EPL 2017/18: 5 most improved players this season so far
In top-level sports, players need to up their game from one season to the next in order to remain an asset to their respective teams - something that holds true for football's top leagues in Europe too.
In the same way every campaign, certain players improve on their already lofty statures, while others lift their game drastically from the low ebbs of previous seasons that are now in the distant past.
The 2017/18 Premier League season has thrown up a cluster of players who have been performing much better than they were last term. Here is a look at five who have improved tremendously from their levels, emerging as important players for their respective sides.
5 - Alberto Moreno (Liverpool):
Liverpool's Spanish left-back Alberto Moreno had turned into a bit of a comic figure last season due to his tendency to make costly mistakes, which saw him ultimately lose his place in the team after a string of poor defensive displays.
There was widespread belief that Jurgen Klopp would sell him this past summer, something that did not come to fruition - instead the 25-year-old has worked hard and earned his place back in the side. He has started 11 of Liverpool's 15 league games to date and his recent ankle injury will come as an unfortunate blow for the Reds too.
One of the significant developments in Moreno's game is that he has curbed his attacking instincts considerably to become a more solid defender. In an interview last month, Moreno admitted as much.
He was quoted as saying, "Maybe in my first few years at Liverpool, I was always thinking: 'Attack, attack, attack.' Confidence is vital for a football but I'm [also] more settled, more focused. Now I'm like: 'First, let's defend, keep a clean sheet and then, let's go forward.'"
Although Liverpool's defending as a collective unit has been poor to say the least at times this season, Moreno has impressed and effectively silenced his critics to date.