October 10, 2025
The Highest-Graded Players in the Bundesliga So Far
Player Grades
Top Premier League Performers Outside the Big Six
October 2, 2025
Six games into the Premier League season, it’s time to highlight some standout players from outside the traditional ‘big six’ using Gradient Sports grades and metrics.
Chris Richards
Chris Richards has been central to Crystal Palace’s strong start under Oliver Glasner, forming a solid defensive partnership with Marc Guehi and Maxence Lacroix.
This season Richards has made just 0.45 positional mistakes per 30 minutes out of possession, the second-best rate among all centre-backs. He also leads the league in defending dribbles with a 94.9 grade, winning 10 of the 13 dribbles he has faced. Richards’ 86.7 Challenge Grade ranks 3rd among centre-backs, underlining his dominant form.
Marcos Senesi
Bournemouth underwent a major rebuild this summer after selling Illia Zabarnyi to PSG, Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid, Milos Kerkez to Liverpool, and Dango Ouattara to Brentford. According to TransferMarkt, those transfers brought in more than £207 million, forcing Andoni Iraola’s side to reshape their defensive unit. Fortunately, Marcos Senesi was already in place to step up.
Senesi has taken on Huijsen’s former role of sparking Bournemouth’s attacks from the back. Among centre-backs he ranks 1st in passes into dangerous areas [15], positively graded passes [37], and completed passes over the top [17] — 9 more than the next-best player, Emmanuel Agbadou. He also records the longest average pass distance of any centre-back with 300+ minutes played [21.34 metres], reflecting his willingness to launch counterattacks in Iraola’s high-intensity system.
Defensively, Senesi has been just as reliable, ranking 2nd in total clearances [40] and 6th in challenges won [47].
Elliot Anderson
Elliot Anderson’s start to the season has been nothing short of remarkable. He has been at the heart of Nottingham Forest’s build-up play under both Nuno Espírito Santo and Ange Postecoglou.
Anderson leads the Premier League in line-breaking passes completed [59], final-third passes completed [116], and total possessions [567] — outstanding numbers for a player outside the ‘big six’. He has also registered 1,556 touches, 37% more than the next-highest player, highlighting the extent to which Forest’s play flows through him.
Importantly, it’s not just about volume: Anderson’s 91.1 passing grade ranks 2nd across all players.
Jaidon Anthony
Burnley’s relegation battle demands efficiency, and Jaidon Anthony has delivered. From 12 shots on target he has scored 4 goals, all of which were classified as ‘unsaveable’ by the goalkeeper. His 84.5 shooting grade ranks 11th among all players, while his 77.4 pressured shooting grade ranks 18th.
One of Anthony’s key strengths is how he receives possession. At Gradient Sports we track body orientation at the moment a pass is played and at the moment it is received. This allows us to measure whether a player opens or closes their body upon receiving the ball, excluding inaccurate passes that force unintended adjustments.
So far this season, no Premier League player has received the ball in an open body position more often than Anthony (24% of receptions). This means that nearly a quarter of his receptions involve rotating toward goal between the pass being played and received — a crucial skill in turning opportunities into shots and goals.
