A seven-game weekend in the Premier League was timely for supporters who had to make do without the English top flight the previous week.
Even though Mohamed Salah was a high-profile miss in gameweek seven, Thomas Partey returned to the Arsenal midfield.
In GOAL’s latest power rankings for 2022-23, we assess the continent’s stars from the weekend that was.
The centre-back made his Nottingham Forest bow but had a night to forget as Fulham beat the Tricky Trees 3-2 at the City Ground.
The Egypt midfielder is still out through injury and did not feature in Arsenal’s convincing 3-0 success at Brentford.
Returned from a month-long injury absence in Everton’s 1-0 success over West Ham United.
Doucoure neither rises nor falls after seeing just nine minutes of game time on Sunday afternoon.
Chelsea’s game with Liverpool was one of three matches that did not go ahead, and the out-of-form Moroccan did not feature over the weekend.
Like Ziyech, the centre-back was not in action owing to the postponement of Liverpool’s game with Chelsea.
Mendy suffered an injury before Chelsea's recent postponements and may not have featured from the off had the Blues’ game with Jurgen Klopp’s men at Stamford Bridge been played.
The centre-back’s non-appearance over the weekend and encouraging showings from Yves Bissouma and Riyad Mahrez see the Senegal captain fall two spots.
Koulibaly’s form had dipped before Chelsea’s fixtures with Fulham and Liverpool were postponed.
Ndidi was caught in possession for Tottenham Hotspur’s third in the 6-2 success over Leicester City, while a lack of awareness for Spurs’ leveller largely typified the Foxes’ issues from set-pieces.
Thus, the Nigerian falls a few places this week after another error-strewn day at the office.
Amartey did not feature in Leicester’s 6-2 collapse at Spurs, causing this week’s tumble.
Another substitute appearance for Bissouma, who continues to adapt to life under Antonio Conte.
The Mali international played a small part in the move leading to Heung-min Son’s third in the 6-2 success over Leicester City, dispossessing Youri Tielemans in the build-up to the hosts’ final strike.
The winger came on for the final 20 minutes of Manchester City’s 3-0 success at Wolverhampton Wanderers and looked lively.
Mahrez was involved in one shot-creating action, was positive in possession (admittedly against 10 men) and looked to take on his marker.
The Algeria international moves ahead of Koulibaly, Ndidi and Amartey and holds off Bissouma…just.
The Ivorian will be cursing his luck after another close shave attempting to secure a point for West Ham United.
Cornet had a goal at Chelsea controversially ruled out and was about to level at Everton on Sunday before Nathan Paterson’s timely intervention thwarted a late opportunity.
The upshot of Crystal Palace’s game with Brighton not going ahead sees Ayew fall in our rankings.
Mwepu drops in our updated rankings because of the rescheduling of Brighton’s visit to Palace.
Named as a substitute for Forest, Kouyate played no part in the Tricky Trees’ 3-2 defeat by Fulham.
Schlupp was not involved at the weekend, owing to Palace and Brighton’s game not taking place.
Aribo was introduced at the break with Southampton trailing Aston Villa 1-0 but could not make the desired impact as the visitors lost at Villa Park.
The Super Eagle drops four spots.
Kebano falls this week after seeing just five minutes of game time in Fulham’s 3-2 success over Nottingham Forest.
The wide attacker replaced Bobby Decordova-Reid in second-half stoppage time.
The Southampton man tumbles after an underwhelming outing in the Saints’ 1-0 loss at Aston Villa, where he could not impose himself for the game’s entirety.
Benrahma was unlucky not to register an assist for Cornet at Chelsea (the Ivorian’s header hit the woodwork) and the Algerian’s picturesque effort at Everton came back off the post.
The attacker rises after decent cameos off the bench of late.
The Leicester City man could have registered a first-half assist which would have sent Leicester 3-2 up at Tottenham, but Hugo Lloris made a fine stop just before the break.
A third for the Foxes might have changed the course of the game for the visitors, who lost 6-2 in North London.
Daka rises despite Leicester’s thrashing after turning in a decent showing.
Wissa was introduced against Arsenal for the final 15 minutes with Brentford already 3-0 down and could do little to impact the game.
The Palace man has had an encouraging start in English football but drops this week due to the Eagles’ game with Brighton getting postponed.
The defensive midfielder has been in fine form on his return to Everton, adding some steel to the Toffees’ midfield since returning to Merseyside.
Gueye’s presence has helped in successive clean sheets for Frank Lampard’s men — against Liverpool and West Ham — and the Senegal international is a beneficiary of several players not featuring as he heads straight into the top 10.
Salah tumbles slightly after last week’s inactivity.
The consequence of Brentford’s subdued performance against Arsenal sees Mbeumo drop from second place to sixth.
Thomas Frank replaced the Cameroonian with 15 minutes remaining.
Zaha loses first spot with Palace not playing at the weekend.
Salisu gave a good account of himself despite Southampton’s 1-0 loss at Villa.
The Ghanaian made 12 recoveries on the night, won every tackle he contested and was successful in six of eight duels.
The centre-back rises in our updated rankings.
Arsenal’s control of proceedings at Brentford meant Partey was not overstretched on his return to the XI.
The Ghana international did make 12 recoveries before going off with 13 minutes to play, outdone by centre-back Gabriel, and his decision-making in knowing when to press or keep a distance was striking.
Zemura not only assisted Philip Billing’s goal but also had a hand in most of Bournemouth’s promising play in a counter-attacking showing at Newcastle United.
The wide defender was involved in six shot-creating actions and as many progressive carries, outdoing his teammates in the hard-fought draw.
The left-back’s extraordinary ascent from 16th is an upshot of the inactivity above him and an impressive showing in the Cherries’ 1-1 draw at St James’ Park.
Yet another strong showing for Everton means Iwobi now leads the way in the African section after holding on to top spot in our Nigerian power rankings for several weeks.
The midfielder’s movement and weight of pass for Neal Maupay’s winning goal took him to two assists for the season, equalling last season’s league tally.
A staggering 11 progressive passes and the same number of progressive carries (both were game-highs) highlighted his positive inclination with the ball.It will be hard to knock the Nigerian off first place if he sustains this inspiring form.
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