As the 5th week of the Premier League ends, some players have stolen all the limelight with their impressive performances. At the same time, there has been a different lot of players, who despite their good performances have been kept in the shadows of the better or more popular players.
We take a look at the Premier League’s Underrated XI so far:
Even as the Arsenal backline has received quite some flak for its sloppiness so far, it has been Szczesny that has saved them from further blushes. Even though he might have had to make lesser saves than many goalkeepers in the League, he has made some critical saves already- his effort to deny Jamie Vardy in the dying minutes against Leicester helped them hold onto a draw, while a brilliant save to deny Edin Dzeko’s shot against Manchester City in the last minute of injury time saved Arsenal from a heartbreak. Most recently, Szczesny made a point-blank save to deny Ciaran Clark an opener for Aston Villa when the game was still goalless.
With Columbian goalkeeper David Ospina challenging him for the glove, Szczesny has looked really sharp and been Arsenal’s best man at the back. Yet, his good work has been barely noticed due to the glaring issues in the Arsenal defense.
Alan Hutton has made a fantastic turnaround to his career being an integral part of Aston Villa’s fantastic start to the season. Having been an outcast for Villa over the years, Hutton has returned strongly and established himself as first choice right-back.
Even in the absence of Ron Vlaar, Villa has been really solid at the back this season, and the credit goes to the two full backs Hutton and Aly Cissokho who has used their physicality to provide enough cover to the centre-backs. In comparison with the likes of Brainslav Ivanovic, Eric Dier and Nathaniel Clyne, who have all been grabbing the headlines, Hutton’s defensive stats have been much better. And even when going upfront, Hutton has higher chance creation and key pass rates than Dier and Clyne which shows how he has been flying under the radar.
After gaining promotion to the Premier League on an extremely tight budget, Burnley are battling hard to remain in the top flight. With just one goal scored in 5 matches, Burnley are struggling for goals; yet they have managed three points credits to three goalless draws on the trot. Burnley has defended pretty well in all matches since conceding 3 against the unstoppable Chelsea and their captain Shackell has been leading from the front.
At 6’4, Shackell has put his imposing figure to good use inside the box and in aerial duels. He has also organized his backline well and has made sure his goalkeeper Tom Heaton is not tested often. With sterner tests yet to come, Burnley will really need their captain and his backline to keep up the good form to continue in the League.
The mass exodus at Southampton at the beginning of the season created an initial feeling that Southampton would struggle to keep up their good work from last term. But despite the offers to move from various clubs, Jose Fonte penned a new deal with Southampton and was made their captain.
After 5 matches, Southampton sits at second place ahead of heavyweights like Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool, with 3 clean sheets already. Fonte has had 3 different partners at centre back this season- Maya Yoshida, Toby Alderweireld and Florin Gardos- yet, Southampton has not looked shaky at the back and the credit goes to Fonte’s calm demeanor. He has shown incredible vision to make crucial interceptions and blocks to nip the opposition attacks in the bud and have also impressed with his distribution of the ball, with his long balls often being instrumental in the Saints’ quick moves upfront.
Signed from Scottish club Dundee United in the summer, the 20-year old has impressed for Steve Bruce’s side at left-back. Robertson was Hull’s savior alongside Allan McGregor in their first game of the season with a goal-line save against QPR. He has provided Bruce’s side with genuine width on the left and has impressed at both ends of the pitch.
Even though Hull are still struggling to get the victories despite scoring goals and controlling games, Hulls’ combination of youth and experience in all areas of the pitch is likely to see them improve over the season. And Robertson looks destined to play a major part in Hull’s quick playing style and its attempt to rise into the top half of the table.
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Chelsea has been on a rampage this season with Jose Mourinho’s men finding the back of the net twice or more in all but one game so far. While it has been Diego Costa that has scored the major chunk of the goals, it has been Cesc Fabregas who has played the role of the provider. And even while they have shared all the applause, one man that has really flown below the radar is Matic.
