Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez is the Premier League MVP
When you think of the Premier League’s best players names like Hazard, Sanchez and Toure immediately leap to mind. Chances are you have to go pretty far down your list to find Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez. Many claim the Algerian winger to be the best player you’ve never heard of in the Premier League. That’s a shame though, because what we should be calling him is just the best player in the Premier League season thus far.
Full disclosure here, I don’t think Riyad Mahrez is going to win the Ballon d’or or continue to be the Premier League’s top player all season long. Yet if you’re looking around and trying to decide who’s been the best player to date, it’s not a debate. The freakishly creative winger has been sublime through his seven appearances. Per Whoscored.com his average rating is an eye catching 8.46 and he’s been Man of the Match four times already. He is .4 clear of his next closest competitor (Manchester City’s David Silva) and has mauled his opposition for five goals and three assists already. Statistically speaking he has been nothing short of sensational.
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While his statistics have been good, his play has been even more impressive to watch. Mahrez has played the role of classic winger and has tortured each wing back that has dared to mark him. In a day and age where many believe that true wingers are extinct in the EPL, he plays the role perfectly. He has the pace to stretch a defender, the tricks to bamboozle him and the end product to truly make him pay. Truthfully, I’m not sure if there is a more captivating individual talent in the Premier League today.
Some might say it’s a shame for such a talent to be applying their trade at Leicester City but I couldn’t agree more. On a Club that size he is free to ply his trade however he sees fit. If he, as I expect he ultimately will, moves to a bigger club, he will still be a great player but we will see his role more narrowly defined. For the Foxes he has the ultimate license to move all over the pitch to dictate the game. If you want to see the true genius of Riyad Mahrez you should make sure to watch Leicester every chance you get before he’s gone.
In the end, the prodigious talent of Mahrez likely won’t be enough to propel Leicester City to trophies and glory. As the season goes on his form will inevitably dip under the weight of opposing defenses focusing in on the Algerian international, but make no mistake, there’s top quality there. And right now, his performance places him head and shoulders above the Premier League’s biggest stars as the EPL’s MVP to date. Tune in and enjoy his genius at Leicester. You’ll thank me for the recommendation.