Gap to Messi closing at top of Europe's player form rankings

While he may not have scored in El Clasico against Real Madrid at the weekend, Lionel Messi retains his spot at the top of the player form rankings in Europe’s top five leagues for another week.

The Argentine had five shots and completed five dribbles as Barcelona moved a step closer to another La Liga crown, though the gap at the top of our form rankings leaderboard has been reduced significantly. Nimes’ Teji Savanier is actually Messi’s closest rival right now despite his side seeing their game postponed this weekend, meaning the midfielder’s rating has remained the same.

Elsewhere, however, there is significant movement in the top 20 as we run through the most notable risers and fallers from the weekend’s action, though we start with a new qualifier all the way up in third place.

Lyon captain Nabil Fekir having missed the defeat at Monaco through injury and certainly showed no sign of a lack of fitness as he set about putting Toulouse to the sword. The 25-year-old scored from the spot in the first half - netting for the fifth league appearance in seven - and set up his side’s first and last goals in a thumping 5-1 win.

RISERS

Liverpool’s defensive destroyer Virgil van Dijk is a massive climber this week having followed his two-goal display in the hammering of Watford last week with an imposing performance in the Merseyside derby. The Dutchman helped the Reds to a fourth consecutive clean sheet in the league, winning four tackles, 12 aerial duels and making 13 clearances.

Kevin Volland is up from tenth to fifth this week after registering a fourth assist in as many matches to compliment a further three goals in his last six for Bayer Leverkusen. Meanwhile Torino keeper Salvatore Sirigu jumps into the top ten having equalled a record in Europe’s top five leagues this season with a sixth successive clean sheet.

Elsewhere RB Leipzig’s Marcel Halstenberg is another player to rise up from last week’s position on the leaderboard (17th to ninth) after an excellent defensive display at Nuernberg (six tackles, three interceptions), while there are five new faces in the top 20.

The highest ranked of those is Atalanta’s Alejandro Gomez, who scored a stunning individual goal in victory over Fiorentina, while Frankfurt’s Filip Kostic and Sebastien Haller - both on the scoresheet in victory over Hoffenheim - also make the cut. So too does Crystal Palace star Wilf Zaha having netted a fifth goal in as many games as the Eagles won at Burnley, along with Bayern Munich hitman Robert Lewandowski, whose double at Gladbach ensures he now shares the lead atop the Bundesliga scoring charts.

FALLERS

Having been a new qualifier all the way up in second last week, Edin Dzeko has dropped substantially following Roma’s collapse in the derby with Lazio, while Jadon Sancho falls to out of the top ten (from seventh) after Dortmund’s shock defeat to Augsburg.

Meanwhile the likes of Raheem Sterling (fourth last week) and Casemiro (fifth) have lost their place in the top 20 altogether, along with Paul Pogba (previously 12th), Nantes’ Valentin Rongier, Freiburg’s Nils Petersen and Newcastle’s Isaac Hayden.

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.