Napoli soar in team form rankings after run of five straight clean sheets
Manchester City hold on to top spot in our team form rankings across Europe’s top five leagues but there is plenty of change below them. Pep Guardiola’s rating was not impacted after they had the weekend off from Premier League action to contest the Carabao Cup final.
Juventus were their closest challengers a week ago but they have conceded second spot to Paris Saint-Germain after struggling to a 1-0 victory away to Bologna. PSG, meanwhile, romped home to a 3-0 win at home to Nimes and move up three spots. The Ligue 1 giants have now won five of their last six in the league; with a 2-1 defeat to Lyon the only blip in that run.
Juventus now face serious competition from Serie A rivals AC Milan for third place. Gennaro Gattuso’s side are unbeaten in their last six league matches and have won four times in that spell. They beat Empoli 3-0 at the weekend and that was enough to elevate them into fourth place in our team form rankings.
The biggest movers also come from Italy. Napoli were not even close to the top-10 last weekend but have moved up 13 places courtesy of a 4-0 win away to Parma on Sunday. Carlo Ancelotti’s side are unbeaten in their last six in the league and have kept a clean sheet in five of those matches.
Burnley’s appearance in the top-10 raised eyebrows last time around but they have actually cemented their place in the rankings following Saturday’s surprise 2-1 win over Tottenham. Sean Dyche’s side are unbeaten in their last six in the Premier League, a run that also features a draw away to Manchester United.
Not everyone was on the rise in our form rankings, however. Roma and Bayern Munich occupied spots in the top-10 last week but have now dropped out completely. Roma required a 95th-minute winner away to strugglers Frosinone, while Bayern struggled to a 1-0 win at home to Hertha Berlin.
QUALIFYING RULES
Only ratings taken from each player’s last six league matches are considered, weighted chronologically, with the most recent match carrying greater importance and so on. To qualify each player must have featured in their side’s last league game and started at least six of the last eight available.