Liverpool have dropped all the way down to seventh in the Premier League after suffering another terrible defeat over the weekend, falling 3-2 to Brentford in what can only be described as a shoddy defensive performance.
But as much negativity as there is surrounding the Reds, let’s try to focus on the positive and rank the five best players of the 2025/26 season so far.
5. ST Hugo Ekitike
New transfer Hugo Ekitike has easily been the best of the new crop, even though Florian Wirtz has been nowhere near as bad as some people would like you to think.
The Frenchman just squeezes super sub Federico Chiesa off the list, as the young striker has scored a trio of goals and shown a lot of quality on the ball in terms of creating his own chances off the dribble.
4. LW Cody Gakpo
A favorite of Dutch manager Arne Slot, Cody Gakpo has been both the best attacking player on the Netherlands and now on Liverpool, lapping Mohamed Salah in terms of creativity, dribbling, and end product.
Gakpo is actually the Reds team leader in Premier League goal contributions this season with exactly a handful, and he also has more than two key passes and nearly three combined dribbles completed and fouls drawn per game.
3. CB Virgil van Dijk
Almost nobody can dribble past Virgil van Dijk, who, even at the age of 34, is the best lockdown defender in the Premier League. He is allowing a meager 0.1 dribbles completed per game and rarely has to make an intervention, even though he’s dealing with some horrible performances around him from literally everyone else in the back line.
2. CM Dominik Szoboszlai
Dominik Szoboszlai has been the revelation of the season, making up for the horridness of Alexis Mac Allist this year, as well as letdown seasons from other high profile Liverpool stars like Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konate.
The best ball-winner on the team statistically in terms of tackles won, Szoboszlai is also one of the side’s leading creators, landing somewhere just behind Gakpo and Wirtz in that department.
1. CM Ryan Gravenberch
As brilliant as Szobo has become all-around as a midfielder, Ryan Gravenberch is still the king of the hill. His overall marking and defensive instincts are better, as is his ball progression, and a lot of that industrious work that Gravenberch puts in to keep this team afloat goes totally underrated.
Without Gravenberch stabilizing this midfield, especially with Konate and others playing so horridly behind him, Liverpool might be in the bottom half of the league right now. He is so, so good.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.