Football: The top twenty players of 1998
The Independent's team of football writers select their best Premiershi p performers
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21 Rio Ferdinand (West Ham)
22 Muzzy Izzet (Leicester City)
23 Gustavo Poyet (Chelsea)
24 Lee Hendrie (Aston Villa)
25 Nigel Martyn (Leeds United)
26 Emile Heskey (Leicester City)
27 Roberto Di Matteo (Chelsea)
28 Paulo Wanchope (Derby County)
29 Paul Scholes (Manchester Utd)
30 Lee Bowyer (Leeds United)
31 Martin Keown (Arsenal)
32 Ian Wright (West Ham United)
33 Andy Townsend (Middlesbrough)
34 Steve Guppy (Leicester City)
35 Nigel Winterburn (Arsenal)
36 Neil Redfearn (Charlton)
37 Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)
38 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
(Leeds United)
39 Harry Kewell (Leeds United)
40 Michael Hughes (Wimbledon)
LAST YEAR'S TOP 20
1 Dennis Bergkamp (Arsenal)
2 Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea)
3 Peter Schmeichel (Manchester Utd)
4 Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
5 John Hartson (West Ham United)
6 David Beckham (Manchester United)
7 Nigel Martyn (Leeds United)
8 Roy Keane (Manchester United)
9 Patrick Vieira (Arsenal)
10 Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
11 Sol Campbell (Tottenham Hotspur)
12 Alan Shearer (Newcastle United)
13 Matt Elliott (Leicester City)
14 Dennis Wise (Chelsea)
15 Nicky Butt (Manchester United)
16 Kevin Gallacher (Blackburn Rovers)
17 Chris Sutton (Blackburn Rovers)
18 Ian Wright (Arsenal)
19 Steve McManaman (Liverpool)
20 Franck Leboeuf (Chelsea)
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