1. REECE JAMES (9.2)

A vanquished Rafael Leão put it very well, adding to Reecey’s “clout” in the process, probably much to Wilfried Zaha’s chagrin:

“James is a good player, he was all over me and everywhere at the same time, he timed his runs very fine. I hardly talk about opposing players but this guy is actually the toughest I have faced I think.”

2. THIAGO SILVA (8.3)

We’ve played 10 games. Silva has played in 9. In 7 of those, he was voted into the player ratings top three. I mean, yeah, just wow.

The only concern right now is that we will overplay him, but it’s tough to see where and how he could get rested.

3. KEPA ARRIZABALAGA (7.4)

Kepa just barely edges out both Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the third spot, and it’s starting to feel like he’s got the actual edge in the goalkeeping competition as well, and the job is his to lose. I’m reminded of his first season in some ways, but he might actually be doing better than that right now, even.

This is cherry-picking just one stat from an already small sample of statistics that may or may not be as meaningful as we’d like them to be, but Kepa is a +0.6 in post-shot xG against through four games (3 goals allowed from 3.6 post-shot xG) while Mendy is a -1.9 (9 goals allowed from 7.1 post-shot xG). Only Southampton’s, Bournemouth’s, and Leicester City’s goalkeepers have done worse than Edou in that regard in the Premier League, and that’s not a great place to be (just as Kepa, 2019-2020 edition).

vs. AC MILAN (CL, H, W 3-0)

EXCEPTIONAL (9.0+): James (9.2)

EXCELLENT (8.0-8.9): Silva (8.3)

GOOD (7.0-7.9): Arrizabalaga (7.4), Loftus-Cheek (7.4), Aubameyang (7.4), Fofana (7.2), Chilwell (7.0), Kovačić (7.0), Mount (7.0)

AVERAGE (6.0-6.9): Chalobah (6.9, sub), Koulibaly (6.7), Sterling (6.5), Jorginho (6.2, sub), Gallagher (6.2, sub), Broja (6.1, sub), Havertz (6.0, sub)

POOR (5.0-5.9): —

BAD (4.0-4.9): —

TERRIBLE (3.0-3.9): —

OVERALL