Stats are becoming more and more prevalent in football.

Once upon a time, the only statistics football fans took notice of were assists, goals and clean sheets.

If you’ve got plenty of assists, you’re a good midfielder.

If you’ve got plenty of goals, you’re a good striker.

If you’ve got plenty of clean sheets, you’re a good defender or goalkeeper.

But it’s nowhere near as simple as that.

Some players are far more important to their team that the statistics suggest.

And because statistics don’t show them at the top of the respective charts, it often means that fans don’t rate them as highly as they should.

Therefore, we’ve decided to give a shout out to 10 players we think are the most underrated in the Premier League right now.

After watching their performances closely throughout the campaign, we believe they’re not getting enough credit for their impressive displays.

There are no doubt plenty more players that are underrated but here is GiveMeSport’s list:

Wilfred Ndidi

Leicester’s signing of N’Golo Kante from Caen for £5 million in the summer of 2015 is probably one of the best pieces of business in Premier League history.

Kante helped Leicester achieve the incredible 5000/1 odds to win the title before he was then snapped up by Chelsea for £32 million.

Step forward Wilfred Ndidi.

Leicester signed him as a direct replacement for Kante in January 2017.

The 21-year-old has very big shoes to fill but Ndidi is attempting to do just that. In fact, he’s impressed so much that Leicester signed him on a six-year deal in the summer in an attempt to keep him at the club for as long as possible.

But don’t be surprised to see the defensive midfielder play at a higher level in the years to come.

He breaks up play superbly and is imperative to Claude Puel's side.

Nacho Monreal

Nacho Monreal has been at Arsenal for almost six years now and, despite being 32-years-old, is still the club’s first choice left-back.

The Spaniard probably doesn’t the credit he deserves because he’s not a marauding full-back. While the likes of Marcos Alonso and Andrew Robertson love to bomb forward and create chances, Monreal’s priority is being solid defensively.

And he does that very well on a consistent basis, rarely making defensive errors.

Alex Iwobi

Last season, the selection of Alex Iwobi in an underrated list would have been ridiculed. However, this season, the 22-year-old has been a revelation.

He’s offered Unai Emery’s side a new dimension when he’s started or - as we saw against Liverpool recently - off the bench.

To be fair, Iwobi has it all.

He’s quick, strong and has a football brain - all the attributes to make it at Arsenal.

Last summer, he signed a new five-year contract and looks set to have an exciting future at the Emirates.

One negative is that Iwobi needs to score more. Ten goals in 111 appearances to date simply isn’t enough for a winger.

Fernandinho

Since his arrival at Manchester City in 2013, Fernandinho hasn’t missed more than six matches in a single Premier League season.

Simply put, he is crucial.

While City’s attacking players get all the plaudits for the ridiculous amount of goals they score, Fernandinho holds it all together in midfield.

City paid £34 million for the Brazilian more than five years ago and he’s developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in world football.

And on his debut season managing Fernandinho, Pep Guardiola instantly realised just how important Fernandinho was.

“If a team has three Fernandinhos, they would be champions,” Guardiola said.

"We have one, but he is fast, he is intelligent, he is strong in the air, he can play several positions. When he sees the space he will run there immediately. When you need to make a correction, you just need one player to challenge, and he is there.”

Nathan Ake

Chelsea have regretted selling numerous players in the past - including Mohamed Sarah, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.

And Nathan Ake could become another one.

The defender made 17 appearances at Stamford Bridge but also spent loan spells at Reading, Watford and Bournemouth.

He was eventually signed permanently by Bournemouth in the summer of 2017 for £20 million and he’s played a key role in the Cherries’ impressive start to the 2018/19 campaign.

The Dutchman is already attracting interest from Tottenham and Manchester United but Chelsea have a buy-back clause in which they can re-sign the 23-year-old for £40 million.

Despite his diminutive size, Ake is performing impressively in central defence but can also operate at left-back or in midfield.

Georginio Wijnaldum

Liverpool have made an unbeaten start to their Premier League campaign and Wijnaldum has, without doubt, been one of their best players.

The Dutchman has appeared in every league match for Jurgen Klopp and has even been voted as the club’s fourth-choice captain by the players.

Playing as a ‘number 6,’ it’s Wijnaldum’s role to win the ball back and give it to the creative players.

This role often gets overlooked but Wijnaldum is superb at it.

The former Newcastle man has a pass completion rate of 90% this season and has helped start plenty of counter-attacks for Liverpool this season.

Wijnaldum will never show up in the assists or goals charts, but that’s not what’s expected of him in this Liverpool side.

Jordan Henderson

Wijnaldum’s Liverpool midfielder teammate is also underrated in our eyes.

Jordan Henderson gets a lot of stick from Liverpool fans - and rival fans - for his constant sideways and backward passing.

However, he’s Liverpool’s captain for a reason and is a really important cog in Klopp’s side.

When he does make an incisive forward pass it often gets overlooked, and his leadership is missed when he’s not in the starting XI.

After signing a long-term contract at the club in September, Klopp admitted he was delighted with Henderson committed his future to the Reds.

"Jordan is so important to us and we are very fortunate as a club to have this person commit to us as he has," said Klopp.

“He is our 'General' and I trust him completely."

It’s about time fans stopped blindly bashing him and start giving him some well-deserved credit.

Abdoulaye Doucoure

The midfielder is really starting to attract attention for his performances for Watford but he’s been impressing in the Premier League for more than two seasons now.

The Hornets signed Abdoulaye Doucoure from Ligue 1 side Rennes before immediately sending him on loan to Granada.

But the powerful Frenchman returned to Watford for the 2016/17 season and showed early signs of promise.

But last season, he was tremendous. He missed just one league match, scoring seven goals in the process and winning Watford’s Player of the Season.

And his displays this season show that the 25-year-old has the ability to make a big move in the coming years.

Harry Winks

English football fans are constantly accused of overhyping young British players but there’s little doubt that Harry Winks has a very bright ahead of him.

The 22-year-old has already played 70 times for Spurs - and is now an England international.

While it’s difficult for him to establish a regular first-team slot, he’s certainly impressed when he has played.

Winks never hides, always wanting the ball and keeps possession superbly. And he always looks forwards and tries to be positive.

His cameo performance against Manchester City earlier this month led Pep Guardiola to claim thats Winks had “changed the game” in just 20 minutes.

He really is that good.

Aymeric Laporte

After arriving for £57 million in January, Aymeric Laporte struggled for regular first-team football at Manchester City, competing with John Stones, Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi.

But this season, Laporte and Stones have formed a solid partnership with City conceding just four goals in 11 league matches this season.

And Laporte is the only City player that has played every minute of their league campaign so far.

According to Opta, he is averaging more passes per 90 minutes than any other Premier League player to have played more than 300 minutes with the exception of Chelsea midfielder Jorginho. He also ranks among the top five for passing accuracy, too, with a success rate of 92.2%.

What’s more, Laporte is unbeaten in every Premier League match he’s played for City since he’s signed, currently standing at 21.