After an action-packed weekend of Premier League football, the top flight’s 20 clubs have left us craving for more as we head into our third international break of the season.
A familiar face in the form of Antonio Conte made his return to the Premier League on Sunday but it was West Ham who would be stealing the headlines before the day was done.
David Moyes’ in-form Hammers made it four wins in a row as they stunned Liverpool in their five-goal thriller at the London Stadium.
Man City swept aside local rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon
The result saw West Ham leapfrog the Reds into third and means they are just three points adrift of Chelsea after 11 games played.
There were bragging rights on the line in Manchester on Saturday and it was City who would claim them with a comfortable 2-0 win over rivals United at Old Trafford.
The result heaps even more pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s shoulders after he was unable to inspire Cristiano Ronaldo and Co in another important derby.
Elsewhere, Mikel Arteta guided Arsenal to a third successive win while Dean Smith and Daniel Farke were both relieved of their duties at Aston Villa and Norwich respectively.
But how does that affect our rankings?
Every week, Sportsmail will be bringing you a Power Rankings table, listing the top 10 players in the Premier League after each weekend’s action is completed.
As the season continues to unwind, the rankings will provide a form guide with players moving in and out of the top 10 depending on both their performances in the previous fixture and also in recent weeks.
So, with all of that taken into account, how have Sportsmail’s latest batch of Power Rankings taken shape, and who has finally dethroned Mohamed Salah at the top of our leaderboard?
10. Adam Armstrong (new entry)
After a relatively slow start to the campaign, Southampton are starting to put some wins together to move further away from the relegation zone and closer to the top half.
While goals are coming at a premium for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, three 1-0 wins in their last four games has helped them on their steady rise, with Adam Armstrong coming to the fore in recent weeks.
After setting up Che Adams’ winner against Watford last week, it was Armstrong who would smash in a stunning opener against Villa, with the former returning the favour for his strike partner after just three minutes played.
Armstrong’s thumping effort left Emiliano Martinez rooted to the spot and Villa boss Smith without a job two days later.
Adam Armstrong’s stunning goal earned Southampton all three points against Aston Villa
His goal received raving reviews from the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer Alan Shearer, who applauded his former side and Armstrong for the victory.
‘I love his attitude, many players would hide because they had missed a few last week, but not this lad,’ Shearer said, speaking on BBC programme Match of the Day.
‘He loses the ball, but he wants to get up there, and he hadn’t scored since the beginning of the season.
‘But lacking in confidence? Doesn’t look like it, left foot, first time, the keeper has got absolutely no chance, head down, bang, and there is no way he is stopping that, and it was another good win for Southampton.’
9. Conor Gallagher (new entry)
Last season it was Harry Kane and Son Heung-min who couldn’t stop scoring in the capital as Spurs flew up the table before Christmas.
This time round it’s another London-based pair in Conor Gallagher and Wilfried Zaha that are looking to emulate them and give the Spurs duo a run for their money.
After stunning 10-man Manchester City at the Etihad the week before – a game in which Gallagher and Zaha both scored in – Palace took that brilliant victory and built on it, putting two more goals past Wolves at Selhurst Park.
But as was the case in Manchester seven days earlier, the supreme talent of Gallagher – who assisted one and scored the other against Pep Guardiola’s men – won the match. He added a late second to put the game to bed, just as Wolves looked better.
Conor Gallagher scored Crystal Palace’s second goal in a comfortable 2-0 win over Wolves
Gallagher is proving to be the key link holding the Palace attack together and was the name on the fans’ lips, though. ‘Sign him up’ they chanted about the Chelsea loanee.
And his form whilst on loan with the Eagles seems to have caught the eye of Thomas Tuchel.
‘It’s not hard to follow (his progress) because he is standing out every single match day. It’s a pretty easy one to follow,’ Tuchel said before Chelsea’s game with Burnley.
‘Listen, Conor’s heart is so, so big. He loves football and you can wake him up at four o’clock at night. He will start running, sprinting and collecting balls, winning duels.
‘This is what he does and you can see he feels good, he has trust from the club and manager.’
8. Jarrod Bowen (new entry)
With two assists in one of West Ham’s biggest wins of the season, Jarrod Bowen rightly deserves his place in this week’s Power Rankings.
After cancelling each other out in the first half and the game finely poised at 1-1, it was West Ham who took the initiative in the second, which saw Bowen pick the ball up inside his own half and drive at a back-pedalling Liverpool defence.
As soon as Joel Matip decided to try and stop Bowen, that’s when the 24-year-old played an inch-perfect ball through to Pablo Fornals who just had to slip the ball past Alisson for the Hammers’ second goal.
