Leicester City midfielder Riyad Mahrez has been ranked the second best player in Europe, according to fantasy football game www.oulala.com which bases it’s detailed scoring matrix on official Opta performance statistics. 

The Algerian international sits behind just Barcelona’s Neymar, however stands alone as the top rated player in the Premier League after the opening 12 games.

In terms of midfield players in Europe, nobody touches Mahrez. Real Madrid’s Luka Modric is the closest sitting 28 points behind him. 

In the Premier League, Mahrez leads the pack with 426 points. Jamie Vardy (422), Jack Butland (415) and Dimitri Payet (398) all trail the 24-year-old. 

Mahrez’s stats are certainly impressive this season. The Algerian is the joint top goalscoring midfielder in Europe with seven goals, equaling Marco Reus of Borussia Dortmund, Nice’s Hatem Ben Arfa and Yunus Malli of Mainz.

The five assists that the 24-year-old has provided this season has been bettered by just two other midfielders in Europe, Premier League duo Mesut Özil (10) and David Silva (6).

Mahrez leads the Premier League for completed take-ons this season with a total of 39, an average of 3.5 per game. His closest challengers are last season’s Player of the Year Eden Hazard and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha who have each completed 36 take-ons. 

With almost a third of the season gone, Leicester sit just one point off joint Premier League leaders Manchester City and Arsenal in third spot.

Recent reports have linked the in-form Mahrez to big money moves away from Leicester City. Rumoured clubs interested include Manchester United and Arsenal.

Currently ruling Europe, is Riyad Mahrez good enough to play in the Champions League?