International breaks are always a good time to reflect, and with two weeks off we can take a glance at the Premier League table and it kind of looks familiar…with a couple of anomalies.
Arsenal sit at the top, on 24 points and four ahead of Manchester City and the latest Premier League 2025 betting odds say we’ll see a tussle between these two famous clubs, right to the very end in May. Chelsea are in third place and Tottenham Hotspur in fifth.
But what of the fourth place?
If you have had your head in the sand for the last two months and I asked you to pick the missing team, I bet you would say Liverpool. Well that’s the first surprise. Arne Slot’s reigning champions are down in eighth place, and here comes the second curiosity; Sunderland are up in the top four and that is one of the biggest Premier League 2025 news stories of the season so far.
There has been some superb action, and the regulation drama and controversy of course; and some standout performers. So which are the players who are driving their teams’ success? Let’s take a look at the SBOTOP picks of the most influential player from each of the top five clubs.
Gabriel Magalhães: Arsenal
The current league leaders have their best squad in recent history and this is their biggest chance of winning the title for over two decades. The Gunners have plenty of players who have turned in star performances; Viktor Gyokores has rejuvenated the front line while Declan Rice has been imperious in midfield. But Arsenal’s success is built on the best defence in the league, one which went eight games without conceding a goal until they were unsettled by Sunderland last week. And the towering presence of Gabriel in the centre of defence, alongside the classy William Saliba, makes life so difficult for opposition strikers. Gabriel, the October Premier League player of the month, is a powerful figure in both boxes, a target for the famous Arsenal corner, and with the Gunners’ more recent move to longer ball football he’s the perfect man for the job.
Erling Haaland: Manchester City
One man who would welcome a duel with the Arsenal defence is Manchester City’s goal machine Haaland. He opened the scoring in the Sky Blues’ 3-0 destruction of Liverpool last week to make it 14 for the season and he leads the race for the Golden boot by a country mile, six ahead of Brentford’s in-form man Igor Thiago. After a season without a trophy Haaland is as determined as anyone to put that right, and he can fire the Sky Blues to glory again. City have recently closed the gap on Arsenal and this could turn out to be one of the best title races in recent history.
Moises Caicedo: Chelsea
Under Enzo Maresca Chelsea have started to look like title contenders once again and many of the young players who arrived over the past couple of years are really starting to make their mark. And none more so than 24-year-old Caicedo who, since his arrival at Stamford Bridge in a £100m move from Brighton and Hove Albion in 2023, he has made 84 appearances, scoring five goals. The Ecuadorian star dictates the pace of play, while the club’s flair players look for his perfect pass, and Caicedo has boundless energy, closing down opponents in a flash to turn over possession and launch the next attack.
Granit Xhaka: Sunderland
Not many neutrals, or fans outside Teeside, expected Sunderland to be in the top half of the table but they are in the top four with over a quarter of the campaign already over. And while the North East club spent heavily on players who had little or no experience in the English top flight, the masterstroke was to bring former Arsenal midfielder into the fold. A Bundesliga winner with Bayer Leverkusen, Xhaka has exuded calm in the centre of the park, allowing the younger players to settle, and he scored the Black Cats’ goal in a recent 1-1 draw with Everton.
Sunderland manager Regis de Bris deserves plenty of credit of course, but whoever had the idea to bring Xhaka to Sunderland, and persuade the Swiss enforcer to sign, deserves a medal.
Mohammed Kudus: Tottenham
While Arsenal are currently top dogs, their near neighbours Spurs are doing quite nicely under their new manager Thomas Frank. And of the signings he has made Frank will be particularly pleased with the form of winger Mohammed Kudus. Since his switch to the North of London, from West Ham United, the Ghana man has made four assists; he’s a player who can get the fans off their seats with his electric runs and close control. If Kudus continues to progress he will be a decent shout for the best assist maker, he’s joint top alongside Jack Grealish of Everton and Burnley’s Quilindschy Hartman.
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