4 matchdays are down in the English Premier League and the early results in the Most Valuable Offensive Payers’ (MVOP) rankings suggest that the EPL is back to its status quo.  The likes of Eden Hazard, Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa are raking in the points for their sides.  This isn’t a situation we came across often last season.

In particular, Hazard’s strong start for Chelsea FC has been interesting.  Hazard earned his side a total of 3 points all of last season.  Seeing that he has already surpassed that total this season, Hazard seems determined to bury last season’s poor performance.

Of course it isn’t just the stars shining at the top.  Players like Robert Snodgrass, Leroy Fer and Cristhian Stuani have been pleasant surprises.  Knowing that two of the players (Snodgrass and Stuani) are playing for newly promoted clubs makes it all the more intriguing.

In our initial article for the new EPL season, we declared our favorites for the MVOP award including players like Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane.  Other than Aguero, the players we expected to earn most of the points have not showed up in the rankings yet.  The season is young, so we will see if the poor starts of our pre-season favorites are just an anomaly.

The Most Valuable Starting Squad in the EPL

Utilizing the most commonly used formation in the Premier League, 4-2-3-1, we determined the most valuable starting squad (excluding goalies).

As the image shows, there are a lot of familiar names that make up the top starting squad.  There are a few surprises as well like previously mentioned Snodgrass and Fer along with Bournemouth’s Adam Smith.  Arsenal is the only team to currently have more than one player representing its side.

Check back in after matchday 6 to see our updated rankings and starting squad.

For more information on how we calculate the MVOP rankings, click here.