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The 10 Most Underrated Players In Premier League History

There are lots of reasons a player can become underrated
They can be overshadowed by high-profile teammates or playing on a team which gets limited media attention
Here are our 10 most underrated Premier League players of all-time

The concept of being underrated is subjective. It’s generally based on the idea that a player does not get the attention their ability deserves or the consensus opinion is lower than it should be.

This can be the case even for those at the top of Premier League winner betting. Champions might be overlooked because of flashier teammates or may simply fulfil a role which isn’t appropriately appreciated.

Certain players are married to the ‘underrated’ label. Michael Carrick, Cesar Azpilicueta and Gareth Barry fall into that category.

We’re looking to stay away from the more obvious names with our most underrated Premier League players. Part of this reason for this is that if everyone says you’re underrated, can it still be the case?

We’ve covered every position from clinical strikers to journeyman goalkeepers – here are the 10 most underrated Premier League players of all-time.

Les Ferdinand

Only 10 players in Premier League history have more goals than Les Ferdinand. His goals per game rate of 0.42 is better than Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Robbie Keane.

Named PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 1995-96, Ferdinand was prolific across a couple of seasons with Newcastle, but the arrival of Alan Shearer dwarfed Ferdinand’s achievements.

He was held to under 20 England caps – again, partly because of Shearer – and is generally one of the forgotten men of the Premier League 100 club.

Mark Schwarzer

Eighth all-time in Premier League appearances and third in clean sheets, Mark Schwarzer’s longevity was remarkable.

While never earning a Team of the Season nod or much individual recognition, Schwarzer was one of the league’s better goalkeepers from the day he arrived with Middlesbrough in the late 1990s through to the end of his Fulham stint in the early 2010s.

Eventually serving as a backup with Chelsea and Leicester, becoming the oldest player ever for each club, Schwarzer stood the test of time. He appeared in football prediction news deep into his forties, and that alone deserves more appreciation.

Nwankwo Kanu

A two-time African Footballer of the Year, twice a Premier League champion and a member of the Invincibles, Nwankwo Kanu checks the box of our underrated criteria for being eclipsed by bigger name teammates in Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp.

Kanu is the third-most used substitute in Premier League history. His 15-minute hat-trick to beat Chelsea in 1999 is one of the greatest individual performances the league has ever seen.

Elegant with a silky touch, Kanu played in six further Premier League seasons after leaving Arsenal. While not prolific late in his career, he remained an enjoyable player to watch, and retired as one of the greatest African players ever.

Michael Essien

Nicknamed ‘The Bison’, Michael Essien was a do-it-all midfielder, who amassed almost 170 Premier League appearances for Chelsea. Essien could slot in at right-back or central defence on occasion, too.

If it wasn’t for serious injury issues in the back half of his Chelsea stint, Essien might well have been remembered as one of the best midfielders of his generation.

He was a force to be reckoned with at his peak, capable of sitting in front of the defence and breaking up play or surging forward to set up attacks.

When fully fit, Essien dominated games. There are also a couple of individual highlights which aid any legacy (the outside-the-boot effort against Arsenal is well worth a rewatch).

Darren Bent

Darren Bent scored 106 Premier League goals in 276 appearances despite never playing for a team at the top of Premier League predictions. It remains a mystery that Bent ended his career with just 13 England caps.

Only arriving in the top flight at 21, Bent isn’t the youngest goal scorer in the Premier League, but he made an immediate impact after signing with Charlton. The Tooting native scored 37 times in 79 appearances for the London club.

Productive at Spurs and Sunderland, Bent was also effective in his early days at Aston Villa. Always a clinical finisher, perhaps his game was too limited to get the recognition he warranted.

Carlos Tevez

Carlos Tevez played in seven Premier League seasons. From controversial transfers to high-profile fall outs with managers, he was never far from the headlines.

The Argentine’s impact on the league cannot be overstated. His final day goal kept West Ham up, and he was integral to the success of Manchester United in the late 2000s despite Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo soaking up the majority of the praise.

