Premier League player rankings: Van Dijk top, Aubameyang rising

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Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. (Tim Ireland/AP)

Welcome to the Premier League player power rankings after Matchday 18. After each weekend of play 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. Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool (Previous matchday: 1)

Some may find it strange to have a central defender as the best player in the league but there’s just no denying it at this point. The Reds have conceded a new Premier League record seven goals at the Christmas break and the Dutchman has his footprints, head prints, and every other kind of legal-touch-print all over that.

Watching him defend next to Dejan Lovren and making the Croatian’s job seem easy tells all you need to know about how much he has transformed this Liverpool side.

2. Mohamed Salah, Liverpool (Previous matchday: 5)

Salah has been sensational for a little while now, and the finish to give Liverpool the lead against Wolverhampton was pure class. Top that with the assist to van Dijk for the defender’s first Premier League goal for Liverpool and it was another clinical weekend for the Egyptian.

Did you know he could be just as clinical off the pitch, though?

3. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal (Previous matchday: 6)

After three matches off the scoresheet, Aubameyang got himself back on the goal hunt in style, vaulting himself back to the top of the scoring charts with two brilliantly taken goals.

4. Eden Hazard, Chelsea (Previous matchday: 2)

The Belgian was constantly probing to find a way through the Foxes’ defence, and really should have finished off a golden opportunity when through on goal midway through the first half. Instead, his shot cannoned off the crossbar and allowed Leicester City to stay in the match.

With Chelsea chasing the game after Jamie Vardy’s goal, Hazard had another chance to score from the left side of the box, but Kasper Schmeichel made a tremendous reflex save at his near post.

5. Raheem Sterling, Manchester City (Previous matchday: 3)

Was anonymous for most of the match against Crystal Palace and only served a reminder he was even on the pitch with a vintage run before being immediately subbed off.

Hopefully, the racist incident he had to deal with against Chelsea isn’t playing too heavily on his mind and he’ll be back to his best soon.

6. Aymeric Laporte, Manchester City (Previous matchday: 7)

There’s nothing anyone could have done to stop the Andros Townsend screamer, but he likely would have suffered a bigger drop if more players below him had better weekends.

7. Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal (Previous matchday: 8)

The Frenchman starred in a supporting role once again, teeing up Aubameyang for his goal on the break and had every right to be livid with being substituted in the 78th minute.

Lacazette cut an animated figure as he approached the Arsenal bench but Unai Emery was quite likely playing the long game keeping in mind just how taxing the holiday season in the Premier League can be.

8. David Silva, Manchester City (Previous matchday: 4)

Manager Pep Guardiola said that Silva has returned to training but is still not ready to return. His absence was felt in their first home loss since losing to Manchester United in April last season but it would be surprising to see him rushed back before the new year.

9. Sadio Mané, Liverpool (Previous matchday: 11)

Was a busy man in helping create Salah’s opener and was ever-involved in the final third. Liverpool are peaking and with City hitting a bit of a bump in the road, the next few weeks of fixtures (including the Reds hosting City on Jan. 3, mark your calendars) could well decide the title.

He could work on following instructions for the holiday card, though.

10. Ryan Fraser, Bournemouth (Previous matchday: 9)

Finally some rest for the Scot, who came on in the 65th minute of Bournemouth’s 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.

11. Andrew Robertson, Liverpool (Previous matchday: 12)

The working-class hero continues to give full value for his shifts. What else is there to say after Salah’s burn?

12. Harry Kane, Tottenham (Previous matchday: 16)

He’s really playing his best football now. Even before Tottenham hit Everton for six, Kane was their biggest threat going forward including a rasping left footed drive from outside the box that skimmed the top of the netting.

Something about Everton obviously agrees with Kane, who became just the second player in Premier League history after Michael Owen to score at least two goals in each of his past four outings against one opponent.

13. Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham (Previous matchday: 15)

Hugo Lloris always seems prone to the occasional howler (as we saw in the World Cup final) and that can’t be held against the Belgian’s performance this season.

Tottenham are continuing to cement their place in the top four this season and that Alderweireld is continuing to spearhead the defence despite the revolving door for who partners him in defence shows how much his leadership has grown.

14. Callum Wilson, Bournemouth (Previous matchday: 10)

Didn’t bother Brighton too much in Bournemouth’s win but all the noise surrounding him of late has been off the pitch. With a potential transfer to Chelsea looming in the January transfer window, Wilson may officially be in the big time if he joins a team legitimately competing for the top four.

15. Richarlison, Everton (Previous matchday: 14)

Neither here nor there. The Brazilian found space on several occasions, but should have been more effective going up against Spurs’ weak link in defence, Kieran Trippier.

16. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City (Previous matchday: 13)

Finally made an appearance after missing four consecutive league matches, and it will be interesting to see if he can work his way back into the top five where he was till about a month ago.

17. Matt Doherty, Wolverhampton Wanderers (Previous matchday: 18)

Yes, the Wolves conceded twice in losing to Liverpool but it was still a respectable showing against the best team in the league. Doherty continues to maraud down the right flank regardless of who he’s going up against, and did so once again despite having his hands full against Andy Robertson.

18. José Holebas (Previous matchday: 20)

A solid clean sheet for Watford against a West Ham side coming off four straight wins and should come as no coincidence that Watford are looking steady once again with Holebas and Pereyra doing what they did early in the season.

The 34-year-old showed no desire to back down from the challenge of defending the in-form Felipe Anderson and played a key role in helping the Hornets claim all three points.

19. Son Heung-min, Tottenham (Previous matchday: N/A)

With five goals and five assists in his last eight matches, Son can no longer be denied. Just two points behind Manchester City now, Spurs ought to be grateful to the South Korean for finding his best form just as Lucas Moura began to fade.

He’s got pace, always finds space to run into, and his finishing ability with either foot may be the most underrated aspect of his game.

20. Roberto Pereyra (Previous matchday: N/A)

The Argentine really did disappear for a chunk of this season, but he’s been feasting again of late and now has four assists in his last three matches to complement the five goals he scored in the first 10 league matches.

That’s over a third of the goals Watford have scored this season.

Honourable mentions:

Leroy Sané (Manchester City). James Maddison, Harry Maguire (Leicester City). Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea). Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton). Sol Bamba (Cardiff City). Mathew Ryan (Brighton & Hove Albion). Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace). Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson (Liverpool). Dele Alli (Tottenham).

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