Felix, Mbappe and Calvert-Lewin among top 10 players in September
Now the first month of the 2020/21 campaign is done and dusted for all of Europe's top five leagues, we can take stock of the action so far.
One interesting trend thus far is the struggles of those that went deep in European competition last season.
Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United have all got off to indifferent starts after enduring next-to-no pre-season.
But what about the players. Who excelled in September? Here we round up the top 10 performers from Europe's top five leagues last month, starting in reverse order.
10. Romain Perraud (Brest) - 8.22 rating
Brest won their opening two matches in September, with left-back Romain Perraud excelling for the French side. The 23-year-old scored and assisted in victories over both Dijon and Lorient and claimed back-to-back WhoScored Man of the Match awards in the process. Moreover, Perraud managed 4.7 tackles and interceptions combined per game (pg) over his three appearancs in September.
9. Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich) - 8.33 rating
Joshua Kimmich concluded September with the winning goal in Bayern Munich's Super Cup triumph over Borussia Dortmund and he was equally decisive in the Bundesliga last month. The 25-year-old registered a brace of assists in Bayern's opening weekend 8-0 win over Schalke and scored what proved a consolation goal in their shock 4-1 defeat to Hoffenheim last time out.
8. Richarlison (Everton) - 8.37 rating
Everton have made a perfect start to the season with three wins on the trot in the Premier League, not to mention their Carabao Cup exploits. James Rodriguez's arrival has given the club and boost and their strikers are now flourishing. Richarlison has played a direct hand in three goals in Everton's first three league matches (one goal, two assists) and averaged 5 dribbles pg in the league in September.
7. Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton) - 8.38 rating
Sticking with the theme of Everton is Richarlison's strike partner. Dominc Calvert-Lewin has been a revelation for the Toffees so far this season and is the joint top scorer in the Premier League (5). The 23-year-old has already scored a Premier League hat-trick and added another treble to his collection in the Carabao Cup last night, although not factored into this ranking. Calvert-Lewin impressively scored his five league goals in September from seven shots on target.
6. Teji Savanier (Montpellier) - 8.42 rating
Montpellier went unbeaten in Ligue 1 through September with three wins from four matches and midfielder Teji Savanier was key for the French side. The 28-year-old earned the WhoScored Man of the Match award in three of their four matches, playing a direct hand in four goals in the process (three goals, one assist). Moreover, Savanier managed 3.75 key passes pg and 3.5 successful dribbles pg in that time.
5. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) - 8.45 rating
After missing the start of the season through injury and illness, Paris Saint-Germain are unsurprisingly all the better for Kylian Mbappe's return. The France international played a direct hand in three goals across his two league appearances in September, with PSG racking up a 3-0 win and 2-0 victory away to Nice and Reims, respectively. Mbappe averaged 4.5 shots pg and 5 successful dribbles pg.
4. Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid) - 8.47 rating
After a relatively disappointing maiden campaign at Atletico Madrid, Joao Felix certainly got his second off on the right foot. In fact, his performance in Atletico's season opener against Granada was his best for the club in LaLiga, returning a WhoScored rating of 9.39 after both scoring and assisting. Partnered in attack with ex-Barcelona striker Luis Suarez, their chemistry already looks good and could prove decisive for them this season.
3. Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim) - 8.70 rating
Andrej Kramaric finished last season with a four-goal haul against Borussia Dortmund and started this season with a hat-trick against FC Koln. The ex-Leicester flop followed that up with a brace in Hoffenheim's shock 4-1 win over Bayern Munich last weekend, securing a second straight WhoScored Man of the Match award. With five goals in two league matches in September, Kramaric is already two clear in the Golden Boot race in Germany.
2. Dries Mertens (Napoli) - 8.90 rating
Napoli have started the new campaign with back-to-back wins and are top of the Serie A table on goal difference after collectively putting eight goals past Parma and Genoa without reply. Dries Mertens, in particular, has made a fast start with a brace of goals and assists in two games.
1. Alejandro Gomez (Atalanta) - 9.14 rating
Beating Dries Mertens to the No.1 spot in Europe's top five leagues for September is his Serie A rival Alejandro Gomez. Atalanta have started the season in typically high scoring fashion, despite opening up their league campaign with two away games. After thumping Torino 4-2, Atlanata followed that up with a remarkable 4-1 win away to Lazio last night. Of the eight goals Atalanta have scored this season, Gomez has played a direct hand in five of them - picking up the WhoScored Man of the Match award on each occasion.
