Mohamed Salah was the best player in the league and the world when we last did this in December. It's March, and he has continued to be the best player in the league and the world.
But since our last rankings, we've seen Manchester City fall and then sort of rise. We've watched Chelsea struggle their way out of the top two and down into the top five-ish. We've witnessed the rise of Bournemouth, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and even Crystal Palace. Tottenham nearly completely imploded. Manchester United appear to have already imploded. And Arsenal's title challenge suddenly fell apart.
So, who's to blame and who's to credit for all the volatility we've seen beyond the top and bottom of the table?
To try to answer those questions, we're back with the fourth edition of the Premier League Top 50 for the 2024-25 season.
A quick note on our ranking methodology
As usual, this is a mix of past rankings, data, wisdom of the crowds, and my own gut. While I'd feel a little more confident ranking players at a single position or at a single aspect of the game using just data, it's close-to-impossible to use numbers to come anywhere close to a remotely useful player-value ranking across all positions.
So, I looked at the previous rankings from December, removed players who are injured, added players who are healthy, then rearranged them in an order I thought looked about right. After that, I went through a number of metrics -- most notably, Michael Imburgio's DAVIES model, which tries to value everything that happens on the ball -- to see if there are any major areas of disagreement. (Reader, there were.) And then I made adjustments from there.
After that, I cross-referenced that with the crowd-sourced values on Transfermarkt to make sure I wasn't too massively off of consensus. And after that, I made some more minor adjustments to award players who were performing in the highest leverage matches (for good teams) and players who have a long track record of success.
The result is what you'll see below.
Who dropped off the ranking, and who just missed?
For performance-related reasons, André Onana, Darwin Núñez, Brennan Johnson, Darwin Núñez, Emiliano Martínez, and Rúben Dias all fell off the list. For injury reasons, Bukayo Saka, Manuel Akanji, Nicolas Jackson, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli are gone. And for transfer reasons, Kyle Walker is off this list and on to Italy.
Since this is an incredibly subjective exercise with a harsh cut-off, I figured I'd shout out a bunch of players who came under consideration and just missed out.
Crystal Palace have somehow been the best team in England over the last two months. Almost everyone in their starting XI not listed below deserve a shout. The Brentford duo of Nathan Collins and Mikkel Damsgaard have both been fantastic. Nottingham Forest didn't get any names on this list, but they'd have a bunch of names in the top 100. Both of Everton's center backs, James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite, have had really nice seasons.
Bournemouth have a handful of other guys who could've made the cut, Morgan Rogers is a weird-but-very-effective player for Aston Villa, and Jarrod Bowen has to do a ton to keep West Ham's attack afloat. A bunch of squad players on Arsenal would be in the top 100, too.
But now, the Top 50 beckons.
50. James Maddison (down 16), attacking midfielder, Tottenham
49. Alex Iwobi (unranked), attacking midfielder, Fulham
Iwobi has completed 64 passes into the penalty area the season -- second-most in the league after Salah and one spot ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold. For all the consternation over Arsenal's lack of depth after a number of squad-player departures this summer, Iwobi, who left North London six years ago, is the former player who most would've helped the Gunners this season.
48. Lewis Hall (unranked), full-back, Newcastle
47. Marc Guéhi (unranked), center-back, Crystal Palace
46. Dean Huijsen (unranked), center-back, Bournemouth
Among all center backs across Europe's Big Five leagues over the past 365 days, he ranks in the 78th percentile for progressive passes, 91st percentile for progressive carries, the 99th percentile for interceptions, and the 72nd percentile for aerial-duels won. Also, he's 19!
It's truly absurd for a teenager to be this effective at perhaps the most demanding position in the most physically demanding league in the world. With Pau Cubarsi doing the same thing at Barcelona at an even younger age, Spanish center-backs might be the new French center-backs.
45. David Raya (down 7), goalkeeper, Arsenal
44. Dejan Kulusevski (down 2), attacking midfielder, Tottenham
He might be the hardest player in the league for me to rate. I could see him flourishing on Liverpool, Manchester City, or Arsenal. He has the diverse kind of skill set that all of those teams crave. He's a great presser, too. But then there are just long periods where I feel like he fades out of effectiveness.
Per PFF FC's grades, Kulusevski is the highest-graded one-touch passer in the league.
43. Alisson (unranked), forward, Liverpool
He hasn't been great in the Premier League for going on two seasons now. And I was going to drop him out of the top 50 ... until he put together maybe the best performance of his Liverpool career against PSG earlier this week:
He saved 2.26 shots worth of goals in that match and also punched away a number of dangerous, low pullbacks that were skidding across the penalty area. Liverpool were awful against PSG. They should be on their way out of the competition, but thanks to Alisson, they're now joint-favorites with Real Madrid (per ESPN BET) to make it out of their side of the bracket.
42. Bernardo Silva (down 22), attacking midfielder, Manchester City
41. Andrew Robertson (up 6), full-back, Liverpool
I considered dropping him out last time around, but the defensive errors have started to disappear, and he seems like he's started to settle into the new role where he's more of a ball-progressor from deep than a bomb-forward over-lapper.
