Masterful Messi extends huge gap in latest player form rankings

At this point, Lionel Messi is just being unfair to the rest of the competition when it comes to the form rankings in Europe’s top five leagues.

The Argentine scored another two goals in the derby with Espanyol at the weekend, becoming the first player to reach and surpass 30 league goals this season. With ten goals over his last six appearances - the span assessed in these form rankings - the 31-year old is head and shoulders above the rest with a remarkable weighted rating of 9.30 in that time.

Messi’s closest challenger remains James Rodriguez, who is the second of just three non-movers in this week’s top 20 following a man of the match display as Bayern dropped points at Freiburg. The Colombian created seven chances, completed four dribbles and even made four tackles as the Bundesliga champions were left ruing missed chances.

The other player to retain the same spot he occupied last week is RB Leipzig’s Willi Orban, who helped his side to a fourth consecutive clean sheet, while Hoffenheim forward Ishak Belfodil is the only new qualifier this week. The Algerian took his league tally to ten goals with a brace against Leverkusen and registered an assist too, taking his respective tallies to four and two in his last six Bundesliga outings and earning a spot in 13th on the leaderboard.

RISES

Staying in the Bundesliga there were two significant climbers over the weekend, with Max Kruse displacing Robert Lewandowski (now sixth) in the top three. The German had a hand in all three Werder Bremen goals for the second game running, scoring twice and registering an assist in both, and has now had a direct hand in ten of his side’s 11 goals over their last five matches (six goals, four assists).

Elsewhere Frankfurt’s Filip Kostic jumps from seventh to fourth following a brace in a 3-0 win over former club Stuttgart. The Serbian is in superb form of late and has now had a hand in seven goals (four goals, three assists) in his last five league outings, and at least one in each.

Meanwhile, there are seven new faces to have climbed onto the leaderboard, with Alejandro Gomez (eighth), Karim Benzema (ninth) and Lucas Digne (tenth) all leaping straight into the top ten. The former registered two assists in victory at Parma to earn a third WhoScored.com man of the match award in his last four games, Benzema picked up the accolade against Huesca with a goal and assist, while the latter earned a star rating as Everton kept a fourth clean sheet in five to ease the pressure on Marco Silva.

Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi is up to 16th following a remarkable 11 tackles - not to mention five interceptions - against Bournemouth, while Nicolas Pepe (17th) put in yet another match winning display with a goal and assist as Lille won at Nantes. Athletic Club’s Raul Garcia (19th) scored for the fourth game in six, while compatriot Luis Alberto completes the top 20 following an assist in Lazio’s crucial win at Inter having had a hand in three goals the game before.

FALLS

Of those to keep their place on the leaderboard Raheem Sterling is the biggest faller, from eighth to 15th, while the aforementioned Lewandowski, Teji Savanier (fourth to sixth) and Kylian Mbappe (fifth to seventh) all drop out of the previous top five.

Thiago Alcantara and Jadon Sancho both secured respectable ratings at the weekend but fall just outside of the top ten. That’s despite the latter moving clear in this season’s assists charts with a 13th in the league, while Leipzig’s ultra consistent left-back Marcel Halstenberg drops one place despite maintaining a weighted rating of 7.75 over his last six league appearances.

QUALIFYING RULES
 
Only ratings taken 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 game and started at least six of the last eight available.