Jesse Lingard reiterated his position as one of the Premier League's most underrated players when he hit the net this weekend.

The Manchester United forward's deflected strike turned out to be the winning goal at West Brom on Sunday, as he continued his impressive recent form.

With four goals in his last five games, Lingard will now be confident of securing a place at the World Cup with England next summer, as he continues to prove his doubters wrong.

But is he the Premier League's most underrated player?

We gathered the thoughts of the Mirror Football writers to discover who the Premier League's ultimate unrecognised talents are...

Andy Dunn - Fernandinho (Manchester City)

Fernandinho regularly runs the show in the middle of the park for City (
Image:
Laurence Griffiths)

One of the veterans amidst the youthful exuberance and brilliance of this Manchester City team, you suspect his name would be one of the first on Pep Guardiola’s premium team-sheet.

A Premier League winner before Pep arrived, Fernandinho, 32, has been a fundamental part of Guardiola’s revolution.

In his fifth season at the Etihad, his consistency has been outstanding, with only his disciplinary record interrupting his reliable excellence from box to box.

In every sense, he is certainly prepared to do the dirty work, 46 yellow cards and four reds in four-and-a-half campaigns is testament to that.

Many people wonder how City would cope without Kevin de Bruyne or David Silva or Leroy Sane but bet one of the players Guardiola would fear losing most is Fernandinho.

John Cross - Oriol Romeu (Southampton)

Romeu pulls the strings for Southampton (
Image:
Getty Images Europe)

It’s pointless going for a player at a big, top six club as they always get chosen even if they are not the main star.

I want to go left field and pick a player who impresses me every time I see him and constantly goes under the radar (even if Southampton fans will jump on me now saying they’ve been raving about him since before he was even born).

He’s basically got the holding role down to a fine art. Would slot into any team, always so consistent and reliable.

And, yes, Southampton are not having a great campaign and maybe Romeu was better last season.

But he epitomises under rated. And under valued and under the radar.

David Maddock - Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)

Firmino celebrates his strike against Bournemouth this weekend (
Image:
AFP)

The Ringo Starr of Liverpool's Fab Four, in that the other three are always acclaimed and he is ignored, yet his talent is sublime, his quality of technique and movement unmatched not only in at Anfield, but in the Premier League, bar perhaps Kevin De Bruyne.

He is a genuine Samba Star, without the star status.

David Anderson - Ederson (Manchester City)

Ederson's double save against Manchester United was a memorable moment (
Image:
AFP)

Like all accolades this season, I think it should go to a Manchester City player.

It could easily be Fernandinho because of the way he holds City together in the centre of the park.

But instead I’m going for one of the lowest-profile members of their record-breaking side in Ederson.

Despite costing a world record fee for a goalkeeper in pounds sterling, Ederson has shrugged off any pressure that might have come with his hefty £35million pricetag to slot in between the sticks with the minimum of fuss.

That position was a real talking point for City last season after Pep Guardiola ditched Joe Hart and unsuccessfully tried to replace him with Claudio Bravo.

Now it’s no longer an issue because Ederson is so solid.

He has made only one competitive error I can recall against Shakhtar Donetsk in that Champions League dead rubber and he is the sweeper keeper Pep loves.

He completed more passes than Delle Ali and Christian Eriksen on Saturday in a sign of how important he is to City in keeping the ball moving quickly.

The South American is comfortable operating as an auxiliary centre-half and helps maintain the pressure on opponents with his excellent distribution.

At 24, he’s a baby in goalkeeping terms and has only really been playing senior football for two years.

He can only improve and he could be as durable for City as Petr Cech has been for Chelsea and now Arsenal.

James Nursey - Marc Albrighton (Leicester)

Albrighton is one of the first names on Leicester's teamsheet (
Image:
AFP)

The Leicester winger, 28, was signed on a free from Aston Villa in May 2014 and has a played a key role in City's successes since.

His return from injury was important in their Great Escape and he then played in every game in their title success in 2015/2016.

He also did not look out of place in the Champions League last season as he scored two goals as Leicester reached the quarter-finals.

Albrighton works hard up and down the flank and is capable of playing on either side.

He has an excellent early delivery which has yielded numerous assists for the likes of Jamie Vardy yet the former England U21 international has surprisingly never won a full call-up.

He seems hugely under-rated to me - even new Foxes boss Claude Puel didn't pick him to start with after taking charge in October but the team's fortunes soon picked up when he was rightly restored to the starting line up.

Neil Moxley - Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)

Azpilicueta has adapted well to Conte's workings at Chelsea (
Image:
Getty Images Europe)

Top-notch performer in a number of different positions. Has served every manager he has played for with distinction and few, if any, ever get the better of him.

Rarely injured, he’s unfussy, unbelievably strong, industrious and has, in ‘Dave’ one of the best nicknames in the Premier League.

Even Pep Guardiola could find a spot for him in Manchester City’s team at the moment. And there aren’t too many players you could say that about.

Mike Walters - Lewis Dunk (Brighton)

Dunk has been instrumental to Brighton's positive start to the season (
Image:
Action Images via Reuters)

Often the most under-rated players are the water carriers, the tireless ferrets who do a lot of the unglamorous work in midfield or shoring up at the back.

They are also in the supporting cast who never seem to get a mention of possible international call-ups, no matter how consistent their performances.

Huddersfield captain Jonathan Hogg springs to mind, and Tom Cleverley's rebirth at Watford has not received adequate acclaim beyond Vicarage Road this season.

