Ranking the 10 best players in Ligue 1

While most of the continental curiosity is aimed at Europe's highest profile leagues, France's top flight has enjoyed a compelling start to a campaign littered with shocks and surprises.

Four-time defending champ Paris Saint-Germain sits third amid an erratic season, Monaco appears an attack-minded juggernaut, and Nice sits atop the table under Lucien Favre. Some of the league's best players have had terms marred by erratic performances and injury, while as many unsuspected talents have emerged as some of the league's best.

Weighing both current form and pedigree, here's a list of Ligue 1's top 10 players this season.

Despite only playing half of Nice's league matches, Mario Balotelli has a half-dozen goals and is poised to top his best haul of 14 with AC Milan in 2013-14. Under Favre, the enigmatic Italian has appeared a player reborn on the pitch, and is noticeably quiet off of it.

Considering Balotelli bagged a lone goal last season on loan with the Rossoneri in 20 Serie A appearances, his emergence with a dynamic Nice side is nothing short of shocking.

If his brace against fellow south coast side Marseille in a 3-2 victory was a return to prominence, his two-goal display 10 days later in a 4-0 drubbing of Monaco was his best performance in years.

It's difficult to fathom just how poor Montpellier would be without Algerian international midfielder Ryad Boudebouz.

Like Wissam Ben Yedder was for Toulouse last season, Boudebouz, 26, continues to shine in near-obscurity without half the plaudits of others of a similar caliber. When striker Casimir Ninga ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in mid-October, Montpellier became a favourite for relegation. Instead, the versatile Boudebouz has buoyed the south coast side with six goals and two assists

His two-goal performance in a 3-1 victory over Marseille on the other side of the international break was one of the league's most outstanding displays this season.

There's a reason Juventus reportedly has its eyes set on Lyon midfielder Corentin Tolisso after the skillful 22-year-old midfielder rejected a move to Napoli in the summer.

A central midfielder by trade, Tolisso is the latest of a long line of players to progress from Les Gones' famed academy. With appearances in all 12 of Lyon's matches this year, Tolisso has a trio of goals and two assists, though his virtues don't necessarily translate to the scoresheet.

Arguably Bruno Genesio's most well-rounded player, Tolisso was the star when Lyon travelled to Turin for a smash-and-grab result when the midfielder's late header was a deserved goal after a dominant display in a 1-1 draw with Juventus. That may explain the Old Lady's interest in the player.

Let's face it, PSG would have won the league last season with a blindfolded chair playing on the left.

That's not to say that Angel Di Maria isn't vital to the capital club's successes. On the contrary. The Argentine's five assists this campaign are second only to Jean Michael Seri's six, and his performance in a 3-0 drubbing of Metz in August was arguably the best by a winger in Europe this season.

Imagine for a moment Edinson Cavani up top with the pin-point passing of Di Maria and PSG's might be worse than three points adrift of Nice.

Monaco has scored 36 goals in 12 matches, the highest haul during a dozen fixtures since Saint-Etienne had 44 in 1969-71, and Leonardo Jardim's lot has spread those tallies among a young squad.

On paper, left-footed winger Thomas Lemar's four goals and an assist may not appear game-changing, but the recent France debutant gives the principality side a lethal blend of width on either flank and is dazzling in possession.

With three seasons and change left on his deal with Monaco, the club is poised to make a massive profit on the €4 million needed to pry him away from Caen's youth side a year ago.

Since the start of the 2015-16 season, only Di Maria (22) and Boudebouz (13) have more assists than Seri's 12.

A traditional central midfielder, the seven-time capped Ivorian's display in a 2-0 victory over Lyon was his best of the season thus far, as the surprise table-topper benefits from the pint-sized playmaker's penchant for incisive passes.

Like Monaco duo Fabinho and Bernardo Silva, the box-to-box Seri has emerged as one of Ligue 1's best since a move from Portugal, and if the 25-year-old refines his defensive positioning, he could merit a marquee move like last year's Aiglons darling Nampalys Mendy.

Having vaulted above Thiago Motta and Grzegorz Krychowiak on Unai Emery's depth chart, Adrien Rabiot has emerged as one of the capital club's most consistent players.

France boss Didier Deschamps has taken notice, handing the midfielder a deserved maiden senior cap in a stalemate against the Ivory Coast.

Typically employed in a midfield three alongside Blaise Matuidi and Marco Verratti, Rabiot has displayed a poise uncommon for a 21-year-old. Pegged for stardom since he was a 13-year-old in Manchester City's academy, the big difference this season has been the elimination of daft errors and a general nonchalance that had previously plagued his game.

If there's one stat that proves Rabiot's value, it's this one: Since 2013-14, PSG has won 80 percent of the matches Rabiot has started, and just 67 percent without.

Able to ply his trade both in a central midfield hole and across the back, Monaco stud Fabinho has carved a niche as the club's most important player this season as the principality side aim for a first Ligue 1 title since 2000.

Fabinho has bagged a team-best 11 goals for Jardim's boys since the start of 2015-16 in all competitions and is perfect from the spot, balancing his penchant for ball-stopping and possession with an interest in running forward.

Eighteen times in all comps this campaign the Brazilian has played the full 90 minutes, and with a talent for tough tackles, it's little surprise that both Manchester United and Barcelona have reportedly expressed an interest in the 23-year-old four-time capped Canarinho.

Edinson Cavani is not Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The sooner PSG supporters come to terms with that, the sooner they will begin to appreciate the Uruguayan international's goal-scoring exploits.

Never known for a high conversion rate, Cavani's scoring by volume has come under question this campaign without the towering Swede. That complaint is worth little when his returns are examined.

He leads Ligue 1 in shots per outing (4.1) by nearly an attempt per over Alexandre Lacazatte and Martin Braithwaite and in goals with 11.

Pair those numbers with the fact that Unai Emery's lot have yet to drop points in the league when the 29-year-old scores, and Cavani is the club's most vital asset among a squad littered with decorated names.

Based purely on his performances this season, Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette is Ligue 1's best player. Is he the most talented? No. Though, one thing that is not a point of contention is Les Gones' reliance on the local-born academy product.

Lacazette's 10 league goals account for half of Lyon's output this season and the ten-time capped international has scored the match-winner in four of the club's six league victories.

His 1.25 goals per match is the league standard and Bruno Genesio's side has won only three times since 2013-14 when Lacazette isn't in the lineup. Pretty definitive that.