Who tops the final POWER RANKINGS before the World Cup?

The final round of Premier League fixtures before the World Cup break produced a major shock, with Manchester City falling to a 2-1 defeat against Brentford.

This allowed Arsenal to open up a five-point lead at the top of the table by beating Wolves 2-0 – while there were also wins for Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham – and Newcastle continued their fine form by edging past Chelsea at St James’ Park.

Unai Emery made it back-to-back league wins at Aston Villa, plus Nottingham Forest and Leicester picked up important victories, but the pressure is mounting on Frank Lampard after Everton’s dismal 3-0 loss at Bournemouth.

With the Premier League now on hold until Boxing Day, Sportsmail has drawn up the latest Power Rankings table – listing the top 10 players in the Premier League after the weekend’s action.

10. William Saliba – DOWN ONE 

Arsenal kept their third straight clean sheet in the league on Saturday, with William Saliba delivering another accomplished performance.

Admittedly, it did come against Wolves, who have only scored eight goals all season.

The Frenchman also had a moment of fortune in the first half when he appeared to trip Goncalo Guedes in the penalty box, but the offside flag came to his rescue. Replays later showed that play should have been allowed to continue.

Saliba has earned his luck, though, and has been a standout performer at the back for Arsenal since returning from his loan spell at Marseille in the summer. Despite being only 21, he must be considered one of the first names on Mikel Arteta’s teamsheet already.

William Saliba helped Arsenal keep another clean sheet against Wolves on Saturday

9. Harvey Barnes – NEW ENTRY 

James Maddison has been gaining most of the plaudits for Leicester’s revival in recent weeks, but Harvey Barnes has also returned to top form.

Leicester fans may have been worried when Maddison hobbled off in the first half at the London Stadium on Saturday, but they needn’t have as Barnes put the icing on the cake in the second half, coolly slotting past West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski to seal a 2-0 win.

That was Barnes’ fourth goal in five top-flight games for the Foxes, and having been rooted to the foot of the table in the opening weeks of the campaign, Leicester are now 13th and looking up rather than nervously over their shoulder at the bottom three. 

Harvey Barnes scored his fourth goal in five league games to seal Leicester’s win at West Ham

8. Darwin Nunez – NEW ENTRY 

Darwin Nunez has received plenty of criticism since his summer move from Benfica, and he is not always the most aesthetically pleasing player, but he is becoming mightily effective for Liverpool.

He produced arguably his best performance at Anfield on Saturday as the Reds beat Southampton 3-1, with the Uruguayan striker getting on the scoresheet twice.

His first goal, in particular, was expertly taken as he latched onto Harvey Elliott’s through ball and volleyed into the bottom corner. 

Nunez is beginning to win over his doubters, and has shown signs that he could be able to live up to his lofty price-tag after all.

Darwin Nunez netted a brace against Southampton as he continues to find his feet at Anfield

7. Alisson – NEW ENTRY 

Anyone looking at Saturday’s result at Anfield without watching the game will assume that it was a comfortable victory for Jurgen Klopp’s side. A 3-1 win sounds fairly routine, right?

It was anything but. Southampton, under new manager Nathan Jones, created a number of big chances in the second half, and could have got something from the game if it wasn’t for Alisson’s exploits.

The 30-year-old shot-stopper made three point-blank range saves to keep the Saints at bay after the interval and ensure that Liverpool finished the first part of the season on a high.

It has been a difficult start to the season for the Merseyside club, but Alisson has been one of their most consistent players, and he proved his quality once more at the weekend.

Alisson was in inspired form against Southampton to help Liverpool pick up a 3-1 victory

6. Martin Odegaard – NEW ENTRY 

Playing in an Arsenal frontline that contains Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard can get overlooked at times.

He took centre stage on Saturday, though, scoring both of Arsenal’s goals at Molineux.

He is consistently the player that makes Arsenal tick, and is now adding goals to his game – his latest brace taking him to six league goals for the season.