His progressive passes received are way down, but he's still moving the ball forward consistently and providing creativity that normally look great for a fullback if the guy on the other side wasn't breaking our conceptions of what a fullback can do.
Beyond all of that, he's leading Liverpool in sprints this season even though he turns 31 next month.
40. Kevin De Bruyne (down 27), attacking midfielder, Manchester City
39. Guglielmo Vicario (unranked), goalkeeper, Tottenham
Goalkeeping in the Premier League kind of feels like it's in a weird spot. Alisson hasn't been a consistently great shot-stopper in a while now. Emi Martinez's performance (inconsistent) doesn't match with his reputation (arguably the best in the world). Ederson looks like he might be washed up, but his shot-stopping numbers in the league are better than they were when people thought he might be the best in the world.
So, I'm giving the top slot to Vicario, who has allowed 6.4 goals fewer than expected over the past two seasons -- easily the best mark in the Premier League.
38. Jan Paul van Hecke (up 3), center back, Brighton
We're getting to the point where I wonder if the questions about van Hecke's defensive ability really even matter. He's completed 223 line-breaking passes this season, per PFF FC. That's the second most in the league, and he has completed his attempted line-breaking passes 89% of the time, which is also second most in the league among players with at least 150 such passes completed.
When he's not pressured, his passing grade is 99.0 -- nearly perfect.
37. Omar Marmoush (unranked), forward, Manchester City
36. Yoane Wissa (unranked), forward, Brentford
The only players to generate more non-penalty expected goals than Wissa so far this season: Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, and Alexander Isak. Not bad.
35. Levi Colwill (down 2), center-back, Chelsea
34. Anthony Gordon (unranked), winger, Newcastle
33. Matheus Cunha (up 17), forward, Wolves
Three players in the league have registered at least six non-penalty expected goals and six expected goals assisted so far this season: Cunha ... and the top two players on this list.
32. Dango Ouattara (unranked), forward, Bournemouth
31. Cody Gakpo (up 12), forward, Liverpool
30. Curtis Jones (up 10), midfielder, Liverpool
He has completed 92% of his passes when pressured -- more than any other player who was under consideration for the Top 50.
29. Eberechi Eze (up 8), attacking midfielder, Crystal Palace
28. Enzo Fernández (up 7), midfielder, Chelsea
27. Phil Foden (down 5), attacking midfielder, Manchester City
Last season, Foden ranked 15th in the league for expected goals added above average, per Imburgio's DAVIES model. This year? He's down in 66th.
26. Son Heung-Min (down 14), forward, Tottenham
25. Savinho (up 7), winger, Manchester City
His first year at City has been better than it looks. He has turned only 4.2 xG, or expected goals, into one goal:
But overall, he's second on City for total xG created via passes and shots. And while he's not quite as incessant of a ball mover as Jeremy Doku, it certainly seems like Savinho's passes and carries tend to lead to actual dangerous chances. Plus, he's still only 20. I'd be buying Savinho stock if that were a thing.
24. Ollie Watkins (up 1), forward, Aston Villa
23. Moisés Caicedo (down 9), midfielder, Chelsea
22. Antoine Semenyo (unranked), forward, Bournemouth
This might be too low?
Per PFF FC, he's had 155 possessions in the box -- tied with Haaland and more than anyone other than Salah. He's toward the top of all of the physical metrics. He's in the 98th-percentile among players at his position for aerials won. He's tied with Haaland for the most shots attempted so far this season. Oh, and he's fourth in the league for take-ons completed.
He is Bournemouth's most important player -- and Bournemouth are genuinely one of the best teams in the league.
21. Youri Tielemans (up 28), midfielder, Aston Villa
After getting relegated with Leicester and then playing mostly a bench role last season, Tielemans is having a career year.
Per PFF FC, he has attempted 334 line-breaking passes, nearly 70 more than anyone else. He's attempting them with 22% of all of his passes -- tied for highest rate among anyone with at least 150 line-breaking attempts. He has completed 259 line-breakers -- more than anyone in England. Oh, and he's covered the second-most distance of any player in the league, too.
20. Bryan Mbeumo (up 4), forward, Brentford
Mbeumo is the only player to accelerate at least 1,500 times this season. And if you squint hard enough, you can see a Mo Salah-type player hiding somewhere: a great outlet who can also pass and carry and score goals. The underlying numbers aren't great this season but everything else is.
19. Kaoru Mitoma (down 1), winger, Brighton
18. Ryan Gravenberch (up 1), midfielder, Liverpool
Per PFF FC, Gravenberch has a 90.4 ball carrying grade -- by far the best mark in the league. It's not only that he's impossible to get off the ball when he's running with it, either.
Gravenberch's ability to receive passes on the turn really feels like it has allowed Liverpool to play with a little more control this season. They keep possession across the back line and then, zip, all of a sudden Gravenberch is slipping through two midfielders and pushing play forward. He has received 187 passes while opening his body -- an actual stat we can track now! That's second in the league behind only Cole Palmer.
