I the previous post we talked about the top 10 predictions, listing the pro and cons, thoughts and hopes for some of the great players in the English Premier League (EPL). That was done on a 7 played match which was only the beginning of the run, not we are close to the middle of the season, actually 2 matches away to be exact. This is when things get fiery, injuries, more goals, coach and player clashes, coaches being sacked and the list goes on! So lets see what we have after another 7 games being played with total a 14 games under some of these players belt!
You can go back to this post to recall the to 10 highlighted players, with their goals up to match week 7. There will be some changes, some players will go on the “bench” and some player will replace them on the big stage!
One of these names that is going to the bench will be Wilfred Zaha, he has not been score much more goals in the last couple of matches and as stated previously he’s not known to be in the race for top scorer he’s an exceptional player non the less but it seems he needs to be substituted with another player.
Diogo Jota also is a name that will be “benched” sadly, he’s picked an injury and will not be joining the club till 2023. Along that sad news he will not be featuring in the world cup in Qatar probably more sad news for me and most Portugal team supporters.
10 – Son Heung-min (3)
He’s dropped from 4th to 10th he’s not scored any goals at all the past 7 games, I am not sure what will happen in the coming days even if we look at assists he’s not doing much better. Yet Son is a great player and needs to be given the opportunity in the next phase of the EPL to show what he is made of. Could be after the World Cup and the season break he will get more inspired and return to goal scoring.
9 – Raheem Stirling (3)
New team means new attitude and possibly a new way of playing. Stirling, after 7 more matches hasn’t scored any goals still with 3 goals, kind of disappointing. He’s played a total of 11 matches with 1 sub, so not as much as most players on the list but yet a good number of games to grab some goals. Chelsea has gone through some changes with new appointing a new manager. A lot of things could be contributing to his ability to score goals, yet we know Stirling from his Liverpool and Man City days he is a goal machine. Hopefully he will prove that during the world cup and come back to the second half of the season with high confidence and goal scoring.
8 – Mohammed Salah (4)
It does not look like a great season for Salah in the EPL this time around, I have placed him as number 9 in this post previously he was number 6, or at least in the first half before the world cup break and the season. Salah will not be participating in the world cup, and hope once the even is finished and league is resumed he is well rested and match sharpness and fitness will be high. After 7 additional matches he has managed to score 2 extra goals going from 2 by match week 7 to total of 4 at the end of match week 14. Even though he has only scored 4 goals so far he has made 3 great assists (a lot of people in sports count assists as half goals ) so credit to him in helping the team grab some goals to stay alive in some matches. I think there is more to this, as we have seen Liverpool performance as a unite has decreased in the EPL, we seem them loosing some games like Nottingham Forest and Leeds at the very end. In the UEFA Salah is preforming quiet well, knock on wood, he has scored 6 goals making him joint first with Kylian Mbappé. This makes us wonder if Liverpool has thrown the towel on their chances to win or even being in the race. Currently they are 9th of the table, which is top half, with only 16 points roughly the same amount of points difference between them and first place, Arsenal. Let’s see what happens after the world cup and the break, could be his moment to explode with goals!
7 – Marcus Rashford (4)
Rashford has been great the past couple of matches in particular scoring with his head which is a feature we’ve seen Cristiano Ronaldo do more often, could this be his mentorship in action? Rashford is 24 years and looks like he is enjoying his time lately. Even though he has only scored 1 goal in the last 7 Man UTD games making his total 4 he is still a good player to keep an eye on. Hopefully he will continue scoring and seeing him in the world cup!
6 – Gabriel Martinelli (5)
Martinelli, 21-year-old Brazilian is having the time of his life this season with being 1/3 Brazilian players at arsenal that are also named Gabriel. Amazing talent and he has been bagging some nice goals this season. With Saka being on the Right and Jesus joining from Man City the trio have been a great force to watch. Martinelli after match week 7 he had only 3 goals, now he has a total 6 meaning after 7 games he has scored 2 more goals. He looks like he has a great understanding with Jesus and Saka and nice finishing technique so hopefully we will see him score more goals! Also, hopefully we will see him play in the world cup with Brazil!
