would be even worse off. Aubameyang is one of the only legitimate top-four-ready players that Mikel Arteta has been able to use since taking charge, with Unai Emery also heavily reliant on the striker’s magic touch. Aubameyang has scored 17 goals in 29 games, a prolific rate considering many of his matches have been spent on the left wing.
15. SON HEUNG-MIN
(Tottenham)
NINE goals and seven assists in 21 games for Spurs, as one of the only players at the club who will consider they’ve been playing near their best this season.
16. HARRY MAGUIRE
(Manchester United)
AN example of a transfer fee which once seemed steep but now looks relatively normal, Maguire has given Manchester United the defensive solidity they desperately needed. Excellent at distributing the ball from the back, likes carrying it into midfield. His statistics aren’t that far off that of a defensive midfielder:
17. ADAM TRAORE
(Wolves)
THE human barrel runs as though determined to smash through every obstacle in his path, and few have been able to stop him at full speed which is why he is fouled so often. Traore has been fouled 63 times – the fifth most of any player in the league. Only a troublesome shoulder injury has really slowed him down, with Traore having improved massively with the ball at feet and in decision-making over the last couple of seasons. He’s now able to terrify opposition teams unable to handle his steam-train physicality.
18. RAHEEM STERLING
(Manchester City)
STARTED the season like goals were going out of fashion… until they did, his confidence dropped and rushed swipes at shooting continued the cycle. Sterling was one of the most lethal forwards in the Premier League until he missed a few chances and lost momentum, but his input in the final third is still of the highest quality. If he didn’t have to think so much when presented with six-yard tap-ins, he’d score a lot more.
19. N’GOLO KANTE
(Chelsea)
HAS been used as more of an attacking midfielder this season, as he was under Maurizio Sarri, encouraged to utilise his phenomenal energy and stamina to run from box-to-box, break up play and sprint in behind opposition defences as part of a midfield three. Scored three goals before injury took him out the team.
20. RICHARLISON
(Everton)
LIKE Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison has been brilliant since being played in a two-man strike partnership in Everton’s retro 4-4-2 system, providing a rounded attacking threat while his partner focuses on getting in the penalty area and flicking the ball on. (© Daily Telegraph, London)