Gameweek three was somewhat low-key for many Nigerians in the Premier League.
Be that as it may, there were still a few standout performances in Crystal Palace’s comeback win over Aston Villa and when Everton hosted Nottingham Forest.
In GOAL’s updated power rankings for 2022-23, we assess those who featured in the third round of games.
Onyeka was an unused substitute in Brentford’s 3-2 defeat by Fulham.
The midfielder has played only 10 minutes this season.
Replaced Jordan Ayew with 20 minutes against Aston Villa but did not pull up trees.
Thus, Olise remains in situ this week.
The teenager remains third-bottom owing to Onyeka and Olise’s non-appearance and failure to make a mark.
Solanke dropped last week but keeps his spot this time around after missing out on the 3-0 defeat by Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium.
‘Seniorman’ was introduced for Harvey Barnes with 15 minutes on the clock but the Leicester City frontman could not inspire the Foxes to a win over Southampton.
Iheanacho lost five of his six duels in that cameo which left a sour taste in the mouth following the 2-1 defeat at the King Power Stadium.
Iheanacho’s Leicester teammate falls a place this week despite making 12 recoveries and outdoing every teammate for tackles plus interceptions (seven).
It was indeed a mixed showing for Ndidi who won none of his aerial duels and struggled to be positive in possession.
Tosin drops in this week’s rankings, despite Fulham’s 3-2 West London derby win over Brentford.
The centre-back was caught flat-footed for Christian Norgaard’s goal, was turned easily for Ivan Toney’s disallowed equaliser and missed his interception for the striker’s leveller after 71 minutes.
Awoniyi managed only one shot before going off on the hour and failed to win any of his four duels in Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 draw at Everton.
The centre-forward somewhat suffered amid the Tricky Trees’ inability to play effectively on the counter-attack, thus limiting what the former Union Berlin man could impact proceedings.
While he could not make the desired impact in the attacking third before going off, Aribo put in a solid shift defensively, outdone by Moussa Djenepo for tackles plus interceptions and James Ward-Prowse for volume of pressures in the game.
Even though he neither scored nor assisted in Crystal Palace’s 3-1 turnaround win over Aston Villa,
Eze was positive in possession — outdoing everyone on the pitch for progressive carries — and had the beating of his marker, completing more dribbles than teammates and opponents.
Only Wilfried Zaha was involved in more Shot-Creating Actions than the attacking midfielder who also put in the hard yards without the ball.
Two strong performances see him leapfrog four players to move to second.
Our number one remains unchanged, despite Everton’s failure to win Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Iwobi led the way for Shot-Creating Actions (seven), key passes (four), progressive passes (six) and passes into the final third (eight), while only James Tarkowski made more recoveries than the 26-year-old.
The ex-Arsenal man has looked impressive so far this season which would please Frank Lampard.
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