Football headlines have always been reserved for the names of the stars: Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Bukayo Saka and company lead the way, and rightly so. But dig a little deeper and you'll see plenty of other brilliant performances in the Premier League, many of which sadly go unnoticed.
Now that we're a quarter of the way through the season, we've compiled an XI of players we think are flying under the radar. If you're a fan of the clubs mentioned here, chances are you're already excited about the player in question, but a broader appreciation is still lacking. Hopefully this helps put them in the spotlight.
Goalkeeper: Mads Hermansen, Leicester City
From a purely shot-stopping point of view, Hermansen has been one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League this season.
He has avoided 3.3 more goals than expected based on the shots he has faced. And there have been many: 58 hits to be exact. Only Brentford's Mark Flekken (73) has suffered more this season.
With the ball, Hermansen's role has been simplified; He is playing longer than in the Championship, but there are still flashes of quality here and there.
RHP: Kenny Tete, Fulham
It has been a bounce-back season for Tete, who has started all 10 Premier League games, meaning he has equaled his entire tally for 2023-24. He has earned the favor of coach Marco Silva and firmly fended off the challenge from Belgian international Timothy Castagne for the right-back spot thanks to his loud, action-packed performances.
He has totaled more interceptions (20) than anyone else on the team and sometimes loves to run 50 yards with the ball.
Central: Nikola Milenkovic, Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest's fantastic start to the season has been fueled by defensive resilience. They've gone from having the sixth-worst defensive record in the league last season (conceding 1.8 goals per game) to the second-best, conceding just seven of 10 so far.
Aside from the simple luxury of working longer under coach Nuno Espírito Santo, the significant change from last season is the presence of Milenković in the center of defence, who was signed from Fiorentina for £12 million after a couple of of good campaigns in Serie A. and a solid Euro 2024 for Serbia.
His start to life at Forest has been excellent, dominating the box in most games, staying calm enough to help see out games and dramatically improving his ability to defend set pieces.
Central: Illia Zabarnyi, Bournemouth
Zabarnyi is continually present, but somehow he is still continually underestimated. He was one game away from a Premier League ironman season in 2023-24 (starting and completing 37 of 38 games) and has done it again this season, playing every minute of the nine games so far.
The Ukrainian international is incredibly reliable in defence, confident in the air and has a good ability to win his ground duels. He can take on all types of forwards and since arriving he has become the physique of the Premier League.
Cherries fans appreciate him, hence his Player of the Season award in 2023-24, but that broader appreciation is yet to come for now.
LI: Lucas Digne, Aston Villa
Aston Villa have signed two new left-backs during Unai Emery's tenure, Álex Moreno and Ian Maatsen, but Digne has so far kept them at bay, forcing Moreno to leave and largely keeping Maatsen on the bench.
He is renowned as an attacking full-back and set-piece threat, but over the past year he has worked hard to round out the defensive side of his game and become a much more balanced player. This season, only one Villa player (Youri Tielemans, 17) has completed more tackles than Digne (15) and the Frenchman is the leader in interceptions (14).
Digne's determination to improve and his resilience to prove himself year after year is something to admire.
DM: Sasa Lukic, Fulham
Lukic represents good planning by Fulham, who signed him in January 2023 in anticipation of João Palhinha's eventual departure from the club. This season, with Palhinha leaving for Bayern Munich, Lukic has been given a key role and he has shined.
Defensively, he has been busy, with a total of 20 attempted tackles and interceptions, and has balanced a midfield that often featured an attacking midfielder playing deeper.
There are times in football when a player's true impact can be measured in his absence, and over these last three weeks without him (he injured his shoulder on international duty), Fulham's midfield has really struggled at times. .
CM: Dejan Kulusevski, Tottenham Hotspur
The waves of appreciation for Kulusevski are growing, but the weight of the role he plays still goes unnoticed. Now relocated to central midfield from the wing, he offers power and strength, defensive work rate, brilliant ball carrying, an eye for a pass and a legitimate goal threat. Very few can match this skill set.
No one on the Spurs has created more shooting opportunities (51) or scored more progressive carries (40). His performance in Tottenham's 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford in September was one of the best individual performances we have seen this season.
CM: Moisés Caicedo, Chelsea
Caicedo carries the weight of a frankly ridiculous contract. His £115 million move from Brighton & Hove Albion put enormous pressure on his performances, to such an extent that even if he plays well or very well consistently, he often doesn't get the credit he deserves.
This season, he has shown the usual flurry of defensive activity, completing by far the most combined interceptions and tackles won (52) of any Chelsea player. Additionally, he has made more passes into the final third (54) than anyone else, while only Cole Palmer has made more progressive passes than him (50). He also has two assists, both lovely through balls for Nicolas Jackson to finish, and a great goal to his name, against Manchester United.
Take a look around the league and you won't find many central midfielders outperforming Caicedo.
FW: Callum Hudson-Odoi, Nottingham Forest
Forest's victory over Leicester two weekends ago prompted some murmurs of appreciation towards Hudson-Odoi. The winger's career hasn't exactly followed the fast track to stardom that many imagined after he broke into Chelsea's first team in 2018-19, attracting the attention of Bayern Munich in the process, but if he continues like this, perceptions They could change once again.
He has been a standout creative presence so far, leading all Forest players in shot creation actions (42), key passes (18) and carries into the penalty area (19). He has now scored two goals this season, both sharp, from distance, one of which was at Anfield, paving the way for a remarkable 1-0 victory over Liverpool.
OF: Keane Lewis-Potter, Brentford
You could be forgiven for thinking Lewis-Potter was a new signing at Brentford this season, given his first two years at the club were badly affected by injuries. Now he is finally fit enough to showcase his talents consistently in Year 3.
He has played in every league game so far this season, starting eight, and his finest moment came at the end of October when he tormented Ipswich Town defender Harry Clarke. The right-back, making his Premier League debut, scored an own goal, conceded a penalty and received a red card, all due to the pressure applied by Lewis-Potter. The Brentford winger has been humming quietly all season, but that was an explosion of his skills to the point that coach Thomas Frank called it “probably his best game” in a Bees shirt.
ST: Matheus Cunha, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Teams struggling at the bottom of the league table often struggle to score goals, but that is not the case at all with Wolves. They have scored 14 (more than eight other teams, including Newcastle United and Manchester United) and Cunha has scored four of them.
Cunha is a coach's dream as he is tremendously hard-working and excellent at coming off the line to link up with the midfield, and can drive with the ball at his feet over long distances. In addition to goals, he is the leader of his team in carries to the final third (27), carries to the area (16) and finishing actions (36).
New signing Jørgen Strand Larsen also scored four, attracting plenty of attention in the process, but Cunha has more and remains Wolves' X-factor attacker.