But I'm going for Brighton rock Lewis Dunk, who has made a sound transition from Championship to Premier League. For physical presence, durability and an essential ingredient among the Seagulls' six clean sheets this season, he's proof that you don't have to go out and spend squillions in fashionable continental boutiques when there's home-grown talent on your doorstep.

Neil McLeman - Oriol Romeu (Southampton)

It's a second vote for Romeu (
Image:
AFP)

The Spanish midfielder has played for Barcelona and Chelsea - and is good enough to play at that level.

He is in the middle of everything good about Southampton as he anchors the midfield and spreads the play from in front of his defence.

Matt Lawless - Ederson (Manchester City)

Ederson is a crucial part of how Manchester City play (
Image:
Action Images via Reuters)

When the Brazilian first joined Manchester City, one wondered whether Pep Guardiola had dropped another keeper clanger.

The £34million summer signing made an inglorious start with two errors in a 2-0 pre-season defeat by Manchester United. But after a nasty boot from Sadio Mane, he has been absolutely brilliant.

David de Gea grabs the plaudits for being the best in the Premier League but the 24-year-old is definitely a contender for that crown.

His distribution is first-class, he has produced some magnificent saves, commands his area and has amassed 10 clean sheets in all competitions. Credit where it’s due in a team that covers itself in glory at the opposite end.

Good teams always have good keepers.

Joe Mewis - James Milner (Liverpool)

Milner has forever been considered one of the Premier League's most underrated (
Image:
AFP)

The patron saint of underrated Premier League players.

For more than a decade now, Milner has proved his worth in the top flight, rarely hogging the limelight, but always turning in consistent performances across the park.

His value at Anfield was underlined by his switch to left-back for the majority of last season, as his intelligence and mentality shone through, while he is still able to dictate play through the middle, offering assists and a set-piece threat. While he has seen his role reduced this season, expect Jurgen Klopp to call on 31-year-old as the Reds' fixtures wrack up over the second half of the season.

The former Leeds man is a manager's dream and you'd imagine that Gareth Southgate would be more than willing to welcome him back into the England set-up next summer.

Liam Prenderville - Idrissa Gueye (Everton)

Gueye is instrumental to what Everton do (
Image:
Getty Images Europe)

The kind of player fans may only really notice him when he isn't there.

Despite a disastrous season with Aston Villa, Idrissa Gueye was Everton's first signing of the Ronald Koeman era.

Director of Football Steve Walsh had initially wanted him at Leicester ahead of N'Golo Kante before he moved on to Villa Park, too.

He may not be at that level but Gueye is arguably the most important player in the Everton side.

Gueye missed just five Premier League games last term - because of suspension and the African Cup of Nations - and has started every single match so far this season.

His output isn't judged on goals and assists with the Senegalese's stats for tackling and distance covered among the best in the division.

Aaron Flanagan - Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

Aguero has not received the credit he has deserved (
Image:
Getty Images Europe)

On the face of it, he's one of the Premier League's best, but Sergio Aguero doesn't get remotely as much praise for his achievements as he should.

How can someone on Aguero's level have gone all these years in the Premier League without being voted into the PFA Team of the Year? That alone proves that he remains underrated.

He's already scored 13 goals this season in a team where he is not a guaranteed starter and only plays a full 90 minutes one in every four matches.

Yet some people think he's past it. He's 29 years old, not 36.

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He is Manchester City's Mr. Reliable and has been for the best part of a decade now.

If anything, his lack of off-field personality - he keeps himself to himself, he's never papped out and about and nobody knows where he eats and drinks - has held him back somewhat. Even Mario Balotelli has more of a legacy than him.

City fans will remember him as the greatest striker in their club's history, but he probably wouldn't get in most people's top five all-time Premier League front men. And that, frankly, is scandalous.

Mark Jones - Heung-Min Son (Tottenham)

Son has been a regularly on the scoresheet for Spurs this season (
Image:
Clive Rose)

The notion of the South Korean forward being underrated certainly doesn't exist at Spurs, where he's a crucial part of Mauricio Pochettino's plans, but the wider football public still seem to be too much in awe of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen to fully appreciate just how important he is to the club.

Son scored 21 goals in all competitions last season and has eight so far in this campaign, including four in his last five.

Spurs haven't hogged as many headlines this season as they have in the last couple, but in the former Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen man they've got themselves a key performer who deserves more credit.

Alex Richards - Fernandinho (Manchester City)

Fernandinho gets his second vote from the Mirror Football writers (
Image:
Getty Images Europe)

In a word, Fernandinho.

While all Manchester City's attacking stars are being praised for their brilliance, and John Stones & Nicolas Otamendi are both lauded for vast improvement, the Brazilian continues to quietly go about his businesss.

The 32-year-old sits in City's midfield and allows his teammates to go out and express themselves. But make no mistake, he's brilliant in his own right.

Quick to read danger and respond to it, he's the firefighter in the all-conquering City XI, positionally astute and strong in the tackle.

But he can also play. The likes of De Bruyne and David Silva trust him with the ball, take up dangerous positions because they know he'll find them, and he is often at the heart of things when City start attacks.

And, on those occasions when attacks break down, he's the get out ball, the man they go back to to retain possession and start again.

"Fernandinho is much, much better," said Pep Guardiola, when asked if he would get in the current City side. That says it all.

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