Six minutes later, Bowen would be on hand again to set up West Ham’s third, this time from a corner as he whipped a deep cross to the back post and on to the head of Kurt Zouma.
Jarrod Bowen (left) set up two of West Ham’s goals in their impressive 3-2 win over Liverpool
A late Divock Origi goal would set up a tense final few minutes but Moyes’ men would walk away with all three points leaving Bowen and Co high on confidence.
‘I think we’ve spoken about the run of games,’ Bowen told the club’s official website. ‘We’ve had so many in quick succession that when we have those games, we keep winning and keep performing because the momentum we carry through and the confidence is high, so we look forward to going into every game.
‘Now we’ve got international break coming up, I’m sure we’d love to be playing in three days again! But now it’s about looking back, evaluating the games and just giving ourselves credit for where we are right now in the league and how well we’re doing in Europe as well.
‘I said the other day that this club is just a joy to be at at the minute and everyone’s loving it, and you can see on the pitch how much it means to us and how much we’re working for each other.’
7. Joao Cancelo (new entry)
Is there a position where Joao Cancelo can’t play?
The Portuguese right-back was played on the opposite flank for the Manchester derby on Saturday and still managed to put in a man of the match performance at Old Trafford.
Defensively sound and one of City’s most potent attacking threats on the day, Cancelo proved to be a real handful for United all over the pitch.
He has become so essential to Pep Guardiola’s team and has even started all 11 games this season, often deployed on either side of the defence but will regularly find him marauding into the middle of the pitch to start and link together attacks at will.
Joao Cancelo was one of City’s key attacking powers in a dominant display against United
The full back got two assists in City’s 2-0 win over rivals United at Old Trafford on Saturday
Against United his wicked cross with his left foot was turned in by Eric Bailly, giving City the lead after just seven minutes in front of a stunned Old Trafford crowd.
Cancelo would turn provider again, but this time with his right foot, after his difficult ball wasn’t dealt with by Luke Shaw and squeezed home by Bernardo Silva, wrapping up three points for City.
The last time City signed a left-back was four years ago but with Cancelo shining in the position and making it his own, it would be difficult to see Guardiola doing so any time soon.
6. Reece James (up one)
After scoring a brace in Chelsea’s comfortable 3-0 win over Newcastle, Reece James was heavily involved in the goals once again when he set up Kai Havertz to score the opener against Burnley.
However, unlike that solid win over a manager-less Magpies side, Chelsea were unable to put away a number of gilt-edged chances and allowed the Clarets back into the game.
Result aside, it was another solid performance from the England international who will be giving Gareth Southgate another selection headache over who will be his first-choice right back, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kyle Walker also impressing for Liverpool and Man City at the weekend.
Reece James (left) set up Kai Havertz to score Chelsea’s opener in their 1-1 draw with Burnley
In the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, James showed his brilliant crossing ability after picking out Havertz with pinpoint accuracy, leaving the German with the task of glancing the ball into the back of the net.
James almost came close to getting a second assist when he whipped in another pearler for Thiago Silva to brush the outside of the post with a header.
He now has four goals and as many assists to his name from 12 games, making him easily one of Tuchel’s standout performers this season.
5. Aaron Ramsdale (down one)
Another week and another clean sheet for Aaron Ramsdale.
Eyebrows were raised during the summer when Arsenal shelled out an initial £24million to sign the recently-relegated Sheffield United shot-stopper, despite having Bernd Leno as their No 1 and letting Martinez leave for Aston Villa in 2020.
But now, with hindsight, the move was a masterstroke by Mikel Arteta, who is reaping the benefits of having Ramsdale as his new first-choice goalkeeper.
Ramsdale entered our Power Rankings last week for superbly keeping Leicester City at bay at the King Power and has since been called up to the England squad by Southgate.
Aaron Ramsdale produced another clean sheet as Arsenal beat Watford at the Emirates
While he wasn’t anything spectacular at the Emirates this time round, and even had his blushes spared after nearly gifting Watford a route back into the game after fluffing a clearance, he was on hand to help Arsenal secure another three points.
His performances this season have seen him lauded by his peers, with his opposite number on Sunday singing his praises.
‘The guy seriously impresses me every time he plays,’ Ben Foster said. ‘He’s got a little bit of that mentality where he doesn’t care. Nothing fazes him and nothing bothers him: he’s going to go on to be a serious monster in goal.’
4. Wilfried Zaha (up one)
Patrick Vieira’s arrival in south London looks to have done wonders for Wilfried Zaha and his Palace team-mates.
