Is Trent Alexander-Arnold returning to his best after his injury lay-off? As Idrissa Gueye inspires the Toffees to seal a crucial victory… but which Euros hopeful takes the top spot in our Premier League POWER RANKINGS?

Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday night, with Liverpool also bouncing back after both sides dropped points in the title race last weekend. 

With Manchester City in FA Cup action, Mikel Arteta’s side took their chance to go ahead in the title race, after claiming a 2-0 victory against Wolves. Jurgen Klopp‘s side are currently level with them on 74 points, but behind on goal difference, ended a difficult week by beating Fulham 3-1 at Craven Cottage. 

But there was plenty of drama at Goodison Park, as Everton claimed their second win in 16 matches in their crunch clash against Nottingham Forest, with Sean Dyche’s side winning 2-0. Several contentious refereeing decisions prompted Forest to publish an explosive tweet at full-time with the club sensationally claiming the ‘VAR was a Luton fan’.

Elsewhere there were goals galore in the other four Premier League matches this weekend, with Brentford beating Luton 5-1, Burnley claiming a huge 4-1 win over Sheffield United, and Crystal Palace thumping West Ham 5-2. 

After a gripping weekend of action, several new faces have been added to our Premier League power rankings, with a new star climbing to the top of the leaderboard. But who had a quiet week and which players stepped up to the occasion?

Liverpool bounced back from a torrid week by securing a 3-1 win against Fulham in London

Meanwhile, Everton put some distance between themselves and the relegation zone 

10. Idrissa Gueye (new addition) 

Everton’s players certainly delivered a response to Sean Dyche‘s impassioned rant after their 6-0 loss at Chelsea in midweek, with Gueye stepping up as one of their top performers. 

Sunday’s clash against Nottingham Forest was a must-win game for the Toffees, with the result putting them five points clear of the relegation zone and four ahead of Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. 

While Jordan Pickford’s heroics in front of goal were a pivotal factor in helping Everton seal victory, it was Gueye who scored the crucial opening goal. In the past, he has been guilty of arriving on the edge of the penalty area and wildly walloping his foot through the ball, only to send it into row Z. 

But his long-range effort at the weekend was a controlled and powerful strike, that gave Everton the advantage. The midfielder scored just his second goal in 100 shots from outside the box in the Premier League.

He was a pest for Forest’s players throughout the match too, providing the energy that Dyche’s midfield has seemingly lacked at times throughout the season. 

Idrissa Gueye’s long-range goal inspired Everton to claim a 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest

9. Alexis Mac Allister (down one place)  

Jurgen Klopp insisted that Liverpool would bounce back from a week of bruising blows, and boy they sure did. 

The Reds kept up pace with Arsenal and are now second in the league table thanks to their 3-1 win against Fulham.

While Alexis Mac Allister didn’t start the match, he keeps a spot on our power rankings thanks to his excellent performances this season that have seen him become one of the signings of the 2023-24 campaign.  

But as much as Liverpool fans would like him to, he cannot play every week. 

The Argentina star has played the full 90 minutes in each of Liverpool’s last six league games, before this weekend’s match, notably also playing 180 minutes against Atalanta in both of their Europa League quarter-final legs. 

That prompted Klopp to rest him for Sunday’s match, with Mac Allister coming off the bench to enjoy a solid performance, helping Liverpool close out the game. His influence on this Liverpool side this season has been impressive. 

Alexis Mac Allister was rested from the starting line up to play against Fulham on Sunday

8. Cody Gakpo (new addition) 

It was a tough to pick between Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch this week with both stepping up to deliver much-improved performances for Liverpool. 

And while the latter scored his first Premier League goal during the match – a beauty of a strike too – Gakpo’s work teeing up Diogo Jota, coupled with his work ethic around the pitch, sees him move to eighth place in our power rankings this week. 

He was a contest threat off the left and notably teed up Diogo Jota, with a beautifully weighted pass, for his goal.

Cody Gakpo enjoyed a brilliant game and set up Diogo Jota who scored in the second-half

7. Bruno Fernandes (down two)

While not in Premier League action this week, Fernandes has been commended by some within the game, over the energy and effort he has put in a bid to help steer United back to the top. 

On Sunday, he was a pivotal cog in helping his side scrape their way through to the FA Cup final against Coventry. 

While it’s been a difficult season, and Fernandes has shown his petulance at times they United captain does give everything for his team, which is commendable. He also scores goals, with Fernandes smashing a volley into the roof of the net, before scoring a penalty in their 2-2 draw against Bournemouth. 

His goal against Coventry on Sunday was his 13th of the season in all competitions – an impressive tally for the midfielder.  

Bruno Fernandes was not in Premier League action this weekend but helped steer Man United to the FA Cup final

6. Leandro Trossard (new addition) 

While we could have picked several Arsenal stars to join this list, with David Raya also delivering a brilliant performance to shut out Wolves on Saturday, Trossard once again proved his worth.

In a season where conversation has turned to Mikel Arteta‘s side needing an out-and-out striker, Trossard has stepped up to produce some crucial strikes. 

