Gameweek 13 of the Premier League was as eventful as they come in England’s top-flight. Manchester City and Arsenal both fell to shock defeats, which paved the way for Leicester City to continue their incredible start to finish the weekend one point clear of Manchester United at the top of the table.
WhoScored took a look at what those results, and the rest across the weekend, meant for the top 10 highest rated players in the league and whether there were any changes.
THE TOP 3
Leicester’s fourth league win in a row included a starring role from their frontman Jamie Vardy. The England international equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Premier League record of scoring in 10 consecutive matches in their 3-0 romp away to Newcastle, but it wasn’t enough to leapfrog teammate Riyad Mahrez as the division’s highest rated player (8.25 rating). Mahrez, himself, turned in another fine performance, which included his sixth assist of the season.
In fact, there were no changes to the top three, with Mesut Ozil managing to keep his place in third, as he also set a new Premier League record for registering an assist in seven straight matches in the competition. Moreover, Ozil’s set-piece that set up Olivier Giroud’s seventh league goal of the season put them both into a league of their own as this campaign’s most prolific assist to goalscorer combination (5).
BIGGEST MOVE
Mousa Dembele’s imperious display (8.66 rating) in Spurs’ 4-1 rout of West Ham was substantial enough to lift him three places in the top 10, while Santi Cazorla’s penalty miss (6.34 rating) cost him as many places, but the biggest mover in the top 10 over the weekend was Alexis Sanchez.
Arsene Wenger is desperate to rest Sanchez to avoid the star suffering from burnout, but there appears to be no let up in the Chile international’s performances. Sanchez was unable to drag his team to victory but he still finished with the WhoScored man of the match award (8.77 rating) after completing five more dribbles than his entire team combined (11). The former Barcelona winger moved up four places to fourth in the top 10 and, given Arsenal’s growing injury crisis, Wenger now cannot afford to rest his star player.
NEW ENTRANT
Ross Barkley’s season continued to go from strength to strength in Everton colours when they dispatched Aston Villa 4-0 on Saturday. The England international’s performance (9.16 rating) included two goals and an assist, and it was enough to elevate the 21-year-old up six places into the top 10 at the expense of Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny, who dropped four places in the wake of their shock 2-1 defeat away to West Brom. Now only four players have played a direct hand in more goals than Barkley (9) in the Premier League this season.
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