'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The Premier League returns next weekend with Gameweek 12 kicking off with a North London derby. A chunk of the season has passed and we can already see which teams are fighting for the top spots and which are facing a relegation battle.
Many teams have disappointed so far; West Ham is sitting in the relegation zone, Everton is just above it and Arsenal and Liverpool look far away from challenging for the title. There have also been plenty of disappointing players that have not performed up to the standards that we expect them to.
Some players have struggled so far because of injuries and some, like Theo Walcott for example, haven't managed to keep up last season's form because of lack of playing time.
#1 Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton FC)
Starting the list off with the most obvious player. Gylfi Sigurdsson almost single-handedly kept Swansea City in the league last season. With nine goals and 13 assists, he was involved in nearly half of the team's 45 goals. A big money move to Everton followed in the summer, a record signing for the Toffees reported to be around £40m with £5m in potential add-ons. So far, he's failed to live up to the huge price tag.
Sigurdsson started the season well as he scored a wonder goal in the Europa League qualifiers against Hajduk Split, but he's yet to score for Everton in the league and he also hasn't registered a single assist. His below-par performances are among the reasons why Everton is struggling. They have only ten goals and 11 points in 11 games.
It was always going to be tough to replicate last season's form, but being without a goal and even an assist with nearly a quarter of the season gone, is borderline embarrassing for the 28-year-old Icelander.
Overall, he has 42 goals and 34 assists in 192 Premier League appearances, which means that on average, he's been involved in a goal every three games. He really should be off the mark already and even have multiple goals and/or assists to his name.
#2 Joshua King (Bournemouth FC)
Bournemouth is another side that's just above the relegation zone, some of this is down to Joshua King's poor form.
The Norwegian had a career-best 16 Premier League goals last season. He was one of the deadliest strikers in the league during the second half of the season with 13 of his goals coming after the turn of the year.
It's pretty safe to say he'll do well to even get 10 goals this season.
King has scored only once in nine outings so far, back in September in a 2-1 loss to Everton. The team as a whole has just seven goals.
Only Crystal Palace has scored less (4). Eddie Howe's team has a decent defensive record with 14 goals conceded, but the lack of goals means relegation could be a real possibility for the side that reached the English top division for the first time ever in 2015/16.
King's goals are especially missed because the signing of Jermaine Defoe hasn't worked out as the former Sunderland man has also scored just once so far.
It's a really disappointing haul from the man with two consecutive 15-goal seasons to his name for a rather poor Sunderland team. At Bournemouth, Defoe was supposed to form a potent one-two strike team with King, but things haven't worked out.
The Cherries really need the ten-year-younger King to step it up.
#3 Michail Antonio (West Ham)
Michail Antonio burst into the Premier League scene in 2015/16, scoring eight goals in 26 matches for West Ham. He then followed it up with nine goals in 29 games the following season.
He was the Hammers' top scorer last season but so far, the former Nottingham Forest man has looked like a shadow of his former self.
Antonio has bagged only one goal in nine appearances. Dating back to last season, he is currently on a drought of ten matches across all competitions.
With his explosiveness, West Ham was an exciting team to watch but they are now a struggling side that had lost over half (6) of its 11 games averaging just a goal per game.
To make matters worse, instead of winning points for the team, Antonio has actually cost the side a few.
In Gameweek 10, West Ham blew a 2-0 lead away from home against Crystal Palace with the equalizer coming deep into injury time only a few moments after Antonio delivered a pointless cross into the Palace penalty area, instead of just playing out the final seconds near the corner flag.
The powerful winger was dropped after his misjudgment at Selhurst Park for West Ham's next match, which turned out to be Slaven Bilic's last one in charge of the club.
After the appointment of David Moyes, Antonio should have no problems regaining his spot in the team, but it remains to be seen if the Scotsman can also squeeze out better performances from last season's Hammer of the Year.
#4 Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
Alexis Sanchez is another big name player, who has disappointed so far. The Chilean superstar had 24 Premier League goals last season and found the net 30 times in all competitions. Only Harry Kane (29) and Romelu Lukaku (25) scored more in the league. He was about to take his game to the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi level, but things have come apart this season.
It took six games for Sanchez to finally find his first Premier League goal of the season and he's scored just twice in ten games across all competitions. Considering this, Arsenal has done really well to stay in and around the top 4 places given Mesut Özil's struggles as well.
The 28-year-old had his preseason cut short because of the Confederations Cup tournament at the start of summer, but he's been in the same situation last few seasons.
He played in the 2014 World Cup and the Copa Americas in 2015 and 2016. Arsene Wenger has given him time off at the start of each season and things have worked out fine in the end, but it looks like it won't be happening this time around.
Sanchez finally gets the summer off in 2018 after Chile missed out on a World Cup place and maybe this will help him regain his form. Sadly for the Gunners, with his contract running out, it likely won't be in an Arsenal shirt.
#5 Jordan Pickford (Everton FC)
The list started with an Everton player, so it's only fitting to end it with one as well. Everton paid £30m to Sunderland for Pickford in the summer, making him the most expensive British goalkeeper ever. With add-ons, the fee could even rise to £35m. He's the third most expensive goalkeeper ever, behind only Gianluigi Buffon and Ederson.
Sadly for Everton, the young Englishman's performances have been far from those of Buffon and Ederson.
Pickford saved 73% of shots last season. Only Hugo Lloris (76.5%), Petr Cech (75.5%) and Tom Heaton (74.6%) had a better percentage of saves among Premier League goalkeepers.
This season, Pickford has saved just 60.7% of shots and has kept only one clean sheet, which is the worst in the league among goalkeepers that have taken the field more than once.
The young goalkeeper is facing fewer shots this season, which drags his saves percentage down, but he shouldn't be among the league's worst after a great season for Sunderland.
It's always a terrible sign for a team when the goalkeeper ends a game with fewer saves than the opposing team has goals. That's exactly what happened to Everton in their last game, a 3-2 win over Watford. Pickford saved only one of three shots on goal.