Manchester City don’t win the 2011-12 Premier League title without Tevez. The brilliance Tevez provided on the pitch should not be forgotten, even if he wasn’t always the easiest player to manage.

James Ward-Prowse

Garnering plenty of headlines for his set piece prowess, James Ward-Prowse is more than a dead-ball maestro.

Ward-Prowse ranks 14th in wins above replacement in 2021-22 and was 10th by the same metric in the season prior.

Granit Xhaka

Between moments of madness, Granit Xhaka has been a good player for Arsenal.

The controversies and reckless red cards put Xhaka in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. His actual play is often overlooked amid post-mortems of Arsenal defeats.

Often when the Gunners are performing well, Xhaka is at the centre of it. He’s matured as a footballer during his time in north London. His commitment to the cause can never be questioned.

There are a few current Arsenal players that it could be argued are underrated – we’re going with Xhaka here.

Pablo Zabaleta

Vincent Kompany is rightly given a lot of credit for instilling a winning culture at Manchester City.

Pablo Zabaleta was a warrior and leader for two Premier League-winning sides, though, and in between those triumphs, the Argentine earned a spot in the PFA Team of the Year.

Reliable, fearless and a strong one-on-one defender, Zabaleta was one of the best right backs in the league for his first six seasons with Manchester City. He was rock solid in his first couple of years with West Ham, too.

While not quite the level of Gary Neville or Cesar Azpilicueta when it comes to the best right-backs in league history, Zabaleta is only just behind in the tier below.

Denis Irwin

Ashley Cole is the only player stopping Denis Irwin universally being accepted as the greatest left-back in Premier League history.

A seven-time Premier League winner and Champion of Europe in 1999, Irwin amassed 400 Premier League appearances, and was twice included in the Team of the Season.

Full-back wasn’t the most glamorous position in that era. Irwin, too, was in a team of big personalities and star names. While it’s easy to see how it has happened, there’s no doubt Irwin is one of the most underrated Premier League players of all-time.

*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

FIRST PUBLISHED: 30th March 2022

March 31, 2022

Premier League

By Sam Cox

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Sam is a sports tipster, specialising in the Premier League and Champions League.

He covers most sports, including cricket and Formula One. Sam particularly enjoys those on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean – notably MLB and NBA.

Watching, writing and talking about sports betting takes up most of his time, whether that is for a day out at T20 Finals Day or a long night of basketball.

Having been writing for several years, Sam has been working with 888Sport since 2016, contributing multiple articles per week to the blog.

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Charles Leclerc Net Worth: Family Life, Godfather & F1 Wins

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc is one of the best young talents in Formula One
Born in Monaco, Leclerc has nine pole positions and two race wins to his name
Read below for more on Charles Leclerc net worth and his career to date

Lots of talented young drivers have ascended quickly in recent years. From a stellar rookie year with Sauber, Charles Leclerc is one such driver.

He rapidly became a betting F1 favourite with Ferrari, winning a couple of races for the Scuderia and outduelling a four-time champion teammate.

Leclerc has world champion potential, providing the team from Maranello produce a competitive car. He has already had moments of immense frustration and elation in his short time in F1 live betting, and at just 24 years old, he’s still years from his peak.

Let’s learn a bit more about Leclerc, starting with a look at his net worth and salary.

Net Worth

Charles Leclerc net worth is thought to be in the region of £9 million. While only embarking on his fifth proper Formula One season in 2022, Leclerc has been handsomely compensated throughout his career.

It has been reported that Leclerc is earning just over £9 million per year with Ferrari, placing him behind only Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo among F1 driver salaries in 2022.

When it comes to endorsements, many of Leclerc’s deals are with Ferrari partners, including Giorgio Armani and Ray-Ban.

He was sponsored by Richard Mille in the early days of his racing career, and is bound to be partnered with more brands in years to come. The combination of a race-winning driver and Ferrari is a dream for marketers.

Family

Charles Leclerc was born in 1997 to Hervé and Pascale. He’s the middle of three sons, and his younger brother Arthur has also gone into racing, and he won the Formula Regional Asian Championship in 2022.

