Erling Haaland and Mo Salah miss out on being named Man City and Liverpool’s most valuable players as surprises emerge among the players who have the most points for each Premier League club

Despite being regarded among the Premier League’s top talents and top scorers for the division’s top teams, Mo Salah and Erling Haaland do not earn a place as their team’s MVPs.

While there is no doubting the impact they have on the success of Liverpool and Man City across a number of competitions, they have teammates who have earned better win percentages.

The likes of Ollie Watkins also fails to earn Aston Villa’s best record despite 16 goals and 10 assists this term.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah during a training session at the AXA Training Centre, Liverpool. Picture date: Wednesday September 20, 2023. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Telegraph Sport revealed each Premier League side’s most pivotal player based on points per game. They took in statistics from the last two season – only 2023/24 for the promotest clubs – and imposied a minimum of 35 appearances to produce their average. Despite the imposed limits, surprises still emerge across the divisions 20 sides. Take a look who made the cut below.

20. Sheffield United – Gustavo Hamer (0.54 points per game)
The Dutch midfielder remains the Blades’ chief creative outlet with four goals and four assists this term despite his side’s struggles.

19. Burnley – Josh Brownhill (0.63 points per game)
The former Preston and Bristol City ace has been required to make his presence felt from the bench in recent weeks but is worth more points to the Clarets than his teammates currently.

18. Luton Town – Alfie Doughty (0.79 points per game)
For those of a fantasy football persuasion, it will be little surprise to see Alfie Doughty’s name on the list. The wingback has recorded seven assists this term and continued to solidify a strong reputation in the Premier League.

Alfie Doughty has impressed for Luton this season (
Image:
Getty Images)
17. Nottingham Forest – Ryan Yates (0.98 points per game)
The homegrown midfielder is no stranger from wearing the captain’s armband at the City Ground and clearly has some influence on Nuno Espirto Santo’s side. Peculiarly, had Forest not seen so much turnover in playing staff, Yates would only rank fifth for the Midlands side behind Serge Aurier, Joe Worrall, Orel Mangala and Brennan Johnson.

16. Crystal Palace – Cheick Doucoure (1.24 points per game)
The Eagles have been without their midfield star since November but Doucoure has made a big impact since his £21million arrival in 2022. Doucoure made more tackles and interceptions than any other Palace player in 2022/23 and it’s little wonder he’s been central to their positive outcomes.

Promoted Stories
15. Everton – Abdoulaye Doucoure (1.26 points per game)
Everton have been placed on the backfoot this season but with six goals Doucoure is leading the way for the Toffees on the scoresheet as they look to secure Premier League survival.

14. Chelsea – Conor Gallagher (1.34 points per game)
Despite being persistently linked to being sold by Chelsea, Gallagher has proven to be one of the Blues’ most consistent stars. Mauricio Pochettino has rewarded the former West Brom and Crystal Palace loanee more starts in the Premier League than anyone else at Stamford Bridge.

13. Bournemouth – Antoine Semenyo (1.43 points per game)
Alongside Dominc Solanke, Semenyo has proven to be one of Bournemouth’s top talents. The Ghana international has notched seven league goals this term.

12. West Ham – Lucas Paqueta (1.44 points per game)
The Brazilian has provided plenty of quality in the Premier League since his arrival and his absence is always keenly felt by the Irons. Only James Ward-Prowse has created more opportunities for David Moyes’ side than Paqueta who has a record of 1.18 chances per 90 minutes.

Michail Antonio celeberates next to Lucas Paqueta after West Ham’s opening goal against Freiburg on Thursday.
11. Brentford – Josh Dasilva (1.51 points per game)
It would be easy to expect Ivan Toney to take this award but amidst a plethora of serious injuries, Dasilva’s presence proved crucial in 2022/23. Unfortunately, injury has dominated this season for the former Arsenal academy ace.

10. Fulham – Willian (1.53 points per game)
At the age of 35, Willian has shown there is still life in his performances yet. The Brazilian endured a difficult stint with Arsenal in 2020/21 but has revitalised himself at Craven Cottage and continues to play a major role on his way to nine goals from 52 league appearances.

9. Wolves – Toti (1.55 points per game)
The 25-year-old defender recently signed a new five-and-a-half-year deal such has been his impact this season. Toti has provided three assists this term and already recorded more Premier League appearances this term than in the rest of his Wolves career.

8. Brighton – Pervis Estupinan (1.65 points per game)
The Ecuador international has established himself as a key player for the Seagulls and as one of the better full-backs in the division. Estupinan has provided two goals and three assists in the Premier League this term.

7. Aston Villa – Alex Moreno (1.83 points per game)
Like Estupinan, Moreno has plenty of attacking output and only the Brighton star has more touches per game in the opposition’s penalty area among the league’s defenders. Moreno has plenty of competition in the form of Lucas Digne at Villa Park and the Spanish defender appears to have rose to the challenge.

6. Tottenham – Cristian Romero (1.84 points per game)
The World Cup winner’s presence has proven vital to Spurs since his arrival, with the Lilywhites losing four of the seven matches he has not started in 2023/24. Romero appears to have reigned in his discipline since being added to Tottenham’s leadership team by Ange Postecoglou.

Cristian Romero celebrates his opener against Brentford (
Image:
Getty Images)

5. Newcastle United – Nick Pope (1.88 points per game)
Pope had not missed a minute for Newcastle this term before suffering injury and provided a strong backbone to the rise of Eddie Howe’s team to the Champions League.

4. Manchester United – Casemiro (2 points per game)
The Brazilian midfielder may not have enjoyed the same success he was able to enjoy at Real Madrid but he has been unafraid to make an impact under Erik ten Hag. The veteran may have hoped to lead the Red Devils to greater heights this term but remains present when United rack up points.

3. Liverpool – Diogo Jota (2.15 points per game)
The Reds star is lethal when he is fit enough to make it onto the pitch and has recorded 14 goals and four assists in 28 appearances this term despite his injury issues. There is no shortage of competition in Liverpool’s frontline so to hold such a record as Jurgen Klopp’s side challenge for the Premier League is impressive with the likes of Mo Salah waiting in the wings.

2. Arsenal – William Saliba (2.36 points per game)
The French defender’s absence at the end of last season coincided with Arsenal falling off the pace in the title race. Saliba is yet to miss a minute this term and holds the highest points-per-game of any Arsenal player in Premier League history. Perhaps he could be the difference this season.

1. Manchester City – Jack Grealish (2.55 points per game)
You’d perhaps be drawn to the likes of Rodri or Erling Haaland if asked to predict who has the best record at the Etihad Stadium. The Spanish midfielder has loses the least often but Grealish has earned a greater win percentage in the last two seasons. It has been more than a year since Grealish tasted defeat in a Premier League game he started.