Premier League player power rankings: Matchday 5

James Sharman and Craig Forrest discuss Liverpool and Chelsea reaming perfect on the Premier League schedule.

After each matchday in the English Premier League, Sportsnet will rank the top 20 players for the 2018-19 season. Regardless of reputation, everyone starts from scratch at Matchday 1, and will steadily move up, down, or out of the rankings as the games progress.

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1. Eden Hazard, Chelsea. (Previous matchday: 1)
It’s always interesting to see the best players in the world challenged to inspire their team in tricky situations and that’s exactly what Hazard did after Chelsea fell behind early to Cardiff City. It was a perfect finish from a tight angle for his first goal, a bit of luck courtesy of a deflection for the second, before a cool-as-you-like penalty for the hat trick.

2. Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool. (Previous matchday: 5)
Harry Kane was largely invisible against Liverpool and the Dutch defender was a massive reason why. The England captain wasn’t up for the physicality that van Dijk presents and never looked likely to score. On top of his world class defensive work, van Dijk brought the ball forward with ease and always had his head on a swivel looking to initiate attacks.

He’s been so impressive that former Liverpool defender John Arne Riise even called him the best centre-back in the world.

3. Sadio Mané, Liverpool. (Previous matchday: 3)
Another strong performance from the Senegalese star, although he probably wishes he could have helped seal the match with some better execution in the final third. It was his work on the left side that led to the Reds’ second goal, but it seems to matter little to fans who called him out for being selfish to the point that Jurgen Klopp had to come out in defence of his star.

4. Marcos Alonso, Chelsea. (Previous matchday: 2)
Alonso made his first start for Spain a week ago, played a pivotal role in Chelsea’s second goal, but is still hungry for more. Taking to Twitter after the match Saturday, Alonso playfully expressed his displeasure with not being awarded an assist for Willian’s 83rd minute strike despite the ball going to the Brazilian off a defender.

You can judge for yourself…

5. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City. (Previous matchday: 4)
Aguero didn’t provide the goal-scoring we’ve come to expect at the Etihad early this season but did contribute to his side’s cause with two assists. Manager Pep Guardiola has waxed lyrical about the form and conditioning of his striker thus far, and three goals to go along with four assists through five matches speaks for itself.

6. Ryan Fraser, Bournemouth. (Previous matchday: 13)
With an impressive win over Leicester City, Bournemouth is now fifth in the table. Fraser pulled off his best Hazard impression for his first goal, running directly at Wes Morgan before picking out the far corner with a curling side-footed effort.

The second was every bit as impressive, the 5-foot-4 midfielder showing tremendous pace and strength to battle past the 6-foot-4 Harry Maguire before collecting a through ball and finishing. He added an assist for Bournemouth’s fourth.

7. Mohamed Salah, Liverpool. (Previous matchday: 8)
So Salah didn’t provide the counting stats against Tottenham. Still, he continues to make intelligent runs that open space for his teammates and is a considerable threat with the ball at his feet. As long as Liverpool continue to pick up three points week after week, it’s the right process that will very much be appreciated.

8. James Milner, Liverpool. (Previous matchday: 10)
Work rate, leadership, and consistency have epitomized Milner’s career, and those factors continue to be his hallmark in this 2018-19 campaign. Now, he’s even finding time for a bit of banter on Twitter.

9. José Holebas, Watford. (Previous matchday: 7)
Watford’s dream run was bound to end at some point, but the team will feel unlucky for not coming away with anything to show for their fixture against Manchester United. Holebas continued his run of excellent set pieces and should expect to get back among the assists against Fulham next week.

10. Aymeric Laporte, Manchester City. (Previous matchday: 12)
Continues to trail only Jorginho in passes and touches and is establishing himself as the centrepiece at the back of City’s title defence. John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi and Vincent Kompany have all been in and out of the side while the Frenchman has stood tall.

11. Roberto Pereyra, Watford. (Previous matchday: 6)
Was involved in the build-up play leading to Watford’s goal that sliced United’s deficit in half, but struggled to influence the match outside of that. Took over the set piece responsibilities once Holebas was taken off late, and may well have had a game-tying assist if it weren’t for an excellent reflex save from David de Gea.

12. Jorginho, Chelsea. (Previous matchday: 14)
It wasn’t Jorginho’s best performance this weekend, uncharacteristically misplacing a few passes, but there is no doubt that Sarri’s system would not have made such a smooth transition to Chelsea without the fellow Italian.

13. David Silva, Manchester City. (Previous matchday: N/A)
City’s longest serving midfield maestro notched the 50th goal of his career with the Sky Blues, and continues to play a pivotal role in his team’s forward patterns.

14. Aleksandar Mitrovic, Fulham. (Previous matchday: 11)
This weekend was always going to be a steep challenge away to Manchester City, and Mitrovic was left fighting for scraps as his side were overwhelmed in midfield. City’s two Silva’s were a constant worry while Fernandinho also ensured that the Cottagers couldn’t provide much in the way of service to their hitman.

15. Joseph Gomez, Liverpool. (Previous matchday: N/A)
Steadily cementing himself alongside van Dijk as the best centre-back pairing in the Premier League. Gomez recovered the ball for his side a team-high nine times, helping overwhelm a Tottenham side that never quite came to the party.

16. Lucas Moura, Tottenham. (Previous matchday: 18)
Continues to give the Spurs an element they’ve lacked since the best days of Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon, constantly running at defenders and looking to wreak havoc. Went on a magnificent run in the second half that could have sparked Tottenham back to life, but unfortunately hit the post with his effort.

17. Marko Arnautovic, West Ham United. (Previous matchday: N/A)
Has found life since departing Stoke City and his team finally collected three points to show for it. Unfortunately, manager Manuel Pellegrini did confirm that the Austrian “felt something” behind his left knee and so West Ham will have to wait patiently on his status going forward.

18. Romelu Lukaku, Manchester United. (Previous matchday: N/A)
It’s Lukaku’s most wonderful time of the year, when he gets to play opponents outside of the top six and is absolutely rampant. Last season, 15 of his 16 league goals came against opponents not named Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham, and all four of his goals this campaign have come against Brighton, Burnley and Watford thus far.

With Wolverhampton, West Ham and Newcastle to come, it’s the Belgian’s time to shine.

19. Benjamin Mendy, Manchester City. (Previous matchday: 9)
Didn’t feature this weekend due to injury and so takes a significant dive down the standings.

20. Steve Cook, Bournemouth. (Previous matchday: N/A)
Leads the league in clearances and is another key cog in the machine that has Bournemouth fifth after Matchday 5. Don’t let the final 4-2 scoreline fool you, Leicester City were dominated this weekend and it wasn’t until the Cherries switched off in the latter stages that Leicester got back in the game. Until then, Cook and the rest of the defence looked at ease against James Maddison and co.

Honourable mention:
Firmino, Andrew Robertson, Naby Keita (Liverpool). Ederson (Manchester City). Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz, Pedro (Chelsea). Nathan Aké (Bournemouth). Will Hughes (Watford). Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace). Nathan Redmond (Southampton). Glenn Murray (Brighton & Hove Albion).

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