Hervé Leclerc was a racing driver, competing in Formula 3 in the 1980s and 1990s. Hervé sadly passed away after a long illness in 2017 at the age of just 54 and only a few days before Leclerc raced at Baku in Formula 2.

Godfather

The late Jules Bianchi was Charles Leclerc’s godfather – the pair were close through Leclerc’s childhood and early racing career prior to Bianchi’s fatal accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

Bianchi passed away in 2015, and Leclerc has drawn comparisons to his godfather in the following years.

Bianchi was already impressing in Formula One, and many believed he was destined for a seat at Ferrari. Their careers had followed a very similar path until Bianchi’s accident, with their good and bad weekends often aligning.

Speaking in 2020, Leclerc compared their journey through racing.

“Our fathers always joked that we had a very similar career. Strangely, when he and I were racing, every time there was a weekend, if he had a very bad race that weekend, I would have a very bad race, too. We were always joking about this.

“With our careers, obviously, they are quite similar, with also Nicholas [Todt] my manager, he took more or less the same road for both of us.”

The Ferrari driver also discussed just how talented Bianchi was, claiming he would have thrived in the Scuderia.

“There was definitely lots more to come. Results like in Monaco, when he was with Marussia, told us a lot about his talent.

“He definitely deserved the Ferrari seat more than I did, but unfortunately, other things were decided for him. I’m pretty sure he would have shown probably more than what I do. He was extremely talented.”

Wins

Charles Leclerc has just two Formula One race wins.

It was back-to-back F1 betting triumphs for the Monégasque driver back in 2019 with an emotional win at the Belgian Grand Prix being followed by a jubilant victory at Monza in front of an ecstatic Ferrari faithful.

Ferrari fell off the pace in 2020 and 2021 with Leclerc notching just three podium finishes across the two campaigns.

Early signs suggest Ferrari will be back competing at the top of F1 betting tips in 2022, however, with significant regulation changes giving Leclerc a chance to add to his win tally.

Leclerc’s win at Spa came a matter of hours after the death of his friend Anthoine Hubert in the F2 feature race.

There were tributes to Hubert throughout the weekend, and Leclerc dedicated his victory to his late friend. The pair raced against each other as early as 2005.

Parking up after the race, Leclerc pointed to the sky and made the TV cameras aware of a "Racing for Anthoine" sticker.

Speaking after a tense victory, he said, "On one hand, a dream I've had since being a child has been realised. On the other hand, it has been very a difficult weekend since yesterday. We have lost a friend first of all. It is very difficult in this situation.

"I would like to dedicate my first win to him. We have grown up together. My first ever race I did with Anthoine when we were younger, there was Esteban [Ocon], Pierre [Gasly].

"I can't fully enjoy my first victory, but it will definitely be a memory I will keep forever."

Leclerc going from pole to the top step of the podium at Monza was far more dramatic than it might seem. He had a lengthy duel with Lewis Hamilton following the pit stops, and even received a warning for pushing the Mercedes driver off track.

Forced to fight hard for the win, Leclerc was just 0.8 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas at the chequered flag with Hamilton pitting for soft tyres late on.

After the race, Leclerc said, "I did a few mistakes but at the end I finished first. Very happy with this. I need to be careful with the mistakes but none of them made me lose position today."

*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*

FIRST PUBLISHED: 30th March 2022

March 31, 2022

888Business

By Sam Cox

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The 10 Most Famous Celebrations In Premier League History

The Premier League has treated us to numerous iconic celebrations down the decades
The most famous and cherished are often direct responses to criticism
Two have led to match bans and hefty fines

Whether its pre-planned or spontaneous, we’ve been treated to some memorable goal celebrations in the short history of the Premier League.

Indeed, very often they’ve been far more entertaining than the goal itself.

10) Robbie Keane’s Cartwheel

Most of our favourite celebrations are typically a direct response to a news story, or a fan-base, or a manager. They’re one-offs. Of their time.