Perhaps his tally of nine league goals in 29 games may underwhelm some. But he is currently the club’s second-best scorer (joint with Kai Havertz) in the top flight this season. He scored a late equaliser in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Bayern Munich, which shows that he can step up in the big moments. 

And when Arsenal needed someone to put their foot forward on Saturday night, he was the man to do so. It may not have been his best performance, squandering several opportunities to cross the ball into his team-mates, but his strike was clinical and taken well. 

After the match Arteta lauded the forward, claiming he was Arsenal’s ‘little magician’. 

Arteta said: ‘Trossard, great player. He’s a little magician. He can score on any surface and he’s a big threat; so composed, so cool, he can play in different positions.

‘It’s just a joy to have him in the team. I think the timing of the first goal was really helpful as well. [I am ] really happy.’

Leandro Trossard continues to show why he is one of the signings of the season 

5. Phil Foden (down one) 

Man City’s dreams of doing the double this season live on, and Phil Foden can take huge credit in helping his side keep the pressure on Arsenal and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League. 

The Man City star hasn’t played in their last two Premier League matches, but orchestrated their 4-1 victory against Aston Villa at the start of the month.

Foden also scored in both of their recent wins against Bournemouth and Man United to spur City to victory.

The England star has also risen to the big occasion in the Champions League, shown by his goal at the Bernabeu. 

While he hasn’t featured recently in the Premier League, his stunning form this season means he remains in our power rankings.

The Man City star continues to lead the charge to be crowned the Premier League’s Player of the Season. 

4. Eberechi Eze (new addition)

Back in our power rankings after a brief absence, Eze once again starred for Crystal Palace as they thumped West Ham at Selhurst Park. 

Eze has no doubt been one of the most exciting players to watch this season and he produced yet another thrill on Sunday, thumping a bicycle kick into the back of the Hammers’ goal from close range. 

It was a sensational piece of acrobatics, with the Eagles star also producing a winding run before nutmegging Kurt Zouma to selflessly set up Jean-Phillippe Mateta for his second goal of the afternoon. 

While he will be disappointed that he didn’t find the back of the net more than once during the match, Palace boss, Oliver Glasner, heaped praise on Eze and Michael Olise after the match. 

Eberechi Eze scored this wonderful bicycle kick against West Ham on Saturday afternoon

3. Cole Palmer (down two) 

The Euros hopeful is another player we can’t drop from the list, considering his excellent form. 

Palmer, 21, has quickly established himself as one of the most pivotal figures in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad, with the attacking midfielder having scored four goals during Chelsea’s most recent Premier League outing, a 6-0 victory against Everton. 

It was though, not the first time this season he’s bagged himself a hat-trick of goals, with the ex-Man City star guiding Chelsea to a dramatic late victory against Man United with a trio of goals. 

Surely Palmer has done enough now to secure his ticket to Germany this summer?  

Cole Palmer’s impeccable vein of scoring form sees him stay on our Power Rankings this week

2. Trent Alexander-Arnold (new addition)

Liverpool fans will have learned a lot from Sunday’s win against Fulham. The team showed their character to bounce back from a torrid week, they also showed that they can be clinical in front of goal and that they are not out of this title race just yet. 

Another thing we took away from the match was perhaps how much Liverpool have missed Alexander-Arnold in recent months. After nearly two months in the treatment room, the full-back returned to feature during their defeat against Crystal Palace last weekend, before turning out in midweek against Atalanta.

His performance on Sunday was vintage Alexander-Arnold. A stunning free-kick, which opened the scoring, was a reminder of what he can do from set pieces. His sublime ball control, vision and passing shone through at Craven Cottage and he was by far the best player on the pitch. 

Trent Alexander-Arnold delivered a vintage performances against Fulham on Sunday

1. Ollie Watkins (up one) 

The Aston Villa forward is currently third in the Premier League’s Golden Boot race, having scored 19 times this season. 

He had the chance to go joint-top of the charts on Saturday, with leaders Erling Haaland and Palmer both in FA Cup action. 

While Watkins did not find the back of the net during Villa’s 3-1 victory against Bournemouth, he instead providing assists for both Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey to net for Unai Emery’s side.

It meant that the England Euro 2024 hopeful has now provided the most assists of any player in the Premier League this season – a remarkable statistic that shows Watkins is not just firing in goals but creating them as well. 

His exceptional passes for Diaby and Bailey’s goals helped Villa tighten their grip on a Champions League berth next season, with Emery praising his striker for working to improve all areas of his game.

Ollie Watkins providing two assists as Aston Villa earned a 3-1 victory against Bournemouth

‘I think he’s adding more things tactically himself to feel comfortable playing as well, scoring goals, assisting and even without those circumstances playing for the team,’ Emery said after the match. 

‘He plays in the structure we have tactically and his commitment to do the work we always need has been fantastic – more than scoring goals and the assists.

‘He’s increasing his level and showing us being very demanding in himself how he can increase the level in a lot of things, more than scoring goals. 

‘I think I appreciate him and his progress, I think other coaches and in the national team they are of course aware about him, how he’s increasing and how he’s been important for us and for the national team as well.’