With Norway not making Qatar, Odegaard will now get a well-earned rest, and the Gunners will need him firing on all cylinders after the World Cup if they are to maintain their title challenge. 

Martin Odegaard’s brace against Wolves ensured Arsenal capitalised on Man City’s slip up 

5. Rodrigo Bentancur – NEW ENTRY 

It hasn’t been pretty at Tottenham in recent weeks. It seems almost a given that Spurs will fall behind early on, leaving themselves with plenty to do for the rest of the match.

A number of players are struggling for form, but that can’t be said of Rodrigo Bentancur. The Uruguayan midfielder has been a driving force for Antonio Conte’s men, looking to play forward and take the game to the opposition at every opportunity.

Tottenham went a goal down on three occasions against Leeds on Saturday, but they kept coming back, and Bentancur was at the heart of the fightback.

His deflected effort made it 3-3, and he then popped up to tap home Dejan Kulusevski’s cut-back to seal a 4-3 victory. Not all of Conte’s signings over the last two transfer windows have worked out, but Bentancur has certainly made a huge difference since arriving in January. 

Rodrigo Bentancur (left) scored two late goals to turn Saturday’s game in Tottenham’s favour

4. Ivan Toney – NEW ENTRY 

Ivan Toney must have been devastated to miss out on England’s World Cup squad last Thursday.

It would have been understandable if he’d looked a little disheartened during Brentford’s game against City on Saturday. Instead, he showed England exactly what they will be missing in Qatar.

Toney put the Bees ahead in the 16th minute, but after Phil Foden’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time, it seemed a draw was the best Thomas Frank’s side could hope for.

But Toney had other ideas, and netted the winning goal in the 98th minute. That was his 10th league goal of the season – an excellent return for the 26-year-old who is only getting better. Gareth Southgate will hope that leaving him out of his 26-man squad doesn’t come back to haunt him.

Ivan Toney proved a point after his England snub by scoring twice against Manchester City

3. Erling Haaland – DOWN ONE 

Erling Haaland’s tally of 18 goals in 13 league games is simply outstanding, and it would be harsh to move him too far down this list.

Yet he was ineffective against Brentford as Pep Guardiola’s team signed off for the World Cup with a disappointing loss.

Haaland has been dealing with a foot problem in the last couple of weeks, and he didn’t look 100 per cent fit at the Etihad Stadium.

He will now get six weeks to get back into top condition before City return to Premier League action after the World Cup.

Erling Haaland had a rare quiet game against Brentford, but has been excellent this season

2. Harry Kane – UP THREE 

Conte recently revealed that Harry Kane is struggling with fatigue, but the England striker has not let his standards drop.

Once again, he delivered when Tottenham needed him on Saturday, taking his goal brilliantly. Leeds were not happy that Illan Meslier wasn’t given a free-kick in the build-up to the goal, but Kane’s delicate touch and precise finish highlighted why he is so important to Spurs.

He was also involved in the build-up to Ben Davies’ goal and Bentancur’s winner, and he continues to be Tottenham’s talisman.

The 29-year-old is still six goals behind Haaland in the goalscoring charts, but 12 goals is a more than respectable total, and he will fancy his chances of challenging for the Golden Boot again in Qatar.

Harry Kane scored again for Tottenham on Saturday to take his league tally to 12 this season

1. Miguel Almiron – NON-MOVER 

October’s Premier League player of the month retains top spot.

Miguel Almiron has been a revelation for Newcastle this season, and he caused Chelsea plenty of problems on Saturday.

His direct running and lay-off fell perfectly into the path of Joe Willock, who swept home the only goal of the game to keep the Magpies in third place.

Newcastle have often been heavily reliant on Allan Saint-Maximin when looking for inspiration from out wide in recent seasons, but Almiron has become their main man this term, and has repaid the faith shown in him by Eddie Howe. 

Miguel Almiron continued his excellent form by setting up Newcastle’s winner against Chelsea