That’s not to say that a player’s trademark routine on hitting the back of the net doesn’t also warrant a lot of love. From Lomana LuaLua’s somersaults to Tim Cahill punching corner flags, these are moves that have gone down in folklore.

Across a career that spanned two decades Robbie Keane was unquestionably one of the best Premier League strikers around, and undoubtedly too, one of the most under-rated.

On 126 occasions the Irish hit-man tumbled into a clumsy-looking cartwheel that was always redeemed by blasting a few rounds off from his finger guns. Tottenham fans adored him for it.

9) Bullard Mocks The Gaffer

In January 2009, Hull boss Phil Brown unforgettably and unforgivably kept his team out on the pitch at half-time to read them the riot-act, his players humiliated enough from being four down at Manchester City.

It was a surreal incident that prompted hilarity but also criticism of Brown’s actions.

Fast forward ten months and the Tigers equalise late-on at the Etihad courtesy of a Jimmy Bullard penalty.

So, of course a character such as Bullard isn’t going to let the opportunity pass for some pay-back, instructing his team-mates to sit around him in a circle as he furiously finger-wagged at each of them.

8) Shearer Keeps It Simple

Keane aside, it’s no coincidence that the most elaborate celebrations are usually enacted by strikers who rarely trouble the top of the goal-scoring charts.

In the Premier League alone, Shearer smashed home 260 goals and if he followed every one with a split leap leading into a back handspring that number would be halved, with the Geordie legend consistently injured via calf strains.

Which is why Big Al kept it simple. A raised arm. A broad grin. A good old-fashioned and wholesome response to giving a keeper nightmares that night.

His familiar pose is cast in bronze and proudly stands outside St James Park. It’s iconic.

7) Ravanelli Gets Shirty

Fresh from winning the Champions League with Juventus, the signing of the Italian international caused quite a stir in the North-East back in 1996 and with Juninho already on their books, Middlesbrough could look forward to a vintage era, one that is still cherished at the Riverside today.

On his debut at home to Liverpool the ‘White Feather’ wasted no time in securing a legacy, firing a momentous hat-trick that upset the football betting odds and each time wheeling away, pulling his red jersey over to cover his face.

It was a celebration copied on Monday in every playground and school playing field from Stockton-On-Tees to Redcar.

6) Crouch Does The Robot

A drunken robotic walk to the gents at a pre-World Cup get-together in 2006 soon became a national obsession when Crouch’s England team-mates encouraged the lanky striker to reprise his party piece when he next converted for his country.

Scoring the first of an international hat-trick against Jamaica soon after, the player duly obliged, dancing like a robot from 1984 and he was presumably then stunned by the level of interest his angular moves received, transcending the game and being warmly embraced by popular culture.

His signature routine was solely reserved for England duty until 2017 when Crouch became the oldest player to reach 100 goals in the top-flight. At Stoke’s Britannia Stadium on February 1st, the famous strut was given its first and final Premier League outing.

5) Adebayor On The Wind Up

According to the Togolese forward, the away end at the Etihad spent much of Manchester City’s clash with Arsenal back in 2009 chanting derogatory claims about his family. According to the Gunners faithful who were present that day, they did not.

Wherever the truth lies, it can be stated for certain that Emmanuel Adebayor’s £25m switch from North London to Manchester earlier that summer had not been a particularly harmonious transfer and just four games into the season here he was, facing his former employers.

With ten minutes remaining, the hero-turned-villain thumped home a terrific header and had only one response in mind, a celebration that later saw him banned for three matches.

Showing a turn of foot that surprised both sets of fans, Adebayor raced the entire length of the pitch to knee-slide in front of his tormentors. It’s fair to say, they didn’t take it very well...

4) Ketsbaia Goes Crazy

Returning from a long-term lay-off, the highly-strung Georgian was immensely aggrieved to find himself on the bench as Newcastle took on Bolton in 1998, his mood only darkening as other players got on ahead of him.

