Salah has overtaken Partey at the top
Mohamed Salah's decisive performance in Liverpool's win at Aston Villa could topple Thomas Partey who has been at the summit of our rankings for weeks.
How did Chelsea's African contingent fare after a much-needed breather from club football when they hosted Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge?
In GOAL’s latest power rankings for 2022-23, we assess the continent’s stars that have played in England’s top-flight this term.
34Mohamed Elneny
The Egyptian replaced Thomas Partey in the dying embers of Arsenal’s 3-1 win over West Ham United.
Elneny falls a spot as a consequence.
33Edouard Mendy
The Chelsea goalkeeper was not in the squad that returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Bournemouth on Tuesday, thus slipping from 31st.
32Tariq Lamptey
Another game where Lamptey was introduced off the bench. Seven minutes in Brighton & Hove Albion’s 3-1 win over Southampton do not suffice for the wide defender who is rooted to 32nd this week.
31Hakim Ziyech
Ziyech was not involved in Chelsea’s win over Bournemouth. The Morocco playmaker has not returned to training after a history-making World Cup with the Atlas Lions.
Ziyech slips from 30th.
30Abdoulaye Doucoure
The Malian slips from 29th following a below-par cameo in Everton’s 2-1 defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
29Maxwel Cornet
The Ivorian slides from 27th having not featured for West Ham United since October.
28Moussa Djenepo
An underwhelming showing from the Malian in Southampton’s 3-1 loss to Brighton. The Malian failed to complete any of three dribble attempts and lost three of five duels.
Djenepo slips from 25th.
27Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
The striker slips from 23rd following a cameo in Chelsea’s win over Bournemouth where he made minimal impact.
27Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
The striker slips from 23rd following a cameo in Chelsea’s win over Bournemouth where he made minimal impact.
26Neeskens Kebano
An Achilles rupture will keep the DR Congo forward sidelined for several months. Kebano missed Fulham’s 3-0 success at Crystal Palace, promoting a drop from 21st.
25Wilfred Ndidi
The Leicester City midfielder moves a spot after an encouraging cameo in the Foxes’ 3-0 defeat against Newcastle United.
24Riyad Mahrez
The Manchester City wide attacker could still move or rise depending on Wednesday’s encounter with Leeds United. He retains the 24th spot in the interim.
23Willy Boly
The Nottingham Forest centre-back rises from 34th this week despite the Tricky Trees’ 3-0 defeat by Manchester United on Tuesday night.
The Ivorian won all but one of his five duels at Old Trafford and was unlucky to have what would have been his first Forest goal disallowed for offside.
22Jordan Zemura
The Zimbabwean endured a tough start to the Cherries’ 2-0 loss at Chelsea but grew into the game, offering a threat on the overlap as the game progressed.
Zemura keeps his spot.
21Boubacar Traore
Traore was a doubt for Wolverhampton Wanderers’ trip to Everton and the Malian could not recover in time to partake in the 2-1 success.
Thus, he slides from 19th.
20Patson Daka
A tough afternoon for Daka in Leicester’s 3-0 loss to Newcastle sees the Zambian slip from 18th. He was withdrawn at half-time.
19Cheikhou Kouyate
Kouyate has not played in any capacity since going off injured in Senegal’s World Cup clash with the Netherlands. The midfielder falls from 17th.
18Joe Aribo
Aribo slips from 15th after losing his spot in the Southampton side in recent gameweeks and struggling for game time.
The Nigeria international did not pull up trees against Brighton despite having 45 minutes to impress.
17Jeffrey Schlupp
The Ghanaian struggled amid Crystal Palace’s indiscipline against Fulham, having to play the final 33 minutes with nine men following Tyrick Mitchel’s dismissal just after the hour.
Schlupp slips from 14th place.
16Kalidou Koulibaly
Koulibaly produced a decent-to-good showing against Bournemouth despite some iffy moments in possession. This sees the Senegal captain rise from 20th.
15Joel Matip
Despite Liverpool’s intermittent openness throughout the game against Aston Villa, Matip produced a commendable showing on his first Premier League appearance since October 9.
The Cameroonian rises from 28th after giving a good account of himself at Villa Park.
14Yves Bissouma
Even though Tottenham Hotspur had to fight from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Brentford, Bissouma produced a decent-to-good outing at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The Malian rises from 16th as a consequence.
13Alex Iwobi
Iwobi was just average in Everton’s 2-1 defeat by Wolverhampton, failing to reproduce the high-quality performances shown earlier in the campaign.
The Nigerian slides from 11th place.
12Daniel Amartey
After a few commendable performances before the World Cup, Amartey slides from sixth following an error-strewn showing against Newcastle.
The Ghanaian gave away an early penalty in the eventual 3-0 loss.
11Serge Aurier
The Ivory Coast right-back may have cut a frustrated figure in Forest’s 3-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United but the defender was one of the team’s better players at Old Trafford.
Aurier rises from 13th this week.
10Jordan Ayew
Ayew remained on the pitch for 90 minutes despite Palace being reduced to 10 men against Fulham, even hitting the woodwork for Patrick Vieira’s men.
Be that as it may, it is not enough to hold on to a place in the top 10.
9Yoane Wissa
The DR Congo international unsurprisingly falls from fifth after only coming on for the final eight minutes in Brentford’s 2-2 draw with Spurs.
8Wilfried Zaha
Not helped by his team’s two red cards against Fulham, Zaha was barely involved in Palace’s 3-0 loss against Fulham.
Thus, the wide attacker slides from fourth.
7Mohamed Salisu
The Ghana centre-back just about holds on to a top 10 spot after an average showing in Southampton’s 3-1 loss at the hands of Brighton.
6Bryan Mbeumo
Mbeumo loses third spot this week, not due to underperforming against Tottenham, but as a consequence of the performance of those previously behind him.
The Cameroonian created more chances (three) than any teammate on the pitch but slides, nonetheless.
5Said Benrahma
The Algerian scored a first-half penalty for West Ham who went on to lose 3-1 at Arsenal.
It was Benrahma’s first goal against a top-six side since March, thus seeing the attacker rise from ninth.'
4Cheick Doucoure'
Doucoure was one of Palace’s better players despite the 3-0 loss against Fulham. The Malian seldom came out second-best in his duels, winning seven of 10 tussles before his 84th-minute withdrawal.
The midfielder rises from 12th.
3Idrissa Gueye
The Senegal international was arguably Everton’s best player before going off with seven minutes of normal time to play. Gueye won nine of 10 ground duels and could have registered an assist had Anthony Gordon converted after the midfielder found him eyeball to eyeball with Jose Sa.
The Everton man moves from eighth.
2Thomas Partey
We have a change at the top, with Partey relinquishing top spot this week.
The Arsenal man seldom lost any of his tussles versus West Ham before a late withdrawal, coming out on top six times in eight duels altogether.
Still, it was just not enough to retain first place.
1Mohamed Salah
A goal and assist in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa see Salah supplant Partey atop our rankings after the Ghanaian was at the summit for several weeks.
The Egyptian is now up to seven league goals for Liverpool, having netted four times in as many games either side of the World Cup.
With the Reds talisman finding some consistency in the last month or so, how easily would he be knocked off the top?
