Top 20: Lukaku surges up form rankings leaderboard having haunted Chelsea
It was a weekend to remember for Romelu Lukaku, whose hoodoo against former club Chelsea ended in fine fashion with a match winning contribution as Manchester United beat the Blues on Sunday.
Before the game the Belgian had played more games without scoring against the visitors to Old Trafford than any other side (7), but having got United back on level terms he then set up Jesse Lingard for the winner. With three goals and two assists in his last six league appearances, Lukaku is the highest climber into the top 20 in the Premier League form rankings, rising a whopping 47 places into 16th.
He’s still some way off the pace of compatriot Eden Hazard, however, who remains top despite being forced off at Stamford Bridge, although the gap to Sergio Aguero - whose league rating was unchanged having been on Carabao Cup final duty - is getting narrower.
Elsewhere Kevin De Bruyne is still third despite also not having a league game this weekend, but Mo Salah did bridge the gap in fourth with having scored for the fourth match running in England’s top-flight. The Egyptian’s battle to be top scorer (23 goals) with Aguero (21) and Harry Kane (24) promises to go right to the wire, with the Tottenham striker’s late winner at Palace moving him up two places on the leaderboard to complete the top five at teammate Christian Eriksen’s expense.
There was a massive leap from Roberto Firmino elsewhere, up 20 places into sixth with his fourth goal in six league appearances, while Brighton’s Shane Duffy climbed ten places and Nemanja Matic - up 12 - creeps into the top 20 after an excellent performance of his own against his old employers.
Meanwhile Chris Smalling completes an inbound United trio as a new entry from last week, now meeting the criteria of featuring in at least two of the last three available league games and at least six of the last eight.