Ketsbaia finally got the nod late-on and promptly slotted home a last-minute winner, a goal that sent the St James Park hordes delirious.

Their delirium immediately changed to bemusement however on seeing the player’s reaction to scoring, an outburst of unfettered fury that had him throw his shirt into the crowd and repeatedly kick the advertising hoardings. His team-mates even needed to dissuade him from taking his boots off.

Our Premier League predictions have Newcastle safe this season. With some of Temur’s passion the Magpies surely won’t go down.

3) Fowler Fails To Tow The Line

Robbie Fowler’s derby-day goal celebration in 1999 resulted in the then biggest fine ever dished out by the FA to a single player. It made the back pages for days after. It got everyone talking.

Which was precisely why the forward, known to all at Anfield as ‘God’, did what he did on netting against his club’s arch-rivals and bitter neighbours Everton.

After being subjected to scurrilous rumours across the city concerning alleged off-field behaviour, Fowler dropped to his knees and pretended to sniff the white pitch markings right in front of an incensed away end.

Hilariously, his manager Gerard Houllier attempted to play the incident down, claiming it was a grass-eating celebration learnt from Fowler’s Cameroonian team-mate Rigobert Song.

2) Why Always Mario?

For a good while back in 2012, every other day saw a new story emerge concerning Manchester City’s enigmatic striker Mario Balotelli. Most of them were very probably not true.

He was, apparently allergic to certain kinds of grass. He was in the habit of paying for stranger’s petrol when filling up his supercar. He once used a passing youth player as a moving target when playing darts.

On the weekend of a Manchester derby at Old Trafford it was revealed that a firework had been set off in the bathroom of the player’s Cheshire mansion causing considerable damage and with the whole country finding this extremely amusing the Italian set about scoring against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Reds.

On doing so, he nonchalantly lifted up his short to reveal a now famous message written beneath.

The latest Premier League betting odds have the Blues down as favourites to win their fourth Premier League in five years come May. Why always City?

1) Klinsmann’s Dive

Jurgen the German had accrued quite a reputation in Britain for diving from several instances of flinging himself dramatically to the ground for his country at major championships.

On his debut for Spurs therefore in 1994, the likeable forward had a point to prove, first scoring with a superb header before executing a celebration concocted beforehand by his new team-mate Teddy Sheringham.

Klinsmann’s exaggerated fall to the Hillsborough turf that afternoon has gone down in the annals of English footballing history, a classic moment that changed a multitude of opinions at a stroke.

March 25, 2022

Premier League

By Stephen Tudor

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Stephen Tudor is a freelance football writer and sports enthusiast who only knows slightly less about the beautiful game than you do.

A contributor to FourFourTwo and Forbes, he is a Manchester City fan who was taken to Maine Road as a child because his grandad predicted they would one day be good.

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Les Ferdinand

Mark Schwarzer

Nwankwo Kanu

Michael Essien

Darren Bent

Carlos Tevez

James Ward-Prowse

Granit Xhaka

Pablo Zabaleta

Denis Irwin

Net Worth

Family

Godfather

Wins

Fabrizio Ravanelli

Marcus Rashford

Sergio Aguero

Eden Hazard

Danny Rose

Cristiano Ronaldo

Alan Smith

Paulo Wanchope

Odsonne Edouard

Mario Stanic

Net Worth

AxisStars

Family

Career Statistics

Net Worth

Who Is Sergio Perez's Wife?

How Tall Is Sergio Perez?

Rising Star

Sergio Perez F1 Results

Net Worth

Retirement

Personal Life

Records

Net Worth

Career Stats

Family Life

Civil War

Honours

Net Worth

Career

Post-retirement left-turn

Family

Music

10) Robbie Keane’s Cartwheel

9) Bullard Mocks The Gaffer

8) Shearer Keeps It Simple

7) Ravanelli Gets Shirty

6) Crouch Does The Robot

5) Adebayor On The Wind Up

4) Ketsbaia Goes Crazy

3) Fowler Fails To Tow The Line

2) Why Always Mario?

1) Klinsmann’s Dive