Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Mason Mount and Bukayo Saka - Premier League POWER RANKINGS

  /  autty

With the World Cup in Qatar on the horizon the Premier League is coming thick and fast.

This weekend was not short on drama with Brentford kickstarting the action with a 2-0 win over Brighton on Friday night before Liverpool closed the round of matches with a thrilling 1-0 victory against Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.

In there was another defeat for Steve Cooper and Nottingham Forest - falling 1-0 at Wolves after Brennan Johnson missed a penalty.

There were draws between Leicester-Crystal Palace, Fulham-Bournemouth, Manchester United-Newcastle and Southampton-West Ham.

Graham Potter's unbeaten start to life as Chelsea manager continued as he piled the pressure on Steven Gerrard with a 2-0 win at Villa Park.

North London pair Tottenham and Arsenal also kept their strong starts going with wins over Everton and Leeds respectively.

With all that in mind, here's the latest top 10 of Sportsmail's Premier League Power Rankings.

10. Mohamed Salah - new entry

All eyes on Erling Haaland... until Salah stole the show and was the one in the spotlight.

There has been plenty of chatter about Salah this season and he went into this one with zero goals in his last five Premier League games.

Haaland arrived with nine in those last five.

And yet it was Salah who, when it mattered most, delivered the crucial goal when he brilliantly spun Joao Cancelo to race through one and one and there was no mistake from there.

There were flickers of life in the Egyptian with a six-minute hat-trick against Rangers in the Champions League in midweek but this was a statement goal - and display - and one that can kickstart his season.

A worthy new entrant.

9. Ivan Toney - new entry

With every week that passes, Ivan Toney's odds of making England's World Cup squad look better and better.

Friday night was the Toney show and it was just a shame it was marred by racist abuse sent to him on social media.

But on the football front it was another vintage display with his two goals blowing Brighton out of the building.

One was a cheeky backheel and the other was from the spot, keeping his penalty record, remarkably, at 100 per cent conversion for Brentford.

Harry Kane is going to Qatar as England's No 1 striker but nobody can make as strong a case to be the deputy as Toney can right now.

8. Joao Cancelo - down five

One to forget for the Portuguese star.

Salah absolutely took Cancelo apart for his goal, with the City defender's decision to try and tackle from behind backfiring as Salah spun away and through on goal.

Pep Guardiola knew how costly the mistake was, too.

He dropped to his knees as soon as Cancelo was spun and there was an inevitability with Salah lifting in to make it 1-0.

Cancelo is a game-changing full-back in the Premier League but he looked human at Anfield on Sunday.

No doubts he'll be back up the rankings sooner or later.

7.ย Phil Foden - down one

As he raced away towards the away fans, convinced he had given City a precious lead, Foden's celebrations were quickly extinguished with the goal ruled out.

In the end there were two infractions which would have ruled it out but from there there was little joy for the City playmaker.

Late in the contest he produced a stunning cross from the left but found nobody willing to flood the box and throw themselves at the ball.

Unlike Cancelo this wasn't an aberration of a performance but down one place feels fair.

Midweek off and then back to action, Foden will bounce back. He always does.

6. Mason Mount - new entry

Mounting - we'll get our coat - a strong claim for this week's ranking is Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount.

His brace to down Aston Villa propelled Chelsea into fourth and also brought an end to his goalless start to the season.

It was important too for Mount to shine with England boss Gareth Southgate in the crowd at Villa Park to witness it. Timely.

'You never want to start the season without scoring for that long, but it happened to me last season, so I know how to deal with it,' Mount said.

'I don't want it to happen, but it doesn't bother me too much. I'm mentally strong, I stuck at it, and eventually in my head I'm thinking they're going to come.'

Mount is a key piece of Potter's puzzle and his brace at Villa is a decent springboard for England, too, edging closer to Qatar.

5.ย Gabriel Martinelli - down one

The one thing that is surrounding Gabriel Martinelli right now is why the delay from Arsenal in signing him to a new deal?

The Brazilian has been one of the most reliable performers for Mikel Arteta's table-toppers so far this season and he was once again a menace at Leeds.

No goal or assist does see him drop one place but Martinelli feels like the type of player who is going to be a mainstay in these rankings this season.

Outshone on the day by Saka but Martinelli will be pushing for the top spots in no time.

4. Virgil van Dijk - new entry

Joe Gomez deserved his Man of the Match award but Virgil van Dijk produced a masterful display to shackle Haaland and City.

Jamie Carragher, working the game for Sky Sports, was effusive in his praise of the Dutchman afterwards.

'Van Dijk played the game like he had something to prove. I've never really seen Van Dijk like that the way he was today. I've seen him be on standard,' he said.

'He was a leader and we asked for that before the game, we needed him to show a bit more of that. There was an instance just before where he actually blocks the cross and slides on the floor.ย When do you see Van Dijk do that? It just felt like he went into that game thinking the world's watching, I'm up against Haaland, he was trying to use his power.

'He's been amazing for five years but I've never really seen a performance like that with the intensity, like it was a real fighting battle.'

Van Dijk has pleaded for patience after Liverpool's tricky start and he set the standard at Anfield on Sunday. If he matches that week to week, Liverpool are going to be the nightmare we have come to know them as.

3. Harry Kane - up four

Up four and well worth it, too.

Harry Kane is enjoying his best ever start to a Premier League season after scoring against Everton on Saturday.

Kane has typically been something of a slow starter to league campaigns before finishing with a flourish - but not so in 2022-23.

With nine league goals already this season he is averaging a career best goal every 98.4 minutes.

Last season after 10 games that figure was every 828 minutes and the season before that was 127.7 minutes.

Oh, and he was the highest-rated Englishman in the Ballon d'Or rankings. Flying.

2. Erling Haaland - down one

His run atop the charts had to come to an end eventually and blanking at Anfield left us with little choice.

Haaland will be back top of the standings soon, it's inevitable, he's just that good.

Remember that no player in history has more goal involvements in their first 10 Premier League appearances than Haaland. He now holds the record with 15 goals and three assists.

But at Anfield it was not his, or City's day.

He had flashes but for the most part was suffocated from impacting the game by Gomez and Van Dijk.

There's no midweek redemption for Haaland but he's human after all, that was the takeaway. Not convinced it will last long, though...

1. Bukayo Saka - up one

And the new No 1.

What a week for Bukayo Saka. Four goals in his last three games.

Before that 3-2 win over Liverpool he had managed just one goal in 10 league and cup games but he's found his rhythm in front of goal again.

It was a crucial contribution at Leeds, too, and an emphatic one. One hell of a finish into the roof of the net.

'Saka is just fantastic,' Sportsmail columnist Martin Keown said on Match of the Day 2.

'This kid is the most-creative player that has been at Arsenal since Arteta came in. This finish, I've seen him sky a few of these so he has certainly been practicing it, a top-level finish. It was the difference.'

It takes a lot to knock Haaland off top spot but Saka is King of the Castle this week.

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