The Tottenham – Liverpool matchup (2:1) had entirely opposite consequences for the leaders of both teams: if Spurs’ Aaron Lennon managed to boost his FTBL rating, the same cannot be said of Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard.

Gerrard dropped 19 rating points in the evening and has seen his overall FTBL rating pull back to 162.01 points, even though he has retained his 2nd position in our ranking of English midfielders. But his second spot in the FTBL world ranking of midfielders has been lost to Barcelona’s Argentine superstar Lionel Messi (178.41 points), just as we predicted.

Meanwhile, Spurs midfielder Lennon picked up 10.67 rating points to move within reach of Manchester United’s Paul Scholes (74.02 points). Lennon will face a plank of 13 rating points in his next appearance. Chelsea’s Frank Lampard retained his top spot in our world and English Premier League rankings thanks to the Blues 2:1 win over Hull City.