PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYERS POWER RANKING: MATCH DAY 3

The Premier League has been in action for 3 three weeks now following the oddly short break. And asides the 2020/2021 been extremely hard to pronounce out loud, there's been a lot on view. Salah's non-chalant training ground-esque volley against Leeds. Tariq Lamptey. Christensen bear hugging Mane in a tackle that is a foul even in rugby. Tariq Lamptey. Vardy channeling his inner Immobile with 4 pens and one open play goal. Tariq Lamptey. Fulham's defense. And last but not least, I'm not sure I mentioned it but Tariq Lamptey is really good at football.

But who've been the best players in the league so far?

With this power ranking series, I'll be answering that question. The rules are simple. 

• Every player started on a level playing field so only this season's performances count

• Players are grouped into 7 positions namely goalkeeper, centre back, right back, left back, centre/defensive midfielder, attacking midfield/wide forward and striker based on where they've played this season. 

• Players need to have played at least 50% of the minutes available to be considered for ranking.

Let's get started then.

GOALKEEPERS

It's always tricky to judge goalkeepers, but it's even more difficult when before the third weekend of the season the Premier League record for most goals scored/conceded in a matchday has been broken.

Going by that, Villa new boy Emi Martinez seems to be the goalkeeper of the moment. Having just played his second game and just qualifying for selection he skips all they to the top. He's saved all the shots on target against him this season (including a penalty) and is fully deserving of his spot. Guaita, Schmeichel, Alisson, Lloris and Pickford all fall as a result. Karl Darlow rises to seventh after his shot stopping marvels against Spurs this weekend. Leno falls after conceding 3 against Liverpool. Ramsdale is a mixture of Ederson looking awful against Leicester, him being stellar for the Blades against Leeds for most of the game and goalkeepers doing particularly poor recently.

Kepa. End of explanation.

CENTRE BACKS

Centre back too has been a pretty tough category with the defending over the last few weeks shocking to say the least. Soyunce has been very impressive this season and he looked good against City with Jonny Evans back beside him. Mings is the best defender in the only team not to concede yet and he scored this weekend but he looked particularly solid. Keane is clinging to his place with Van Djik having recovered well from Leeds and utterly dominating Arsenal on Monday. Crystal Palace duo are still in place. Gabriel missed the Liverpool game and it was easy to see Arsenal missed him, for now he's still he but just like Ndidi (who's here because he's been used as a center back) he'll drop out if he keeps missing games. 

RIGHT BACKS/RIGHT WING BACKS

Tariq Lamptey has been sensational for Brighton so far this season. He's been the top right back in the league this season but the gap he had last season has been cut a lot this week. Castagne was very impressive against City and Trent looks to have moved past the Leeds struggle and is back this brilliant best. Coleman and Reece James drop as a result with the latter struggling defensively against West Brom (never thought I'd be typing that). That's because Matty Cash has taken to the Premier League like he was raised here. He's been ideal for Villa and if he keeps it up the only way is up. 

LEFT BACKS/LEFT WING BACKS

Left back is surprisingly not a position will a lot of star quality in the Premier League. Digne put in a good performance against Palace winning a questionably absurd penalty. James Justin too on the foxes left side was positive for Leicester against City. Robertson would be closing the gap by a lot more if he wasn't at fault for Arsenal's goal before scoring his. Tyrick Mitchell despite Palace lost to Everton continues his quest to join United for around 60 million in the summer of 2021. Solly March has been a left wing back for Brighton and his inclusion if anything is an indictment on the standard the left backs are right now. 

CENTRE/DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER

For center midfielder, Tielemans seems to be returning to the form he showed on his initial loan to Leicester. A penalty against City to make it 5 was a just reward for all the excellence he put in since the season began. Fabinho flies up the ranks. The only reason he was so low was because he was a centre back against Chelsea. But he was immense against Arsenal on Monday night. Allan, Klich, and Praet all fall in his wake. James McArthur keeps his spot after being very impressive so far. Doucoure falls to tenth, through no fault of his as he played quite well against Palace. The Villa midfield duo just seem to be in form and climb above him now they're eleligible.

ATTACKING MIDFIELD/WIDE FORWARD

Ahh. This is the stacked position. Mane tops it. When he was not trying to plant his elbow in Tierney's jawbone to see if it would reap Elbowfruit, Mane was absolutely brilliant against Arsenal (as he's been since his Liverpool debut). He knocks James Rodriguez, who seems to be mistaking the Premier League for the 2014 World Cup, off his perch but not by much. Richarlison leaps past everyone into fourth with his penalty finally giving him the goal he's deserved all season. Son falls as a result after a quiet misfiring performance against Newcastle and so do Aubameyang and Zaha. Harvey Barnes moves up following Leicester's win against City. Grealish enters the fold jumping straight into the top 10. Townsend moves up with another assist to his name but also because the a lot of players played quite poorly. Trossard, Podence and Willian all fall with the latter hanging to his spot by a thin thread. De Bruyne was far from his brilliant best against Leicester and Fernandes might be the first player to score a match winner after the final whistle but that was not enough to break into the top 10. 

STRIKERS

DCL and Jamie Immobile both have 5 goals this season (Jokes aside, 4 penalties after 3 games is bit excessive). While I'm one of the few people that think penalties are actual goals and difficult to score, there's no debate that Calvert-Lewin is the hotter of the two (read that with context please). 5 goals under Ancelotti for far is an enormous return. Kane got a fifth assist of the season but asides that he was pretty off pace against Bruce's black and white army. Bamford's 3 in 3 sees him move up with Lacazette falling after a missing a huge chance against Liverpool despite scoring. Maupay and Ings move up with goals this weekend as does Firmino. Jimenez scored in the wrong net and Werner didn't win a penalty but did manage to hit the woodwork and that sees him drop too.