After losing Luis Suarez this offseason, many questioned Liverpool's return to the very top of the Premier League, where they finished in second place last year. Raheem Sterling silenced the critics on Sunday with his performance in the team's win against Southampton.
There were a number of surprises in the first week of the 2014-2015 Premier League, including Manchester United's home loss to Swansea City and stoppage time goals by Tottenham and Arsenal to seal their victories. Liverpool's midfielder Raheem Sterling was another one of those surprises, scoring a goal and delivering an assist in a 2-1 victory over Southampton.
The EA Sports Player Performance Index measures the effectiveness of each Premier League player through an equation that calculates various data including goals, shots, passes, dribbles, tackles, crosses, saves, clearances, blocks, interceptions, points gained, and now incorporates shot speed, force of a shot, as well as other time and distance measurements. Sterling earned an index of 52 this week, which was the highest of any player in the Premier League, and besting Saido Berahino of West Brom by one point.
The 19-year-old Sterling impressed in his Premier League debut and looks to continue his success in next Monday's match against last year's PL champions, Manchester City. The top five PL players of the week, according to the EA SPORTS PPI were Sterling (52), Saido Berahino of West Brom (51), Gylfi Sigurdsson of Swansea City (47), James Chester of Hull City (43),and Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal (40). The EA SPORTS PPI also establishes a "Team of the Week" based on individual PPI scores at each position.
After Week 1 of the Premier League, Chelsea sits atop the standings thanks to their 3-1 win over Burnley on Monday afternoon, followed by Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Swansea City. You can check out more teams on the PL League Table.
Watch the video below to see Sterling's performance on Sunday that earned him the PL Player of the Week.