As the Premier League season started with intense drama and standout moments, a few players have already stamped their authority on the pitch. From game-changing goals to defensive masterclasses, the opening match weeks of the 2024/2025 season have set the stage for thrilling battles ahead. But which players truly rose above the rest, combining skill, intelligence, and sheer will to lead their teams? Let's dive into the top 5 performances that have left supporters speechless.
5. Ryan Gravenberch’s Position Change - Hidden Hero for Liverpool
Ryan Gravenberch, the 22-year-old Dutchman, has been showing strong consistency under Arne Slot. Gravenberch’s usual position was a Central Midfielder, where his biggest strengths were his creativity and on-the-ball ability.
Gravenberch had an over-average performance every day with an average of 7.66/10 performance in multiple player rating sources. Additionally, he placed 9th on player ratings as the only defensive-minded player on the Top 10 highest player ratings.
Talking about his statistics this season, he had an impressive 89.5% pass rate, 80% of tackles won, 77.8% aerial duels won. These statistics place on the 90th percentile of all Premier League players in the same position. Gravenberch also did all that without getting booked with a red card, which is a common thing for a defensive midfielder.
Although the performance seems to be not as impressive as scoring a lot of goals, Gravenberch’s performance is unprecedented for a player going through a position change. His consistency makes him shine as one of the best midfielders in the league from a substitute player with a sporadic role.
Gravenberch has been one of the most successful passers in the league, dominating Liverpool's possession. Photo Credit: Transfermarkt
4. Madueke Hat-Trick VS Wolverhampton
Noni(Nonso) Madueke, or Chukwunonso Madueke, the 22-year-old Chelsea player, scored a hat-trick against Wolverhampton. A grand 6-2 Win on the away game, Madueke posted on Instagram before the game saying, “Everything about this place is sh*t” about Wolverhampton.
Noni Madueke posted his opinions on Wolverhampton on Instagram, causing the media to flame up. Photo Credits: Sky Sports
Causing a bit of a chaos before the game, Madueke was greeted with thrown trash on the pitch when he had the ball on his foot. However, Madueke silenced the crowd after scoring a hat-trick.
At the start of the second half, Madueke received the ball at the right flank, and scored with a great finish from the right-hand side. Although having a defender on him, Madueke scored after cutting into the box and shooting with his left foot from Palmer’s pass.
In the 58th minute, Madueke scored another goal from a similar spot with the same angle. This time, he took a right-foot shot to the back post and bagged a goal.
His last goal was from the identical angle three minutes later, where he made three goals. He took another right-footed shot after getting his third assist from Cole Palmer.
What was impressive about his performance is that not only did he have a total xG(expected goal) value of 0.37 for all the three goals, but he also did not have ideal angles. Despite this, Madueke scored three for his team and secured a win for the Blue Devils.
After the game, Madueke cleared out the banter against Wolverhampton saying, “I think there was some sort of misunderstanding, and it’s my bad. I’m sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town.”
Madueke celebrates his goal against Wolverhampton by doing a knee slide. Photo Credits: Sky Sports
3. Haaland’s Performance Week 2-4
Erling Haaland, the most expensive player in the world along with Kylian Mbappe, dropped an astonishing performance. From week 2-3, Haaland striked two hat-tricks in a row, marking his name on the history books as the seventh player to score two consecutive hat-tricks in a row in the Premier League. For the fourth PL week, he bagged two goals for City as well.
Objectively, Haaland is a player who gets more chances than other players by being in the strongest team. Haaland usually uses his teammates to bag goals, rather than driving with the ball and taking the shot. This was the same for these three games; Haaland scored all of his goals inside the box after his teammate’s passes.
The Norwegian forward still dominates by marking his name as the current top goalscorer in the league.
Haaland celebrates his goal with a modest celebration. Photo Credits: Yahoo Sports
2. Cole Palmer 1 Goal 3 Assists VS Wolverhampton
Along with Noni Madueke’s performance in the Second Week of Premier League, it was Cole Palmer who got the shine of the media. Scoring a goal and bagging three assists, Palmer was placed as the Man of the Match with a 9.7 rating. Starting with a fast-break goal while the Wolverhampton goalkeeper was out, Palmer started with a promising start in the first half.
Moving into the second half, Palmer found wide gaps on the right-side. Palmer passed the ball to the wide flank from the center half, giving Madueke a chance to cut in and score his first goal. Not so long later, Palmer sought another chance for Madueke, passing the same ball, creating the same opportunity. Madueke bagged the goal to secure a Cole Palmer assist right after. Palmer had another chance for Madueke with the same method just five minutes after his second assist.
Although goals are what matter the most, Palmer’s consistent three assists show quality over other players. Even though Palmer did not mix up the assisting method, he still managed to get three assists with ease. Overall, it was a very impactful performance from Matchweek 2 from Chelsea, who was not an impactful team last year.
Cole Palmer celebrates his goal with his signature "cold" celebration. Photo Credits: Sky Sports
1. Cole Palmer 4 Goals in one half VS Brighton Hope Albion
The 22-year-old Palmer is the first to achieve scoring four in the opening 45 minutes in the English Premier League. Cole Palmer produced an incredible solo performance during Chelsea’s 4-2 victory against Brighton on Saturday.
After equalizing for Chelsea in the 21st minute, Palmer converted a penalty and a superb 30-yard free-kick inside the next 10 minutes to complete his hat-trick. He then added his fourth shortly before halftime with a first-time finish from Jadon Sancho’s pass.
He even had further chances go away in that time, too, hitting the post with one attempt and finding the net from an offside position with another. Later in the second half, Palmer almost got a fifth when he was one-on-one with Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, though he put his shot wide. Although missing 2 big chances in the second half, Palmer was rated 9.9 on FotMob.
“I didn’t know about (the record), the lads just told me then,” Palmer said in an interview with Sky Sports after the match. “I’m really happy about it. When I missed the chance in the second half, I was fuming because it was early in the second half, I think it was the 55th, 56th minute, so I should have scored that.”
Cole Palmer throws the shaka up to celebrate a goal. Photo Credits: Goal.com
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