Matic has started all of Chelsea’s matches alongside Fabregas and has played the role of the holding midfielder with perfection, letting Fabregas control the game by supporting the attack. Without a player like Matic, Chelsea would have really struggled to match the attacking display they are currently showing.
Joey Barton has always been in the news for the wrong reasons, his discipline and behavior brought into question quite a few times before. But this season surprisingly, he seems to have mended his ways and has played remarkably well. Deployed in the double-pivot for QPR, Barton is among the top chance creators so far and second only to Cesc Fabregas (3.6) in key passes per game with 3.3 key passes per game. In each of QPRs three initial fixtures Barton was their most impressive player and would have had a few assists if the strikers were sharper.
His absence against Manchester United due to an injury hurt QPR really bad as they missed someone like Barton who could hold possession and control the game from the midfield. The partnership of Barton and Niko Kranjcar looked enticing before Barton was subbed off with a hamstring injury. With QPR struggling at the bottom of the table, Harry Redknapp would be hoping Barton would recover soon and help them climb up the table.
Downing is regarded as one among Liverpool’s worst signings ever, but one year after his departure from Anfield Downing seem to be hitting his best form of his career at West Ham. Handed the role in the right flank in the initial games, Downing looked menacing with his looping crosses and scored the second goal in the 3-1 victory against Crystal Palace.With the arrival of Alex Song, Downing has been shifted to a more central role and he has impressed further, providing the assist to Morgan Amalfitano’s winner against Liverpool this week.
Downing has 3 assists and a goal and averaged 3.2 key passes per game, third in the League behind Fabregas and Barton and has already made 24 crosses of which 10 were accurate, one of the highest in the league so far.
Not exactly the most underrated player but it is no surprise that Schurrle’s impressive performances has been overlooked because such has been the form of Diego Costa and Fabregas that even the excellent Eden Hazard has been left in their shadows. Even from last term, whenever he has gotten the opportunity Schurrle has delivered. This season he started off extremely well with that beautiful goal against Burnley and looked dangerous throughout the match. He also scored Chelsea’s lone goal against City this week, after coming off the bench.
It is his ability to get behind the defenders that makes him a real threat. In addition his penchant for taking shots is evident from the fact that he has fired 13 shots on goal in the 214 minutes he has played, which is greater than both Costa and Hazard. Although, he might be important for Chelsea’s multiple trophy quest, he is likely to remain in the shadows of is more popular teammates.
Despite the mass exodus, Southampton has looked really solid with Ronald Koeman building up a balanced team that has retained the nucleus from last season and filled the missing parts. And Dusan Tadic has filled in the void left by Adam Lallana with ease. The Serb, like Downing, has played the role of the provider to perfection. Despite having only two assists to his name and Graziano Pelle and Morgan Schneiderlin taking the major chunk of attraction, Tadic has been at the heart of most of the Saints forays upfront, with his incredible knack to spot his teammates with accurate crosses and through-balls.
Despite having only played in the Eredivisie and the Sebian Superliga before, Tadic has adjusted to the physicality of the Premier League with ease and is forming an irresistible partnership with Graziano Pelle. With the arrival of Sadio Mane as well, Tadic and Southampton looks destined to keep the goals coming.
While all the other impressive strikers gathering praises for their performances, it is only the former England international that has stayed away from the focus. Even though naturally not a striker, Agbonlahor has partnered Andreas Weimann upfront and stepped up to the task in the absence of Villa’s main strikers’ Christian Benteke and Libor Kozak. Even though Weimann has also been particularly impressive, Agbonlahor has had the extra responsibility of captaincy in the absence of Ron Vlaar, and he has led the side really well. Villa looked really well organized in all their 4 early matches and was even impressive before being rocked by the three quick goals against Arsenal.
Agbonlahor has scored twice already and both goals have been winners, with the first one coming against Hull City and the other one a very important one against Liverpool away at Anfield. With games against Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton in the next three weeks, Paul Lambert will be really looking forward to Agbonlahor to get him the goals and the points.
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