Eden Hazard tops European form rankings amidst Ballon d'Or nomination
As we prepare to look ahead to the upcoming internationals the latest break is a good time for reflection on the performances across Europe’s top five leagues thus far.
Our third player form rankings of the season are up to date and there’s a new leader at the top of the pile, along with a number of new qualifiers to the top top 20.
In fact, there are six new faces on the leaderboard, with Edinson Cavani highest among them in 12th. The Uruguayan was sacrificed in the first half following Presnel Kimpembe’s red card against Lyon but his sixth start of the Ligue 1 season means he is now eligible for a place in our rankings, having scored five times in said outings.
The same rules apply to the likes of David Silva (14th), Thomas Meunier (17th) and Yussuf Poulsen (20th), along with Juventus duo Mario Mandzukic (16th) and Joao Cancelo (19th), who both registered assists in a 2-0 win at Udinese. Meanwhile, said restrictions mean that Kylian Mbappe - who scored four times at the weekend - does not qualify as yet having started just four league games thus far.
Elsewhere three players have risen into the charts from outside of the top 20, with Real Valladolid left-back Nacho (18th) and Wolves’ Matt Doherty (15th) among them. Former Middlesbrough forward Cristhian Stuani is the biggest climber, however, up 22 places to sixth having taken the lead in LaLiga’s scoring charts with his seventh and eighth goals of the season for Girona.
There are only three players to have fallen down the rankings that remain in the top 20 this week, with Neymar dropping from first to third, Raheem Sterling from fourth to seventh and Lille’s Nicolas Pepe from eighth to 13th.
Former Liverpool man Suso is up to fifth following a hat-trick of assists for AC Milan at the weekend, now on six for the season in Serie A, while Florian Thauvin (tenth), Gylfi Sigurdsson (11th) and the free-scoring Krzysztof Piatek (8th) all move up the rankings. The latter scored a ninth goal of the season since a summer switch to Genoa in defeat to Parma and is the leading marksman across Europe’s top five leagues.
Harry Maguire (ninth), Cristiano Ronaldo (fifth) and Lionel Messi (second) are all non-movers this week, while Eden Hazard has shot to the top of the leaderboard following another star showing at Southampton.
Taking his goal tally to seven and assist tally to three for the season at the weekend, the Belgian became the fastest player to have had a hand in ten goals in Europe’s top five leagues and is in the most scintillating form of his Chelsea career right now. With the Ballon d’Or nominees revealed this week, and the winger enjoying an excellent World Cup in the summer, Hazard would be a worthy candidate for a place in the final three on current form.
