In-demand Leverkusen star ends season atop European player form rankings
With the Premier League having finished a week earlier than the remainder of Europe’s major leagues, we have one more player form ranking leaderboard to run through for this season following the weekend’s action.
As one would expect given the absence of one of the five leagues assessed, it’s all change in this week’s top 20, starting from the very top after Eden Hazard led the way last week.
The new leader is another attacker that is believed to be on the radar of a number of clubs this summer, and the way in which Julian Brandt ended the season with Bayer Leverkusen will have only elevated his price tag.
The 23-year-old scored for the third game in his last four appearances as B04 sealed the final Champions League spot on the last day of the Bundesliga season with a 5-1 rout over Hertha Berlin. The playmaker has mustered 16 shots, 16 key passes and completed 19 dribbles over his last six league outings.
NEW QUALIFIERS
The first of five new qualifiers to this week’s leaderboard having now started six of the last eight league games for Napoli, Dries Mertens is straight in at number two. The Belgian scored for the fourth league appearance running, as well as registering an assist in a 4-1 win over Inter, and has now had a direct hand in a goal in each of his last six Serie A games.
Teammate Fabian Ruiz also qualifies at 14 after a man of the match display in the same match, scoring twice and registering an assist in his best display yet for the Partenopei. Elsewhere in Serie A Papu Gomez is back on the leaderboard (13th) after returning to league action in the 1-1 draw with Juventus, while there are two new names in the top 20 from Lyon.
Maxwel Cornet scored once and registered two assists in OL’s 4-0 win over Caen and has now had a direct hand in seven goals in his last four appearances, while Memphis Depay netted twice to see the attacking duo rank ninth and tenth respectively.
RISES
As far as climbers from last week’s rankings are concerned, Udinese’s Rodrigo de Paul has rocketed up into third this week having assisted all three of his side’s goals in a crucial 3-2 win over SPAL. The Argentine created six chances in total as well as chipping in with three tackles and three interceptions.
Lille hot shot Nicolas Pepe is up to fourth following a brace in a 5-0 win over Angers, while club mate Thiago Mendes jumps to sixth having registered his third assist in six games, over which time he has also made 14 tackles and 19 interceptions.
Joshua Kimmich is up to seven having ended the season with yet another assist - his 13th in the Bundesliga and third in six matches - while Wout Weghorst (eighth) was the star of the weekend with a hat-trick and an assist in Wolfsburg’s stunning 8-1 win over Augsburg. Full-back William also joins the leaderboard from the Wolves, while AC Milan’s Suso - who netted in a 2-0 win over Frosinone - is the final climber in this final top 20.
FALLS
Despite all scoring at the weekend the likes of Kai Havertz (fifth), Jean-Paul Boetius (11th) and Kalifa Coulibaly (17th) have all fallen slightly down the rankings this week along with Valencia’s Santi Mina (15th), Nantes’ Valentin Rongier (19th) and Espanyol’s Borja Iglesias (20th).
Qualifying Rules
Only ratings from each player’s last six league matches are considered, weighted chronologically, with the most recent match carrying greater importance and so on. To qualify each player must have featured in their side’s last league match and started at least six of the last eight available.