After a slow to the season, the Eagles are now starting to soar with talisman Zaha leading from the front.
A week on from their emphatic win over City, Zaha was on hand again to break down a stubborn Wolves team, beating their offside trap before sliding the ball past Jose Sa from a tight angle in the second half.
Wilfried Zaha was slipped through before finishing neatly past Jose Sa in the Wolves net
Zaha’s superb finish was initially ruled out for offside but an VAR intervention showed how the Ivorian timed his run in behind to perfection, giving the hosts the lead.
When Zaha plays, Palace are much better for it. But unlike previous seasons, Zaha now has the support system around him to truly thrive and the early signs under Vieira are promising.
They could be the Premier League’s dark horses this season and they will need Zaha to continue leading the way if they want European football next year.
3. Mohamed Salah (down two)
It’s finally happened – Mohamed Salah is no longer top of our Power Rankings.
While the Egyptian King has been in our standings since week one (and top since week six), he was not able to inspire another performance to keep him top this week.
Salah did manage to take his incredible streak of scoring or assisting in a match to nine games on Sunday, albeit he only rolled the ball to Trent Alexander-Arnold during their indirect free-kick which the right back scored from.
Needless to say, Salah wasn’t at his usual best and ended up on the losing side for the first time in the Premier League this season.
Mohamed Salah had a rare off day in front of goal as Liverpool lost to West Ham on Sunday
It also meant that he missed out on making history, given how another away goal for Salah would’ve seen him scored in six straight away games at the start of the campaign.
Performance aside, Salah still has 15 goals from 15 appearances for Liverpool, including seven assists on top of that.
We’re sure it won’t be before too long that he takes his place back on top of our Power Rankings.
2. Emile Smith Rowe (non-mover)
What a season Emile Smith Rowe is having in north London.
The so-called ‘Croydon De Bruyne’ scored the winning goal against Watford on Sunday to see Arsenal leapfrog Manchester United into fifth, leaving them just two points behind Liverpool in the Champions League places.
The goal saw Smith Rowe become only the fourth Arsenal player – after Nicolas Anelka, Jose Antonio Reyes and Cesc Fabregas – aged 21 or under to score in three successive games for the Gunners following his goal against Villa last month before netting Arsenal’s second in an impressive 2-0 victory over Leicester last week.
Smith Rowe’s strike controversially stood moments after Ainsley Maitland-Niles appeared to foul Ismaila Sarr outside the box, while Claudio Ranieri was furious the ball was not given back to his side by the Gunners after Danny Rose appeared to put it out so a team-mate could receive attention.
Emile Smith Rowe scored his third goal in as many games to secure three points for Arsenal
The 21-year-old’s second-half strike won the game for the Gunners against Watford on Sunday
Whether it’s debatable if Arsenal should’ve returned the ball to Watford and then put the ball out or not, Smith Rowe took his chance when it fell to him and he did it with style.
He now has five goals and two assists in his past eight games across all competitions, which only deepens the feeling that he was harshly overlooked for England by Gareth Southgate earlier in the week.
Arteta was hugely impressed by Smith Rowe and his scoring streak, where he pushed Smith Rowe to keep this form up.
‘Terrific,’ Arteta said when asked about his No 10. ‘We’re demanding that to get to another level he needs to start deciding games. He’s capable of doing that, he believes in that now, he’s confident and he needs to continue doing it.’
1. Declan Rice (up two)
Declan Rice is the man to dethrone the Egyptian King for this week’s Power Rankings – and he fully deserves it.
The West Ham midfielder was once again instrumental in yet another win for Moyes’ side which saw them end Liverpool’s unbeaten run to move third in the Premier League.
Rice, alongside Tomas Soucek in the middle of the park, went toe-to-toe with Fabinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson and produced a dynamic display during the Hammers’ memorable win in Stratford.
The 22-year-old also came close to getting his name on the scoresheet for a fourth time this season but his header was sent crashing onto the bar and out for a goal kick.
Declan Rice was instrumental in West Ham’s 3-2 win over Liverpool, which saw them go third
But it wasn’t the goals or assists that earned him top spot this week. His consistent performances for his club have earned rave reviews and a strong game against an in-form Liverpool side have seen him labelled as the ‘best in the world in his position’ by John Terry.
‘Decland [sic] Rice is the best in his position in world football. What a player,’ tweeted the former Chelsea skipper.
A bold statement indeed from the 40-year-old, but when it comes to Sportsmail‘s Power Rankings, he’s right up there with the best of them.