Top 5 most underrated players in the Premier league

The Premier League is by far the most keenly followed and popular football league in the world. The main reasons for this popularity are the wealthy franchises and high profile stars such as Paul Pogba, Eden Hazar, Harry Kane etc. But in every high profile franchise, there is always a player who remains in the shadow of a bigger star but his contribution to the team's cause can never be ignored.

The best example for this is the role of Sergio Busquets in the Barcelona squad for the past decade. Throughout his career, he has played with hugely popular names such as Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Luis Suarez, Neymar but without him, Barcelona is half the side. His work ethic, pressing and the gifted ability to pass neatly in tight spaces has played a crucial role in Barcelona's plethora of title wins in the past decade. This list consists of five players in the premier league whose performances have been underappreciated by football experts and fans alike

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#1 Victor Lindelof

The Swedish centre back joined Manchester United in the summer of 2017 from Benfica but rarely got consistent opportunities in the starting lineup due to the presence of veteran Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly. He started only 17 Premier League games last season but ever since Jose Mourinho left, the United coaching staff and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have shown faith in him. He has already started 19 premier leagues games this season and has displayed positional awareness and defensive discipline in those games.

He rarely commits a foul in dangerous areas and covers up for Luke Shaw whenever he makes overlapping runs on the left flank. He does not get the due credit for his performances mainly because of the performances of his centre back partner. He has become adept at setting offside traps and his clearance rate of 4.3 per game is the second highest for Manchester United after Chris Smalling.

#2 Aymeric Laporte

In a Manchester City side filled with stalwarts such as Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva and Sergio Aguero, the performances of Laporte in the defensive half of Manchester City often go unnoticed. Right now, he is probably the most crucial man in the Manchester City lineup after Fernandinho. Manchester City plays a high defensive line and Pep Guardiola always insists on moving the ball forward. This opens up a lot of space for Counter attacks and if not for Laporte’s game awareness and the ability to intercept the ball in crucial moments, City will find it tough to stop teams consisting of pacy front three such as Liverpool and Juventus.

The most underrated aspect of his game is probably his passing ability. He plays out almost 86 passes per game which is the second highest in the league after Jorginho. His pass success percentage is 92.2 % which is the third highest in the league. Even with all these records, he never pops up on the list of best defenders in Europe which does not make any sense.

#3 Cesar Azpilicueta

In his seven seasons at Chelsea, Azpilicueta has become the most reliable and respected player in the team, but he rarely gets any accolades outside of Stamford Bridge mainly because of his unassuming character and unselfish work on the pitch. Throughout his career, Cesar has played a variety of roles in the Chelsea backline. Jose Mourinho had a lot of faith in him, and he once said: “A team with 11 players like Azpilicueta can win the champions league”.

Cesar was always less talented than his peers and his football is not eye-catching. But only very few fullbacks in world football can match the work ethic of Azpilicueta. Under Antonio Conte, he showed his versatility and played as a central defender. In this season he averages 2.7 tackles per game which is the highest for Chelsea and even during his worst days, he contributes something by moving into midfield and pressing hard.

#4 Georginio Wijnaldum

The Dutchman joined Liverpool in the summer of 2016 from Newcastle United and along with James Milner, he has been Liverpool’s rock at the heart of the midfield. During the 2016-17 season, he was deployed as an attacking midfielder and scored 6 goals in the league. In the next season, Klopp employed him in a defensive role due to Milner’s injury problems.

Even though he has scored only one goal, this season is probably the best in his career since he has played a wide variety of roles with ease and has won the praise of Liverpool fans. His ball control and passing range from the midfield is second to none and his pass success percentage of 91.9% is the highest for Liverpool. His physical prowess enables him to press hard and win back the ball in wider areas, and he can also be a goal threat from close range as evident by his performances for the Netherlands.

#5 Jan Vertonghen

Unlike some other players in the list, Vertonghen has not been consistent for the entirety of his career but with age, he has matured and become one of Pochettino’s main men at the back. Pochettino loves rotating the position of his players and ever since he took over as Tottenham manager, Vertonghen’s game has improved. During his initial days at Tottenham, he played as a central defender who remained in his position and was given the role of winning aerial balls and clearing the crosses into the box.

Under Pochettino, his footwork became more confident, and he started moving forward to play out long balls for the winger on either side of the pitch. This season, he has added another dimension to his play as he sometimes drifts wide in the left flank and delivers crosses into the box. In last week’s round of 16 clash against Borussia Dortmund, Pochettino gave him full freedom to move forward and his scintillating performance in that match has made the world take notice of him.