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There isn’t much to separate the Premier League title challengers through seven rounds of fixtures, but the surprise leaders heading into the October internationals are Liverpool, now under the management of Arne Slot. The Reds have hardly missed a beat in what was supposed to be a transitional season post-Jurgen Klopp, with several key players stepping up to deliver the goods to this point.
Trailing them are champions Manchester City, led by the wickedly freakish scoring exploits of Erling Haaland, and the defensively devious Arsenal. Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle, meanwhile, have all shown their top-four credentials despite the odd disappointing result.
But which individuals have stood out the most? Phil Foden took home the Premier League Player of the Season award for 2023-24, but his slow start to this campaign means we could crown a new king of the league come May.
GOAL will be tracking the race throughout the campaign – here’s how our top 10 looks right now:
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AFP10Jhon Duran (Aston Villa)
Very few predicted Jhon Duran to still be at Aston Villa this season, let alone be their best player. That he is just that without even being a starter is, however, even more remarkable.
Only 20 years of age, the Colombia international has come racing out of the blocks. Four goals in seven Premier League games, plus a further two in the Champions League, has left the world watching jaws-dropped in awe.
Duran’s still second-fiddle to Ollie Watkins, but if this hot run proves to be sustainable, then Unai Emery will have little choice but to fit him into the Villa starting XI.
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Getty Images Sport9Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool)
Remember when Liverpool fans lost their minds when the club failed in their pursuit of Euro 2024 winner Martin Zubimendi? Well, to paraphrase Michael Jordan, it appears Ryan Gravenberch may have taken that personally.
The Dutchman’s debut season at Anfield didn’t particularly swing too wildly in either direction, though it was clear he was a talented player worth persisting with. Slot has since found a great use for his countryman at the base of midfield, and the Reds’ inability to sign Zubimendi to play that role already feels like a distant memory.
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Getty Images Sport8Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford)
No Ivan Toney? No problem. Bryan Mbeumo has relished taking on the mantle of Brentford’s best and most important player, with only Haaland bettering his tally of six Premier League goals to begin the season.
Bees boss Thomas Frank has sung Mbeumo’s praises for years, hailing him as one of the hardest workers and a selfless team-mate. Now, the goals are beginning to fall his way and he’s grabbed the world’s attention. This is what a modern Barclaysman looks like.
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Getty Images Sport7David Raya (Arsenal)
From a current Brentford star to Brentford alumni, David Raya is mounting quite the charge to be widely recognised as the Premier League’s best goalkeeper. His highlight reel this season is probably longer and more impressive than that of his first campaign at the Emirates Stadium, and while he doesn’t have the same physical presence as some of Arsenal’s imposing defenders, he plays like someone six inches taller than he actually is.
No goalkeeper in world football commands their box the way Raya does, and the Gunners have needed that in order to maintain their defensive resilience.
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Getty Images6Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
We, as a species and as a fandom, have a bad habit of normalising and therefore ignoring greatness. That sentiment certainly applies to the exploits of Mohamed Salah, whose early-season antics have slipped under the radar and deserve shouting about.
Four goals and four assists from seven appearances is a return pretty much anyone else in the Premier League, besides the attackers higher on this list, would be envious of. We see you, Egyptian King.
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Getty Images Sport5Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal)
Arsenal have discovered a real-life version of a Football Manager set-piece glitch, and at the heart of that game-breaking endeavour has been Gabriel Magalhaes. The Brazilian’s head presumably has a gravitational pull which draws the ball towards him on set plays. It’s stupidly ridiculous.
Mikel Arteta has embraced the dead-ball side of the game, but he’s needed a stalwart like Gabriel in order for it to be this effective.
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Getty Images Sport4Luis Diaz (Liverpool)
What is it with these show-stopping Colombian forwards staying at their clubs and starting the season in red-hot form, eh? Luis Diaz was a summer target for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, though a move away from Liverpool failed to materialise and he came into Slot’s first term as one of six exciting attackers at his disposal.
To his credit, he’s been the best of the bunch. When Diaz arrived on Merseyside in 2022, he had a jink and a swagger that set him apart, but he gradually lost this over the last 18 months. Now, Diaz is playing the football of his life again. Give him space and he’ll burn you; close him down and he’ll dance away. How do you plan to stop a threat capable of going inside or out like that?
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AFP3Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
There isn’t a single winger in football with more discipline than Bukayo Saka. That’s both a compliment and a curse. Saka has the physicality, mentality and ability to track back like the wide-men of old, but that means he’s usually too shattered to run up his numbers like we all know he can.
The 23-year-old (yep, he’s still only 23) has only scored twice this term, but his tally of seven assists is a league-high and arguably not fair enough of a reflection of how important he’s been to Arsenal’s chance creation.
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AFP2Erling Haaland (Man City)
Remember that quip earlier about taking greatness for granted? Or something along those lines, it was like three whole players ago after all.
What Haaland is doing and has done with Man City fits that description too. Perhaps even we are guilty of doing that right now by only having him in second place, despite scoring 10 times in seven matches, despite having the same number as goals as Premier League games (73) throughout his Etihad Stadium stay.
Maybe the fanfare around Haaland would be through the roof if he played for one of the traditionally bigger clubs. Maybe he’s made the hard art of goal-scoring boring. Go figure.
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AFP1Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
Look, whether you like it or not, these kind of awards are partly swung on narrative as much as they are on performances. Cole Palmer, at least, is ruling the roost in both regards.
His record-shattering four-goal haul against Brighton was the trigger to send him into ‘best in the league’ conversations, which seems a just reward for 12 months of carrying Chelsea through the fires of crisis and chaos.
At this moment in time, Palmer is the face of the Premier League and the hottest ticket in town. That’s why he’s our number one right now.
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