Premier League’s best wingers in 2023/24 so far
Who are the best wingers in the Premier League right now?
We’ve used the Twenty3 Sport Discovery Tool to find the best players in each position. For the top 10 wingers, the Discovery Tool rates a player’s per 90 output in the following 28 stats to produce a percentage score. We have also weighted each stat from 1 to 5 to highlight the most important aspects of a winger’s play style. This is the Squawka Score.
SQUAWKA SCORE (WINGERS) |
||
| Metric | Weighting | |
| Goal Contribution | 5 | |
| Touches in Opposition Box | 5 | |
| Non-penalty Expected Goals | 5 | |
| Open-play Expected Assists | 5 | |
| Big Chances Created | 4 | |
| Percentage of Sequences Featured in that End in a Shot | 4 | |
| Shots on Target | 4 | |
| Goals Scored | 4 | |
| Assists | 4 | |
| Percentage of Open-Play Chances Created that are Big Chances | 4 | |
| Successful Passes into Penalty Area | 3 | |
| Take-Ons Completed | 3 | |
| Conversion Rate (%) | 3 | |
| Number of Sequences Ending in a Shot Featured in | 3 | |
| Retention Rate (%) | 3 | |
| Shooting Accuracy | 3 | |
| Shots | 3 | |
| Open-Play Chances Created | 3 | |
| Ground Duel Success (%) | 2 | |
| Take-Ons Attempted | 2 | |
| Cross Completion from Open Play (%) | 2 | |
| Shot Placement Ratio | 2 | |
| Take-On Success Percentage | 2 | |
| Fouls Won | 2 | |
| Possessions Won in Attacking Third | 1 | |
| Possession Turnovers | 1 | |
| Open-Play Crosses Attempted | 1 | |
| Through Balls Attempted | 1 | |
Each player’s stats are compared to the average output of wingers across the past three seasons of big-five European league football based on an automatically calculated minutes threshold. The more they rank in the 95th percentile and above for each metric, the higher the Squawka Score.
With the 2023/24 season well underway, here are the best wingers in the Premier League ranked by their Squawka Score from the campaign so far, with only players who have 540+ minutes under their belt considered.
More Premier League player rankings:
- The top 10 defensive midfielders in the Premier League
- Best Premier League No.8 midfielders
- Best Premier League right-backs
- Best Premier League strikers
- Best Premier League playmakers
10. Pedro Neto
Club: Wolves
Squawka Score: 62%
Sitting 12th in the table, Wolves are looking far more comfortable than many expected them to this season and Pedro Neto has been a huge reason why. Yes, the Portuguese trickster only has one Premier League goal to his name, but that’s because he’s been so busy setting them up, registering a league-high seven assists and sitting eight in the division for big chances created (5). Neto’s ability and intelligence make him incredibly difficult to stop and Wolves will need all his creative exploits to ensure they keep putting more space between themselves and the relegation battle.
9. Bryan Mbeumo
Club: Brentford
Squawka Score: 62%
Bryan Mbeumo made a blistering start to the season with four goals in his first five appearances, following on from hitting four goals and three assists in his final seven games of last campaign. He’s slowed down somewhat now, but still has six goals and two assists to his name; including goal and assist performances against both Chelsea and Burnley in October. Mbeumo has been instrumental in Brentford sitting 11th as we rapidly approach the midway point of the season.
8. Anthony Gordon
Club: Newcastle United
Squawka Score: 65%
It took him a while to get going following his controversial move from Everton in January but simply put, Anthony Gordon has been excellent at the start of this season. The 22-year-old already has four goals and two assists to his name and is second only to Kieran Trippier (8) for big chances created (5) this season. Perhaps even more important to Eddie Howe’s Newcastle — and maybe slightly more intangible — is Gordon’s relentless work rate. He never stops working and can often make things happen from nothing through sheer power of will.
7. Hwang Hee-chan
Club: Wolves
Squawka Score: 66%
If Pedro Neto has been a huge reason why Wolves sit 12th, Hwang Hee-chan has been a monumental reason why. The South Korea international already has six goals to his name this season — three of them assisted by Neto — while he also sits level with Neto on 2.3 completed dribbles per 90 minutes; only Matheus Cunha (2.8) has more. To highlight the importance of these two players to Wolves even more, Neto has the most chances created of any Wolves player on 25, with Hwang the next player back on 11.
6. Kaoru Mitoma
Club: Brighton
Squawka Score: 67%
Kaoru Mitoma was one of the devilish dribbles in the Premier League last season and it’s been no different this campaign, with the Japan international currently sitting on 2.4 completed dribbles per 90 minutes. Only 14 players have a higher rate, and only seven of those are wingers. What’s more, Mitoma has added more end product to his game, hitting three goals and three assists in 12 appearances, putting him halfway toward his direct goal contribution total for the whole of last season already.
5. Phil Foden
Club: Manchester City
Squawka Score: 67%
Phil Foden sits alongside Mitoma with three goals and three assists in 12 appearances this season but something feels different this time around. The boyhood Man City fan seems to be coming into his own for his beloved club and sits in the top two or three for a number of key metrics, including chances created, successful dribbles per 90 minutes and possessions won in the final third per 90 minutes. Foden is now a key player for Pep Guardiola and that is beginning to translate to the international level under Gareth Southgate.
4. Cole Palmer
Club: Chelsea
Squawka Score: 73%
After scoring winning goals in both the UEFA Super Cup and Community Shield, many were surprised when Man City allowed Cole Palmer to leave this summer. But what has been their loss has been Chelsea’s gain. The now full England international went into his first senior break with the Three Lions off the back of four goals and an assist in his last five Premier League matches, while he’s also chipped in two assists in the EFL Cup. Coming back to the Premier League, Palmer figures in the top three Chelsea players for chances created, shots per 90 minutes and possessions won in the final third per 90 minutes this season, further exemplifying how great this piece of business was for the Blues.
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3. Mohamed Salah
Club: Liverpool
Squawka Score: 73%
Now Liverpool’s all-time top goalscorer in the Premier League and the player with the most left-footed goals in Premier League history, Mohamed Salah just keeps on going. The Egyptian King is one of just two players to hit double figures for goals so far this season, scoring 10 to sit second only to Erling Haaland (13) in the Premier League Golden Boot race. Of course, we all know the goals only tell half the story when it comes to Salah. The man is just magic. One of the very best to do it.
2. Bukayo Saka
Club: Arsenal
Squawka Score: 74%
Bukayo Saka hasn’t been around long enough to be put into Salah’s class just yet. ‘Yet’ being the key word there. It’s only a matter of time until the England international goes down as a legend for club and country. This season alone, he has four goals and four assists in 11 appearances, while he’s Arsenal’s top performer when it comes to chances created and big chances created. One of the most ruthlessly effective wingers on the planet right now.
1. Jeremy Doku
Club: Manchester City
Squawka Score: 75%
And here is, the most effective winger in the Premier League right now.
To say Jeremy Doke has hit the ground running since joining reigning champions Manchester City from Rennes over the summer would be severely understating it. The budding Belgium international already has two goals and five assists to his name, and that’s despite starting just seven matches. What’s more, Doku — still only 21 years old — has completed a quite ridiculous five dribbles per 90 minutes so far this season, leaving him at least 1.3 clear of any other player in the Premier League.
With his direct running and incredible skill, it feels like Guardiola has the perfect winger for years to come. The missing piece of a jigsaw that was missing no pieces.
