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One of the toughest football leagues in the world, the English Premier League, is already more than halfway through. With Manchester City sitting at the top of the table on just goal difference, the clash for supremacy with Liverpool is getting more intriguing week after week.
At this stage of the league, where each team has played 26 matches or more, we can now assess the performance of the players. So far we have seen some superb goals scored and some sensational saves made.
Let's have a look at 5 of the best players in this season of the Premier League so far.
#5 Raheem Sterling
The name of Raheem Sterling in the list of best players might have been surprising to many people about three years ago, but not anymore. Since his arrival at the Etihad Stadium, Sterling has become a very different - and more effective - player. Under Pep Guardiola he has flourished and made a significant mark in the Premier League.
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Sterling has been playing for Manchester City since 2015; he was signed for a transfer fee worth £49 million, the highest ever paid for an English player. He plays mainly as a winger but is also used as an attacking midfielder, both for his club and country.
Sterling has the ability to play wide at the tip of a midfield diamond and also centrally, which offers great flexibility to the team. He is known for his pace, dribbling skills and low centre of gravity and so far in this season, he has been magnificent in every aspect.
Sterling has a small stature, but with his great upper-body strength, he is able to withstand challenges and retain possession.
In 24 matches so far this season, Sterling has scored 12 goals and assisted 9 times. His stats and contributions to his team are even better than the likes of Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez.
#4 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang used to be a household name in the German Bundesliga. He was a goal-scoring machine for his club Borussia Dortmund, where he won the league's top scorer award in 2016-17 with a 31-goal haul.
The Gabonese sharp-shooter now plays in the Premier League thanks to the club record signing deal worth £56 million by Arsenal in the year 2018. Since then, he has played 36 games for the club and has already scored 24 goals, making him the main man at the front.
Aubameyang is an out-and-out striker who has got the poacher's instinct inside the box and a very strong finishing style. He likes to cut inside and score some breathtaking shots from long range. He prefers to hang off the shoulder of the last defender and make darting runs in behind the opposition backline.
Aubameyang is already in the race for the Golden Boot, in just his second season with the club. With 15 goals in the 25 games so far, he is just behind Mohamed Salah and Sergio Aguero in the list of top goal scorers.
Aubameyang has definitely made his mark in the Premier League, and is easily one of the top players of the season.
#3 Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero is without a doubt one of the all-time greats of the Premier League, and in this season he has shown his class yet again. It seems Aguero is only getting better with age.
In his current form, it looks like he will break the 20-goal mark for the fifth consecutive league season, and the sixth time overall in his Manchester City career.
In a recent match against Chelsea that had serious implications on the title race, Aguero stole the show with a record-equaling 11th Premier League hat-trick of his career. The 30-year-old is looking more agile than ever, and is hungry for goals.
So far in this season Aguero has scored 17 goals and assisted 6 in the 23 matches that he has played. He is the joint leading goal scorer in the league along with Mohamed Salah.
Aguero arrived in the Premier League in the year 2011, and over the years he has become a Manchester City legend. He needs four more goals to be the 6th all-time Premier League goalscorer.
With the form he is in, it is highly possible that he will achieve this feat in a few matches.
#2 Mohamed Salah
Liverpool signed Mohamed Salah in the year 2017 for a then club record fee of £36.9 million, and he took the Premier League by storm right away. He broke the club's scoring record for a debut season and in the process received the Golden Boot, registering 32 goals in 36 league games.
Some people were of the opinion that Salah's first season with Liverpool was just a fluke, but he is proving everyone wrong by producing yet another stellar season. He is the joint leading goalscorer in the Premier League along with Sergio Aguero; Salah has so far scored 17 goals and assisted 7 in 26 games.
One of the best players in the Premier League, Salah is a quick, mobile, hard-working and tactical player, with good technique. He knows how to score goals, and his speed, movement, agility and clinical finishing make him one of the most wanted strikers in Europe at the moment.
#1 Eden Hazard
Chelsea have not been in great form this season, and with a recent heavy defeat at the hands of Manchester City, they are struggling to stay afloat. But despite all of that, there is no question about the performance and contribution of their talisman in this season of EPL.
Eden Hazard is one of the most technically sound footballers in the Premier League currently. His speed and dribbling skills combined with flair and creativity make him one of the most watchable players in the world.
Hazard has been in superb form this season, and is easily the most valuable player of the club. In the 25 games so far he has scored 12 goals and assisted 10 times.
He has been drawing a bit of criticism for his recent performances, but most of it is has been unfair. In the 25 games he has played this season he has contributed 22 times, so there isn't much more he could have done.
Hazard will most probably leave Chelsea at the end of the season to join Real Madrid, as the Spanish giants have been after him for quite some time now. But it will ultimately be the Premier League's loss if a player of his class leaves England.
