Premier League player power rankings: Matchday 7

The Soccer Central panel discuss how Manchester United could be in for a long season while Manchester City are playing brilliant football.

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)
He is now the leading goalscorer for the season and has needed just nine shots on target to do so. He’s as efficient as he’s ever been, and with Mateo Kovacic only growing in his role, it’s scary but Hazard may only get better.

Be ready for a change in goal celebrations, though.

2. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City. (Previous matchday: 3)
It is bewildering that Aguero can’t find a place in the Argentina squad with the form that he’s in right now. He and the rest of the team have repeatedly raved about his fitness level this season and the sharpness he’s carrying from week to week seems impossible to ignore.

3. Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool. (Previous matchday: 2)
The Dutchman had a couple of bad moments when he stopped in his tracks expecting the referee to blow his whistle, and one was almost fatal as he looked and hoped for an offside flag on a fantastic long ball from David Luiz to Hazard that the Belgian surprisingly wasted.

Perhaps it’s him still recovering from an injury to his ribs, but he was good this week, not great as he has been all season.

4. Aymeric Laporte, Manchester City. (Previous matchday: 9)
This is a week where consistency deserves its just reward. The 24-year-old continues to be the lynchpin of the City back line and the injury to Barcelona’s Samuel Umtiti means Laporte may be in for some recognition on the international stage.

There’s no doubting his ability to help teams win.

5. Marcos Alonso, Chelsea. (Previous matchday: 4)
After West Ham United made it a point to clamp down on the left side of Chelsea’s attack last week, this was another quiet outing for the Spaniard. He was solid if unspectacular and he did his primary job of ensuring Trent Alexander-Arnold didn’t pose a threat, he lacked the usual zest he plays with in the opposition half.

He is now one of three Chelsea players (Kepa Arrizabalaga and Cesar Azpilicueta are the others) to have played every minute this season.

6. David Silva, Manchester City. (Previous matchday: 15)
The only reason the Spanish magician moved down last week was because he didn’t play. He was at his influential best once again on Matchday 7 and if he could have a bit better finishing from his teammates, the raw numbers would show it, too.

7. Aleksandar Mitrovic, Fulham. (Previous matchday: 6)
Fulham probably still feel as though they should have been leading at halftime in its match against Everton, but they were woeful in the final third and Mitrovic deserves his share of the blame.

Still, how many had him tallying as many goals as Aguero and Harry Kane at this stage?

8. James Milner, Liverpool. (Previous matchday: 8)
In games where Liverpool are on the ascendancy, Milner’s role is uncomplicated and he executes it to perfection. Stay solid, help keep the team’s shape and win back as many balls as possible so the lively attack can go to work.

In moments where the team is looking for that extra lift, spark, or moment of brilliance, though, that is frankly asking the former England international to step outside his bounds and that is probably why he doesn’t excite many outside the Reds’ fan base. The match against Chelsea was a clear example of this.

9. Mohamed Salah, Liverpool. (Previous matchday: 7)
The fact that Hazard buried his first chance of the game only magnified Salah’s efforts with goal in sight. The Egyptian is now tied with Wolverhampton’s Raul Jimenez and Bournemouth’s Callum Wilson in big chances missed, and even manager Jurgen Klopp admitted it wasn’t his best night.

“He wants to be decisive, he wants to score in these situations,” Klopp said after the match against Chelsea. “The first ball he missed it was not the right position. The next one he passed. Why? He could’ve finished again.”

10. Sadio Mané, Liverpool. (Previous matchday: 5)
He’s struggling a bit now. While it didn’t matter with Firmino finding form, it was glaringly obvious against Chelsea.

Mané couldn’t really shake the Chelsea defence with his take-ons and the timeliness of his runs and clinical finishing from the start of the season seem to have deserted him for the moment.

11. Ryan Fraser, Bournemouth. (Previous matchday: 10)
Always ready to take on defenders and seek out enterprising runs from his forwards, Fraser had a couple of great crosses that his teammates should have made better use of to test the Crystal Palace goalkeeper.

Better still, he took advantage of some sloppiness from Patrick van Aanholt to race down the pitch and tee up Callum Wilson late on, but the striker couldn’t come through.

12. Jorginho, Chelsea. (Previous matchday: 11)
His chemistry with Kovacic is growing and was on display in the buildup to Hazard’s goal. Liverpool did a good job overall in ensuring the Italian didn’t have a major influence on proceeding, but with the pace of the Premier League, the less touches he needs to put his stamp on the game, the better his side will be served in the long term.

13. José Holebas, Watford. (Previous matchday: 12)
His set pieces were certainly much improved from a week ago but unfortunately there were no results to show for it. There were multiple occasions when Arsenal struggled to clear and needed a bit of luck, but the former Greek international should be happy with his overall performance.

14. Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal. (Previous matchday: 19)
When you look at the way the Frenchman has performed as a starter, it’s hard to imagine he was a substitute to start the season. A constant threat to the Watford defence this week, his run into the box resulted in the first goal and his assist to Mesut Ozil helped kill the game off and cap the win.

15. Andrew Robertson, Liverpool. (Previous matchday: 13)
It’s not that Robertson necessarily did anything badly to move down this week, but, it was hard to ignore what Chelsea’s Willian did to him.

16. Raheem Sterling, Manchester City. (Previous matchday: N/A)
Had the best performance of the week with a goal and an assist and though the counting stats suggest he should be higher, the telepathy with his teammates in the final third hasn’t quite been on the level of last season. This was the closest to it.

17. Marko Arnautovic, West Ham United. (Previous matchday: N/A)
West Ham have steadied the ship after a disastrous opening four fixtures and as long as they have Arnautovic, they will be confident they can keep heading in the right direction.

The Austrian made the most of a porous Manchester United defence to add to his tally this season and has made quite the mark for the calendar year.

18. Wayne Hennessey, Crystal Palace. (Previous matchday: 18)
Helpless against the David Brooks strike and the late penalty, but when Palace needed him late, he first made a massive foot save one-on-one against Wilson before a brilliant save to his left to prevent a Dan Gosling header from point-blank range.

19. Harry Kane, Tottenham. (Previous matchday: N/A)
It’s actually quite incredible that the England captain has the second-most goals scored and fifth-most big chances missed, but inconsistency has been the story of Kane and Tottenham’s season thus far.

Matchday 7 was about as complete a performance as we’ve seen from Kane and he’ll be hoping to carry that into what should be another comfortable fixture against Cardiff City.

20. Ederson, Manchester City. (Previous matchday: 16)
Probably should have been more troubled and would have been by a better Salah on another day, but he was solid when he needed to be and it took a wonder strike from Daniel Sturridge to beat him.

There was certainly nothing he could have done to stop it.

Honourable mentions:
Firmino, Joseph Gomez, Alisson (Liverpool). Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz, (Chelsea). Will Hughes (Watford). Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace). Lucas Moura, Kieran Trippier, Toby Alderweireld (Tottenham). James Maddison, Harry Maguire (Leicester City). Mesut Ozil (Arsenal). Idrissa Gueye (Everton). James Tarkowski (Burnley).

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