Reranking the Premier League’s top 50 players for 2024-25

Before the season began, I ranked the top 50 players in the Premier League. Early last week, the No. 1 player on that list, Rodri, suggested that players could go on strike if they continue to be forced to play an ever-increasing number of matches. A few days later, he suffered a serious ligament injury while playing against Arsenal and is likely out for the season.

Arsenal, meanwhile, were without arguably their best player, No. 3 on our initial list, Martin Ødegaard, after he injured his ankle while playing for Norway earlier this month. No. 8 on the list, Kevin De Bruyne, also missed the Arsenal-City game with a thigh injury suffered in the first half against Inter Milan last week.

While I don’t think this is actually a curse, I do think it is a symptom of a larger issue: the best players in the world are more likely to play the most games, so the best players in the world are more likely to get injured. That’s why nearly a third of our preseason top 10 have already been felled.

So, with all those injuries plus 450 minutes of game time, let’s reassess that initial top 50 and rerank the best players in the Premier League. Welcome to the second edition of the Premier League Top 50 for the 2024-25 season.

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How we decided on the rankings

The initial rankings were a combination of three things:

• Wisdom of the crowds: the crowd-sourced transfer values from the site Transfermarkt
• Player-value estimates: a stat called “contextualized plus-minus” (CPM) that evaluates a player both on his individual statistical profile, and how his presence in the lineup affects his team’s performance
• A supercomputer: just kidding — the rest of the input came from looking at the list I created using those two numbers and then moving players around until I felt good about it

For the second edition of the rankings, you can say that the two inputs are the initial rankings, plus some stats and some soccer-watching from the first month of the season. Think of it this way: the higher you were ranked in the initial list, the more confident I am in your ability and impact as a player.

And so, the players toward the top of the list were unlikely to rise or fall too much based on a handful of matches. But the lower we go in the initial top 50, the less confident I am, and so there’s going to be a lot more upheaval in the rankings.

As for injuries, I’ve removed anyone who is out for at least a month: Rodri, Ødegaard and Nathan Aké. The others who have dropped off from the initial ranking, either because of poorer-than-expected performance and some other players leapfrogging them with hot starts, are:

• Lisandro Martínez, Manchester United (50th in the initial list)
• John Stones, Manchester City (45th)
• Lewis Dunk, Brighton (43rd)
• Leandro Trossard, Arsenal (42nd)
• Gabriel Jesus, Arsenal (39th)
• Kieran Trippier, Newcastle (23rd)

Let’s get to the list.

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50. Darwin Núñez (down 12 spots), forward, Liverpool

For as much as I, personally, love Núñez, he is currently not a first-choice attacker for a Liverpool team that’s looking more and more like a title contender with each passing game.

If you’re not playing, you’re not providing value. That’s perhaps the biggest reason for the falls of anyone who was on the preseason top 50.

49. Yankuba Minteh (unranked), winger, Brighton & Hove Albion

I was high on him coming into the season — his numbers as a 19-year-old in the Eredivisie with Feyenoord were incredible — and he has been great so far. He has created more value in possession — i.e., how much do all of your on-ball actions increase your team’s likelihood of scoring a goal? — than all but two other players in the Premier League:

And yes, if Adama Traoré keeps it up, he too will appear in the next edition of the top 50.

48. Kyle Walker (down 8), full-back, Manchester City

47. Antoine Semenyo (unranked), winger, AFC Bournemouth

He’s second to only Erling Haaland in shots attempted so far this season, while only five players have created more expected goals with their passing. He’s 24; could we be witnessing a breakout season?

46. Enzo Fernández (down 12), midfielder, Chelsea

45. Jan Paul van Hecke (unranked), center-back, Brighton

Brighton have had it pretty easy this season; they’ve played significant chunks of three of their five matches with a man advantage. But it seems like we’re seeing JPVH (Brighton fans, do you call him that?) become the most important center-back on a team that asks more from its center-backs in possession than just about any other club in the world.

44. Diogo Jota (up 2), forward, Liverpool

43. David Raya (unranked), goalkeeper, Arsenal

Since we’re mainly judging keepers on saves and there are so few saves in a game, I’m not really budging at all on what I think about the league’s keepers through the first five games. So, I could be getting swayed by some of the truly incredible saves that Raya has made so far this season.

Last year, he was a significantly below-average shot-stopper in the Premier League. But the year prior, he was lights-out for Brentford, and how else to describe what he’s done so far this season? He’s the biggest reason Arsenal have as many points as they do, both at home and abroad.

42. Ilkay Gündogan (unranked), midfielder, Manchester City

He was still employed by Barcelona when I did this the first time. If he becomes a first-choice player for City again, he’ll steadily move up the rankings.

41. James Maddison (up 8), attacking midfielder, Tottenham Hotspur

40. Ryan Gravenberch (unranked), midfielder, Liverpool

Last year, 17 Liverpool players played more minutes than Gravenberch did. This year, Gravenberch and Virgil van Dijk are the only two Liverpool players to play essentially every minute of every game.

