Who makes the Wonderkid Power Rankings for the first time? And can Durán keep hold of top spot once again? Read on to find out…
10. Alejandro Garnacho – Manchester United (⬇️3)
It’s hard to know whether to praise or bury the Argentine winger sometimes. On the one hand, he was pretty much the only attacking outlet Manchester United had during their dire 3-0 thumping at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur and produced their brightest moment when he hit the post on the stretch. On the other hand, his frustratingly inconsistent first touch and occasionally questionable decisions saw several potential attacks fizzle out to nothing. Clearly not to blame for Sunday’s debacle and had more energy about him than anyone else in red, but he could have done more.
9. Liam Delap – Ipswich Town (new entry)
A summer signing from Manchester City, the son of former throw-in specialist Rory came crashing into the headlines this weekend thanks to two excellent finishes against Aston Villa, a brace which earned a surprising but much-needed point for the Suffolk side. His second goal, in particular, was quite brilliant, surging down the length of the Villa half before showing class and composure to work some space and slot home. A statement performance.
8. Carlos Baleba – Brighton & Hove Albion (NE)
The 20-year-old Cameroon midfielder has been hovering just outside our top ten for most of the season and finally breaks in thanks to an energetic performance in the 4-2 defeat to Chelsea which included a goal (a well seized-upon gift from Robert Sánchez) and, by some statistical measures, an assist, as it the deflection that pinged up for Georginio Rutter to open the scoring came off Baleba. He was, admittedly, partly responsible for the penalty which Cole Palmer scored, but aside from that he worked hard in midfield and was the only Seagull really able to get to grips with things in the centre of the park.
7. Destiny Udogie – Tottenham Hotspur (⬆️ 3)
The Italian full-back has really hit his stride in the last few games and had he been afforded another 45 minutes against Manchester United on Sunday before being withdrawn due to a knock, he might have climbed a few more places – he put Nouassir Mazraoui on toast on several occasions and found space and joy both out wide and in narrower areas as he came forward. A dynamic and deeply promising outing.
6. Levi Colwill – Chelsea (⬇️1)
For the most part, Colwill continued to be absolutely rock solid for Chelsea against Brighton, but he was at fault for the opener when his attempted clearance cannoned up into the air off the previously mentioned Baleba. Aside from that foul-up, he was his usual composed, controlled, calm self. A stable and very capable presence at centre-half for a team that can be chaotic at times.
5. Jack Hinshelwood – Brighton & Hove Albion (⬇️2)
A continual climber for the past few weeks, the versatile Hinshelwood finally had his first certifiably bad game of the season at Stamford Bridge, when he was played in central midfield and put up against former Seagull Moisés Caicedo. It was a duel that the Ecuadorian won at a canter.
Speaking of duels, Hinshelwood lost every single one-on-one he found himself in and struggled to impose himself on a more experienced and physical Chelsea central pairing. There were a few very nice passes in there and it wasn’t all bad, by any means, but he’ll want to move on from this one quickly. In a week in which more players properly impressed, he may have dropped further.
4. Kobbie Mainoo – Manchester United (-)
As with Garnacho, it’s impossible to lay much of the blame for a smashing defeat by Spurs at the feet of Mainoo, who was in any case hauled off just before half-time because he’d picked up a knock, much like Udogie.
Before that, though, he was solid and one of the only United players who seemed to have some conception of what to do with the ball when he got hold of it – not that he was able to stem the tide very effectively when it was coming back at United, as there was simply far too much wide open space for Mainoo to be able to patrol it all effectively. Amid the carnage, the 19-year-old was solid and seemed to keep his head, even if he looked less than thrilled at proceedings.
3. Lewis Hall – Newcastle United (⬆️ 2)
Hall passed what should have been his toughest test yet with something pretty close to flying colours, and really it was only his use of the ball once he won it that can be held against him – but that aside, he took on the champions and handled them with consummate skill.
He didn’t get beaten once on the run, didn’t commit a foul and didn’t give anything away when out of possession, and had a few promising and occasionally genuinely threatening forays forward. A few too many stray passes meant that he gave the ball away needlessly a little too often to be given an A+ grade here, but this was still a mature and highly respectable performance that helped his side to earn a deserved point.
2. Rico Lewis – Manchester City (-)
On the other side of the pitch in that match was Lewis, who was, frankly, weirdly quiet all game, managing just 32 touches in the space of the 81 minutes he spent on the pitch. Given that he typically gets involved three times as much as that, it’s a bit of an oddity that he found himself so marginalised.
He keeps his place at number two, however, thanks to a rather livelier and more impactful outing against Watford in the EFL Cup last Tuesday, just after we’d published our last top ten. He was brilliant that evening, passing the ball superbly and creating chances almost at will, setting up one of Manchester City’s two goals. Enough to keep him at number two, but not enough to push him up past…
1. Jhon Durán – Aston Villa (-)
Now, there’s a valid question here – if a super-sub, who seems to be used solely for the purpose of scoring late winners, comes on and fails to add to his already record-breaking tally of such goal, hasn’t he failed to do his job? Shouldn’t we drop him down from top spot? Perhaps, and we might have done, but with nobody really pushing hard to take his crown, we’re saying that a goal against Wycombe Wanderers in the EFL Cup is enough to stay in first.
It’s fine margins in this game, but the Colombian is the only player in our entire top from last week who scored – and sure, it was a penalty, and granted, he probably should have scored once or twice from open play as well, but he’s already hit more winning goals from the bench in a season than any player in Premier League history, and it would seem immensely unfair to punish him too much for drawing one measly blank. Durán remains one of the most dangerous and in-form forwards in the top flight, even if he’s sat down for three-quarters of the game every time.
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