21-year-old outperforming Ronaldo, Messi and Pogba to top player form rankings

It’s all change once more at the top of the player form rankings from Europe’s top five leagues, though it’s not a familiar face that has dethroned last week’s leader, Dani Parejo.

The Valencia captain has dropped to seventh following a 0-0 draw with Real Sociedad, but the likes of Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, who ranked second and third respectively, have also fallen this time around.

The Argentine drops to fifth having seen an eight-game scoring streak come to an end as Barcelona were held to a stalemate by Athletic Club, while Mbappe was a half-time substitute at Bordeaux but failed to impact the game, dropping to 13th in the leaderboard as a consequence.

One big name that has risen following the weekend’s action, however, is Cristiano Ronaldo, with the Portuguese climbing from fifth to second. The Juventus forward picked a third WhoScored.com man of the match rating in a row with a goal and an assist at Sassuolo, with seven of his 18 league goals this season coming in his last six appearances.

It is, however, Leganes striker Youssef En-Nesyri that tops the pile this week having entered the top 20 in 14th last time around. The 21-year-old Moroccan scored all three goals to help his side take the points against Real Betis, taking his tally to eight for the season, six of which have come in his last three appearances. The youngster has, in fact, had a direct hand in eight of the club’s last nine goals in La Liga.

Elsewhere Jadon Sancho has shot back into the top ten (sixth) with another star showing against Hoffenheim, opening the scoring and completing seven dribbles in what proved to be a six-goal thriller.

He leapfrogs Paul Pogba in the process despite the Frenchman’s brace at Fulham, with the Manchester United forward’s rating improving despite dropping one place to eighth.

Julian Brandt is the highest new entry having had a direct hand in four goals as Leverkusen tore Mainz apart, with the 22-year-old joined in the top 20 by teammates Kevin Volland (15th) and Karim Bellarabi (19th). The only other new qualifier is Bayern’s Thiago Alcantara (16th), though the likes of Atalanta forward Duvan Zapata (14th) and Teji Savanier (18th) return to the leaderboard having previously dropped out.

Elsewhere AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma deserves a mention once more for not only holding onto his place in the top 20 but climbing two places to 11th having kept another clean sheet - conceding just twice in 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.