Player Focus: Premier League Form Rankings Ahead of Gameweek 31
As part of WhoScored.com’s new partnership with fantasy football platform MondoGoal we’ll be providing content twice a week to help you to choose the best available Premier League XI, giving you the chance to win some great prizes in the process.
Later in the week we’ll be selecting our WhoScored Expert’s XI ahead of gameweek 31 in England’s top-flight but we’re kicking off with a new feature on the site that accompanies our new ‘You vs WhoScored’ contests. From now on you can see which players, by position, are performing the best based on their last three appearances and in this weekly blog we’ll detail those that come into each weekend’s matches in a rich vein of form.
Goalkeepers
It’s Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois that leads the form rankings as far as keepers are concerned, earning a score of 7.39 over appearances against Hull, Southampton and West Ham. With the Blues hosting Stoke this weekend, who have failed to score on each of their last 6 visits to Stamford Bridge, he’ll be hoping for another clean sheet come Saturday. Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet (7.33) is back on form and not far behind his compatriot courtesy of impressive recent showings against United, Swansea and Burnley, but with a trip to the Emirates ahead the Reds keeper could have a far busier afternoon to contend with.
Elsewhere Mark Schwarzer (7.31) and Adrian (6.97), who each rank among the top 6 keepers based on form over their last three appearances, go head-to-head in a game that looks set to be make or break for the home side. The Foxes are 7 points adrift of safety and with their game in hand coming against Chelsea, they will need their veteran shot stopper to replicate the sort of performance that saw him pick up a rating of 8.04 in Leicester’s last outing at the King Power Stadium, ending in a 0-0 stalemate with Hull.
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Defenders
The fact that four Arsenal men break into the top 10 in-form defenders shows just how much the Gunners have progressed recently, now in with a realistic chance of leapfrogging City into second and, dare I say it, mounting a late and unlikely title charge. Arsene Wenger’s men have a tough fixture against Liverpool this weekend but have won 8 successive league matches at home, with a revitalised defence at the base of that success. January signing Gabriel has certainly added strength in depth in that area and started his career in North London in fine form, currently leading the way of all defenders over their last 3 appearances with a score of 7.96.
Phil Jagielka has returned to form to silence some critics of late and he’ll be hoping to carry impressive displays in back-to-back wins over Newcastle (8.34 WhoScored rating) and QPR (8.52) into this weekend’s clash with Southampton. Further down the top 10 the appearance of Swansea summer signing Federico Fernandez is also noteworthy, with the Argentine scooping WhoScored’s man of the match award last time out against Aston Villa with a rating of 8.15. Coming up against a Hull side that have failed to score in 8 of their last 11 away matches in the league, he could be in line for another impressive score this Saturday.
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Midfielders
A couple of the usual suspects lead the way as far as the form rankings are concerned for midfielders. David Silva (8.31) just edges out Eden Hazard (8.22) having sparkled to net against the likes of Leicester and Burnley, aiming to add to his league tally of 11 when City travel to Palace on Monday having netted a brace in the reverse fixture against the Eagles. Hazard, who is WhoScored.com’s top rated player in the Premier League this season (8.02), has racked up the same number of league goals and also scored in 2 of his last 3 league appearances.
There is yet another Belgian who has been impressing of late, however, with Marouane Fellaini beginning to emerge as a crucial cog in a machine that finally appears to be getting into gear at United. The former Everton man has a rating of 8.05 over his last three appearances and he’ll be facing a Villa side against whom he has netted 4 goals in his career, which is a tally he has failed to better against any other side.
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Forwards
There is a clear leader in the form rankings for forwards with Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud entering the game against Liverpool this Saturday in scintillating form. The Frenchman has netted in 5 successive league matches and earned an outstanding rating of 8.70 over his last three appearances as he targets a third goal in five appearances against Brendan Rodgers’ side. Harry Kane is unsurprisingly high up on the leaderboard as his fairytale season shows no sign of ending, and the newly-capped England international will want to add to the 5 goals he has scored in his last 3 league appearances when Spurs travel to Burnley, having netted the opener in the reverse fixture between the sides.
Elsewhere the emergence of two Aston Villa strikers is, well, striking after a dismal campaign in front of goal for the Midlands outfit. Christian Benteke (8.05) and Gabby Agbonlahor (7.78) were in fine form on their last away day at Sunderland but will have to work harder for their corn at Old Trafford this weekend. Both players were in the thick of the action in the reverse fixture with United, with Benteke curling in a beautiful opener before the latter was sent off, albeit harshly, late on.
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If you've taken any of this advice on board ahead of this weekend's Premier League fixtures then why not test yourself against our WhoScored Expert's XI in this week's free-to-play You vs WhoScored contest at MondoGoal?