Of any player in the league, I’ve changed my mind the most about Gravenberch through the first five matches. Coming into the season, I thought he could potentially develop into a good rotation midfielder with Liverpool. Now, I don’t see why he couldn’t become one of the best holding midfielders in the world. It’s only five games, though, so I’m purposefully weighing down my opinion by anchoring it to the preseason expectations.

39. Moisés Caicedo (unranked), midfielder, Chelsea

Caicedo’s ball-winning remains top-notch, but he has started to contribute on the ball a bunch more this season. Through five matches, he’s leading Chelsea in expected possession value added.

38. Gabriel Martinelli (down 21 spots), forward, Arsenal

I expected a big bounce-back year for the Brazilian, and it just hasn’t happened yet. I think a lot of that comes down to all the minutes Arsenal have played from behind and some of their general attacking issues, but Martinelli used to be a player who could solve your attacking issues. He’s attempted just two shots in five games.

37. Jack Grealish (down 15 spots), winger, Manchester City

I also expected a bounce-back year for the England international, and while he has been more involved than last season, he’s mainly been used as backup for two other players who are younger than him and now placed higher on this list.

36. Jérémy Doku (up 12), winger, Manchester City

35. Nicolas Jackson (unranked), forward, Chelsea

Here’s the top 10 for non-penalty expected goals plus assists per 90 minutes since the start of last season:

I’m already quite confident that Jackson is a very good player. If the first five games of this season are any indication, there’s a chance that he becomes a great player.

34. Savinho (unranked), winger, Manchester City

At 20 years old, he’s leading Manchester City in expected possession value added from open play. And while that seems like it could be an artifact of a tiny sample of games, he led all of LaLiga by the same metric last season when playing for Girona.

He’s awesome and barring injury, this might be the lowest he ranks on this list for a long time.

33. Ibrahima Konaté (up 11), center back, Liverpool

32. Dominik Szoboszlai (up 9), midfielder, Liverpool

31. Kai Havertz (up 6), forward, Arsenal

Here’s his pass map against Manchester City:

He played 90 minutes — and yet he’s moved up in my rankings. This Arsenal season has been so freaking weird.

30. Ollie Watkins (up 6), forward, Aston Villa

29. Bryan Mbeumo (up 6), forward, Brentford

Mbeumo is the most versatile forward in the league. For whatever reason, I can’t stop picturing him playing for Manchester United — back when Sir Alex Ferguson was still managing the club. He loved do-everything attackers like Wayne Rooney and Park Ji-Sung. Mbeumo would’ve fit right in.

28. Alexander Isak (up 3), forward, Newcastle United

27. Eberechi Eze (up 5), attacking midfielder, Crystal Palace

26. Kaoru Mitoma (up 21), winger, Brighton

Back from injury, he’s still as devastating of a dribbler as you remember — both driving Brighton’s possession forward and pushing the ball into the penalty area.

While it’s still a tiny sample, he’s been more dangerous in front of goal. It hasn’t shown up in his goals and assist numbers quite yet, but his expected goals and expected assists numbers have ticked up significantly from where they were last season.

25. Andrew Robertson (up 5), full-back, Liverpool

24. Manuel Akanji (up 6), defender, Manchester City

I didn’t see it coming before the season, and I certainly didn’t see it coming when City signed him for €20 million in the summer of 2022, but Akanji has arguably become City’s most important defender. He’s played every minute of every Champions League and Premier League game so far, and he’s been way more involved on the ball than ever before.

Akanji is completing 9.2 progressive passes per 90 — well up from the 5.1 he’s completed across his career. Brighton’s JPVH is the only center-back who has created more possession value this season, too. More of this, and Akanji will be much higher next time around.

23. Josko Gvardiol (up 5), defender, Manchester City

22. Alexis Mac Allister (up 5), midfielder, Liverpool

21. Emiliano Martínez (up 5), goalkeeper, Aston Villa

20. Cristian Romero (up 5), center back, Tottenham

19. Alisson Becker (up 1), goalkeeper, Liverpool

18. Ben White (up 1), full-back, Arsenal

Although he missed the most recent game, I’m not ready to budge on my assessment of White — or any of Arsenal’s other hybrid full-slash-center-backs. Riccardo Calafiori and Jurriën Timber started the Manchester City match. Calafiori scored and Timber played 90-plus minutes and didn’t complete a single pass.

Arsenal have ground out points so far this season; if they start humming like they did last season and Timber or Calafiori become integral parts to that, they’ll find their way onto this list.

17. Gabriel (up 1), center-back, Arsenal

He probably should be higher? I don’t know. He’s already scored two massive goals — the winner against Spurs, and the go-ahead against City. The combination of his aerial prowess with Arsenal’s advanced set-piece routines is a real weapon. And it might become a necessity, too.