5 – Roberto Firmino (6)
Bobby has been showing some great talent in front of goal, also this brazilin had doubled his total from 3 to 6 scoring 3 goals in the last 7 matches. He’s played 11 matches and been a substitute in 2. I think he is starting to put himself in that role with the likes of Jota being injured, Mane’s departure and Luis Dias’ injury I think his chances for playing more games has increased and hopefully this will mean he number of goals he scores will also increase! Another great Brazilian I wish to see in the world cup!
4 – Gabriel Jesus (5)
From 3rd to 4th not much of a decrease but he has not scored many goals. Seems like he gets unluck when trying to smash it in the back of the net. But he is amazing player on the ball and off the ball and only with time he will score again! We saw the previous match his movements, his passes and some of his missed chances. It only encourages us and gives us hope that he will be getting on the scoring sheet soon. Great 2 assists last game and amazing holding the ball ability pushing Arsenal in the front once more! Jesus will be featured in the World Cup with Brazil team and hope to see him there!
3 – Aleksandar Mitrovic (9)
Here is yet another underrated player, Mitrovic the 28-year-old south Serbian seems to be coming to his peak potential, he has amazing pace and finishing to smash the ball into the net. As we saw recently in the last 14 games he has been able to score amazing goals, he was able to not only make the difference for team but also become the 3rd place top scorer of the EPL with 9 goals far surpassing expectations. With long shots and great finishes as one of his weaponries he also holds the ball and creates space for the other players. So, we will see a lot of him this year. Let’s hope his run continues and bags more goals to start making this season interesting! He will be featured in the world for sure with Serbia and hope to see him show a great performance.
2 – Harry Kane (10)
England’s Capitan has bagged few goals in the past 7 games making his total 10 which is 7 goals than the current, injured, goal machine Erling Haaland! Kane continues to be in great shape and takes his chances. Sadly there was a disallowed goal in the UEFA by an odd ruling of offsides. This just shows how Kane can creep in goals at anytime from any place and be a threat to any team! Hopefully we will see him leading the England national team through the world cup and has a great season on the greatest sports event in the world!
1 – Erling Haaland (17)
There needs no comments to this goal machine, he went from 11 goals to 17 goals in the last 7 games, even though he had picked some sort of injury hopefully he will return soon. Good news is he will be well rested along with Salah and Mehrez since they will not participate in the world cup, so his return after the world hopefully he will continue to amaze us with his goals and moves! It is sad not to see such great players in the world cup.
This completes my list for this week, I want to show case that even though some players are not mentioned above; like Foden, Vardy and others does not mean there are not contenders to the top scorer award! Also, we should take a moment to remember the Amazing Kevin De Bruyne free kick that was done this week! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T928GdrCYEM
Worthy mentions
Below are some please that are worthy of mentioning and in the next few weeks we will see if they will replace some of the top 10 names above. We will take a close look to how they play and compare where they are with last year. Spoiler Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic looks sold this time around with bagging 6 goals in 7 matches so after match day 14 we can revisit the list.
Arsenal
Eddie Nketiah
Marquinhos
Brentford
Ivan Toney
Brighton
Leandro Trossard
Chelsea
Christian Pulisic
Kai Havertz
Mason Mount
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Crystal Palace
Wilfred Zaha
Leicester City
Jamie Vardy
Liverpool
Curtis Jones
Darwin Núñez
Fábio Carvalho
Luis Díaz
Diogo Jota (injured till 2023)
Man City
Bernardo Silva
Julián Álvarez
Kevin De Bruyne
Phil Foden
Man UTD
Anthony Martial
Antony
Bruno Fernandes
Jadon Sancho
Newcastle
Miguel Almiron
Adventures in Life 