Leaders PSG and Dijon feature heavily in Ligue 1 team of the month

Paris Saint-Germain superstar Neymar is the Ligue 1 player of the month for August having earned a WhoScored.com rating of 8.18 over three appearances.

The Brazilian earns the award ahead of clubfeet Kylian Mbappe, who does not qualify having started just once in France’s top-flight last month, despite making an instant impression upon his return to the side.

Neymar is one of six players to share the lead for goals in Ligue 1 but is the only player in the division to have scored in each of his first three outings of the season, adding an assist in a man of the match display against Guingamp.

Elsewhere the forward is joined by teammate Adrien Rabiot (7.74), who scored in the opening victory over Caen and has completed a remarkable 94.4 per cent of 248 pass attempts. The France international is joined in midfield by compatriot Morgan Sanson (7.60), who registered assists against Toulouse and Nimes and completed 12 tackles across three appearances.

Further forward, Memphis Depay continues to impress for Lyon, now operating from a more central position, scoring in victory over Amiens and assisting in the win against Strasbourg. The Dutchman also created the most chances in the league last month, with 18 key passes in four appearances.

Lille’s Nicolas Pepe takes his place on the right after a superb start to the season in which he earned the man of the match award in wins over Rennes and Guingamp, scoring once and registering a league high of three assists in August.

Meanwhile Dijon forward Julio Tavares leads the line having scored three times to fire his side to three consecutive victories. It’s little surprise he isn’t the only representative from his side in the XI then, with full-backs Valentin Rosier and Oussama Haddadi both making the cut for a team that conceded just once last month, while both had a hand in goals at the opposite end.

Montpellier’s Pedro Mendes earns a spot at centre-back having scored against the aforementioned Dijon and helped earn a clean sheet against Saint-Etienne, and the Portuguese is partnered by Nimes’ Anthony Brandon, who helped the newly-promoted side to victories in their first two matches.

Reims keeper Edouard Mendy completes the XI and takes the spot between the sticks having kept two clean sheets in his three appearances, the latter of which earned a shock win over Lyon, with the 26-year-old producing five of ten saves last month in the victory.