Arsenal’s attack has been stuck in first or second gear this season; each Gabriel header turns the setting down to easy mode. Arsenal go up, they can sit back and defend — which they do better than any team in the world — and then exploit all the space that’s created once their opponent is forced to attack.

16. Bernardo Silva (unchanged), midfielder, Manchester City

15. Rúben Dias (unchanged), center-back, Manchester City

I present to you: evidence that Arsenal’s game plan worked at the Etihad:

Now, something positive: Dias is one of the most consistent players in the world. He’s just always really good. He doesn’t have the high-end athleticism or on-ball skills of the truly elite center-backs, but you can build great defenses and offenses with him at the heart of both. Just don’t ever let him try to kick the ball into the other team’s goal.

14. Son Heung-Min (up 7), forward, Tottenham

I have seen enough to declare that Ange Postecoglou’s tactics are inflating the attacking numbers of pretty much every player at Tottenham. Without any context to their statistical production, players like Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski would be on this list, and Maddison and Son would be in the top 10.

So why apply this context to Spurs players, but not Liverpool or Arsenal or City guys? Well, Spurs aren’t as good as all of these elite attacking statistics would suggest they should be. By a blend of xG (70%) and goals (30%), Spurs sit somewhere within a morass of five teams behind Liverpool and City. Arsenal should rise up above that group at some point, too:

Son is still a fantastic player — he’s 15th! — but the fact that his attacking numbers suddenly shot up last season looks more and more likely a tactical story when you consider that the same thing is happening to all of his teammates, too.

13. Luis Díaz (up 14), winger, Liverpool

This tweet from The Transfer Flow sums it up:

Diaz was good for Liverpool last season, but he’s taken off this year.

0.92 xG + xA per 90! pic.twitter.com/LaCV8nfMaC

— The Transfer Flow (@TheTransferFlow) September 24, 2024

Diaz has been truly world-class this season.

12. Bruno Fernandes (up 1), attacking midfielder, Manchester United

11. Cole Palmer (up 3), attacking midfielder, Chelsea

10. Bruno Guimarães (up 2), midfielder, Newcastle

As you can see from that chart posted earlier, Newcastle are just not a good team right now. Despite being owned by the richest owners in all of professional sports, they’ve managed to build a team that currently has just two players on this list of the top 50. Bruno hasn’t been as involved around the penalty so far this season, so that’s something to keep an eye on, but we’ve seen enough seasons of elite midfield play from him that I’m not willing to downgrade him just yet.

9. Phil Foden (down 5), attacking midfielder/winger, Manchester City

On the one hand, he’s the defending Premier League Player of the Year. On the other, he hasn’t started a single match in the Premier League or Champions League this season.

A big chunk of that is due to Foden’s busy summer with England and then him getting sick at the beginning of the season, but once you get to this point in the list, pretty much every player has a legitimate case to be the No. 1 player on the rankings. Until Foden is back being first choice, he’s below several others.

8. Declan Rice (up 3), midfielder, Arsenal

7. William Saliba (up 3), center-back, Arsenal

6. Virgil van Dijk (up 3), center-back, Liverpool

Neither Saliba nor Van Dijk has blinked thus far, so we’re keeping the same order we had for them at the beginning of the season. They’ve each played every minute of every match, but VVD gets the slight edge because he’s asked to do a bit more on the ball, and he’s a way bigger threat from set plays.

5. Trent Alexander-Arnold (up 2), full-back, Liverpool

He’s on the ball way less under Arne Slot than he was under Jurgen Klopp. Last season, TAA took 96 touches per 90 minutes; this season, he’s taking 76. And yet, he’s been as effective as ever at creating chances for his teammates. If he maintained his current rates for chances created and expected assists, both would be career-highs come the end of the season.

4. Kevin De Bruyne (up 4), attacking midfielder, Manchester City

Yes, he’s already hurt, but he won’t be out for long. He’s leading the league in progressive passes, and he’s putting up expected goals and assist numbers like an elite attacker. In my opinion, he’s the best midfielder in Premier League history.

3. Bukayo Saka (up 3), winger, Arsenal

These are Saka’s non-penalty xG plus xA numbers for the last five seasons:

• 20-21: 0.40 per 90
• 21-22: 0.49 per 90
• 22-23: 0.50 per 90
• 23-24: 0.65 per 90
• 24-25: 0.77 per 90

There is no “leap” here. He’s just getting gradually better, year after year after year.

2. Mohamed Salah (up 3), forward, Liverpool

The list of Premier League players with at least two non-penalty expected goals and two expected assists so far this season:

• Mohamed Salah

That’s it. That’s the list.

1. Erling Haaland (up 1), forward, Manchester City

Haaland has nine non-penalty goals already. Across Europe’s Big Five leagues, the number of goals between Haaland in first and the guys in second (Diaz and the Barcelona duo Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski all have five) is the same as the gap between second and the guys tied for 123rd.

Score that many more goals than everyone else, and you’re automatically No. 1.