Chelsea man the star performer in Premier League January best XI

In a January that saw Manchester City’s unbeaten start draw to a close in the most entertaining way possible – a 4-3 loss at Liverpool ended any hopes of repeating Arsenal’s Invincibles feat – Pep Guardiola’s side were still the best-rated Premier League team with a WhoScored rating of 7.17. 

Despite losing last month, Manchester City still have two players in the Premier League team of the month, with Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero both impressing. The former chipped in with 11 key passes, while the latter hit the back of the net on five occasions to return a WhoScored rating of 8.2. 

Eden Hazard just pipped Aguero to the player of the month accolade with an 8.3, with the Chelsea sensation netting three goals and completing 30 dribbles last month. Hazard is one of three London based players to feature in the midfield alongside creative duo Manuel Lanzini and Christian Eriksen. 

Tottenham ace Eriksen netted twice in January, including a strike against Manchester United inside 12 seconds to set Spurs on their way to a 2-0 win on deadline day, not to mention an additional 12 key passes made. Like Eriksen, Lanzini netted twice, and provided the assist in West Ham’s 1-1 draw with Spurs. The Hammers star created six goalscoring chances for teammates and completed 14 dribbles. 

West Ham teammate Marko Arnautovic partners Aguero in attack, with the Austrian in excellent form prior to injury. One goal and three assists contributed to a WhoScored rating of 7.8, as did seven key passes and eight successful dribbles. 

There’s a north London feel to the full-backs, with Nacho Monreal and Serge Aurier occupying the left and right-back berths, respectively. Arsenal man Monreal netted two and registered two assists in January, while Tottenham counterpart Aurier made one assist, won eight aerial duels, made eight tackles and six interceptions last month. 

Ryan Shawcross and Steve Cook form the centre-back partnership, with the Stoke man making 16 clearances and his Bournemouth counterpart making 27 clearances, two tackles and 14 interceptions. Kasper Schmeichel rounds of the XI having kept three clean sheets in four Premier League appearances, with an additional 12 saves helping return a WhoScored rating of 7.4.