2013-14 Premier League Preseason Rankings: Top Midfielders

Written by

Updated on July 29, 2013 4:20PM EST

For our 2013-14 Premier League rankings, we polled four of our writers to come up with a composite list for the upcoming year. We broke it down by position, listing our top-20 forwards, midfielders, defenders and top-10 goalkeepers.

Points were assigned to each player based on their ranking by each writer: 10 points for a first place vote, nine points for a second place vote, eight points for a third place vote and so on.

Chelsea's Petr Cech is the top choice in our Goalkeeper Rankings, Everton's Leighton Baines checks in at the top spot on our Defensemen Rankings and our first unanimous choice is here, as Gareth Bale earns the No. 1 ranking for midfielders.

Bale was magnificent last season, which prompted interest from around the world for his services. The biggest offer came from Real Madrid, which thought that €100 million would be enough to poach the Welshman from Tottenham. Spurs felt differently, deciding to keep Bale (as of publication) and have him lead this year's charge toward a top-four spot and an entry into the Champions League. With the decision to keep him in England, he earns his No. 1 spot on our Premier League midfielders rankings list.

	LAIRD	RADUNE	PITNER	MOSINSKI	OVERALL	PT
1	Gareth Bale	Gareth Bale	Gareth Bale	Gareth Bale	Gareth Bale	80
2	Eden Hazard	Santi Cazorla	Theo Walcott	Eden Hazard	Eden Hazard	68
3	Santi Cazorla	Michael Carrick	Eden Hazard	Marouane Fellaini	Santi Cazorla	67
4	Juan Mata	Marouane Fellaini	Juan Mata	Frank Lampard	Juan Mata	65
5	Michu	Juan Mata	Santi Cazorla	Steven Gerrard	Marouane Fellaini	62
6	Theo Walcott	David Silva	Michu	Juan Mata	Theo Walcott	61
7	Frank Lampard	Theo Walcott	Marouane Fellaini	Santi Cazorla	Michu	52
8	Marouane Fellaini	Leon Osman	Frank Lampard	Theo Walcott	Steven Gerrard	51
9	Steven Gerrard	Eden Hazard	Steven Gerrard	Michu	Frank Lampard	49
10	Yaya Toure	Steven Gerrard	David Silva	Kevin Nolan	David Silva	38
11	Kevin Nolan	Yaya Toure	Philippe Coutinho	Robert Snodgrass	Yaya Toure	37
12	Shinji Kagawa	Michu	Shinji Kagawa	Stephane Sessegnon	Kevin Nolan	25
13	Robert Snodgrass	Oscar	Yaya Toure	Yaya Toure	Robert Snodgrass	25
14	Oscar	Gareth Barry	Robert Snodgrass	David Silva	Shinji Kagawa	22
15	Aaron Lennon	Steven Pienaar	Andre Schurrle	Wayne Routledge	Oscar	21
16	David Silva	Frank Lampard	Clint Dempsey	Seven Pienaar	Michael Carrick	18
17	Stephane Sessegnon	Kevin Nolan	Oscar	Shinji Kagawa	Steven Pienaar	14
18	Steven Pienaar	Mikel Arteta	Jack Wilshere	Anthony Pilkington	Leon Osman	13
18	Mikel Arteta	Samir Nasri	Jonathan Walters	Oscar	Stephane Sessegnon	13
20	Paulinho	Aaron Lennon	Hatem Ben Arfa	Mikel Arteta	Philippe Coutinho	10

Others receiving points: Aaron Lennon (7), Gareth Barry (7), Mikel Arteta (6), Andre Schurrle (6), Wayne Routledge (6), Clint Dempsey (5), Jack Wilshere (3), Anthony Pilkington (3), Samir Nasri (2), Jonathan Walters (2), Paulinho (1), Hatem Ben Arfa (1)