17. Alexis Mac Allister (unchanged), midfielder, Liverpool
16. Dominik Szoboszlai (up 10), attacking midfielder, Liverpool
15. Bruno Fernandes (down 2), attacking midfielder, Manchester United
He's pretty much the only good thing about Manchester United -- and he's also the symbol of everything that's wrong with Manchester United. Per PFF FC, he's made the second-most pressures of any player in the league, and he has completed the most passes over the top of the opposition defense. The same player should not be accomplishing both of those things!
14. Gabriel Magalhães (up 1), center-back, Arsenal
13. Luis Díaz (down 2), forward, Liverpool
12. Bruno Guimarães (up 6), midfielder, Newcastle
If you wanted to put him in the top five, I'm not sure I'd argue. Some stats:
• 208 line-breaking passes received, second most in the league
• 40 defensive-line-breaking passes completed, most in the league
• 298.47 kilometers covered, most in the league
He's everywhere, and then he's turning that omnipresence into clear value. He finds space in between the lines to receive passes from his defenders, then he takes those receptions and turns them into passes that split the opposition defense apart. He's just so, so good.
11. Ibrahima Konaté (unranked), center-back, Liverpool
10. Alexander Isak (up 21), forward, Newcastle United
9. Declan Rice (unchanged), midfielder, Arsenal
8. Martin Ødegaard (down 4), attacking midfielder, Arsenal
In terms of combining creativity with ball retention, there's no one better in the league.
Everyone else who plays a ton of passes into the box and creates a bunch of chances also has a relatively low pass completion percentage because they're attempting a lot of the difficult passes that move the ball into the most dangerous areas of the field. Not Odegaard, who has completed 83% of his passes this season -- and across his professional career. He's also fourth in the league in defensive-line-breaking passes completed despite only playing about 1,500 minutes.
This season answered the question of who is more important between Odegaard and Saka -- it's Saka -- but Arsenal's captain is still one of the best players in the world.
7. Josko Gvardiol (up 20), full-back, Manchester City
I might be overreacting, but I've seen Gvardiol do pretty much everything this season. He's an amazing athlete -- top 15 in max speed. And he's one of the most skilled fullbacks in the world. And he's 6-1, 180? I don't know. He seems comfortable in just about every position and situation you can put a player in on a soccer field -- outside of, say, being 1v1 with Lionel Messi at a World Cup.
For a while, I assumed that he would eventually move back to center back, given his size and the relative value of the position. Last year, he definitely seemed like a center back being forced to play fullback. This year, though, he seems like a game-wrecking, gigantic fullback. He's City's most important ball progressor, with by far the most progressive passes on the team. And then he's ... fourth on the team in expected goals and third on the team in actual goals?
He's also the leader in clearances, interceptions, and blocks, and he's second in tackles attempted. He has more touches inside the opposition penalty area than Phil Foden. And he's won 63% of his aerial duels -- a higher percentage than any of his teammates.
6. William Saliba (up 2), center-back, Arsenal
Can you bore us with your excellence before your 24th birthday? I think Saliba already has.
Arsenal have been a truly elite defensive team from the moment he finally put on the club's jersey. And their backline completely fell apart when he was injured two seasons ago. Although Arsenal have struggled to score goals this year, the defense has remained the best in the world.
Just take it from the one center back who I've ranked ahead of Saliba: "If I'm honest, when I was that age, I was nowhere near where he was today."
5. Trent Alexander-Arnold (up 1), full-back, Liverpool
While "expected goals assisted" only accounts for passes that were turned into shots, "expected assists" essentially awards players for every pass they make. In other words, when a pass is completed into a specific area, how often is it turned into a goal?
TAA is third in the league behind Palmer and Salah with 6.6 expected assists. Among defenders, the next most in the league is Ipswich Town's Leif Davis at 3.8. When you're almost twice as good as anyone else at your position at doing arguably the most important thing in the sport, you get a spot in our top five.
4. Virgil van Dijk (up 3), center-back, Liverpool
Per PFF FC, he has the second-best challenge grade (88.9) in the league. He has the best aerial-duel grade (92.3). He's completed more than 90% of his line-breaking pass attempts -- best among all players with at least 150 of those passes. And per FBref, his passes have moved the ball 14,173 yards forward, more than all but two other players in the league. The big difference: he's completed 92% of his passes. The two guys ahead of him: 65% and 75%.
Much of Liverpool's success is built on creating more attacking space by becoming comfortable defending inside their own third for longer stretches of time. Their captain is the biggest reason they can do that
3. Erling Haaland (down 1), forward, Manchester City
It's a down year. The team is falling apart around him. Everyone is old, seemingly playing out of position or both. Pep Guardiola doesn't seem to know what to do for the first time in his career. And Haaland ... is still leading the league in non-penalty goals and non-penalty expected goals.
2. Cole Palmer (up 3), attacking midfielder, Chelsea
Per PFF FC, there are two players in the league with a passing and shooting grade above 85. It's Palmer, and the one player ahead of him on this list. Although his play has dropped off a bit over the past few months, he's still been absurdly good this season -- at almost every single aspect of attacking play. It's a Player of the Year-level season in just about any other season.
1. Mohamed Salah (unchanged), forward, Liverpool
If Lionel Messi had ever played in the Premier League, it would have looked a lot like Salah this season.