Raheem Sterling and the players whose goals have been worth the most Premier League points this season

Raheem Sterling's rise at Liverpool was so sudden and stark that after his near £50 million move to Manchester City, it seemed as though his career was stagnating a little under the pressure of that huge price tag.

He became frustrated at the lack of coaching he received from Manuel Pellegrini, and lost his way under the Chilean.

Pep Guardiola' hands on approach has paid dividends, with Sterling now City's joint-top scorer after another late winner, scored in the 95th minute against Southampton on Wednesday night.

But have Sterling's goals been more important than anyone else's?

We've crunch the numbers to find out whose goals have been worth the most points in Premier League games this season. That is, when you take away their goals, what difference in points does that make to their team? Here they are:

Four points won

14 players have gained their team four points this season, including Harry Kane (10 goals), Alvaro Morata (eight goals), Wayne Rooney and Alexandre Lacazette (seven goals each).

Most impressive, however, are the players that have won as many points with only a handful of goals. Christian Eriksen, Wilfried Zaha, Riyad Mahrez and Peter Crouch have each earned four points from just three goals, the latter doing so in a bit-part role from the bench for Stoke.

Meanwhile, Andrew Surman, Aaron Mooy, Jamaal Lascelles and Jeff Hendrick have gained their respective teams four points from just two goals, with each strike the difference between a draw and win. Those goals could be crucial come the end of the season.

Five points won

Two players have added five points for their teams this season, but in vastly different circumstances.

Mo Salah is racing away as the Premier League's top scorer, with 12 goals already for Liverpool, including a brace in the 3-0 win over Stoke this week. But take away those goals and his side would still have a 1-0 win; his most telling strikes came in draws against Burnley, Watford and Chelsea, and a 3-2 win at Leicester.

Level with the Egyptian in having gained his team five points is Burnley's Welsh forward Sam Vokes. He may only have three goals to his name, but each has been key.

His double at Chelsea earned three points on the opening day of the season, while he hit a late winner at Southampton earlier this month.

Six points won

In joint second place when it comes to points earned this season are two players you probably wouldn't have expected to see here: Oumar Niasse and Chris Wood.

Niasse has been tasked with the rather tough challenge of attempting to fill the void left by Romelu Lukaku's departure, and he has probably been one of the biggest positives in what has been a hugely underwhelming season so far at Goodison Park.

He has scored five goals and added some crucial points in the process, including a both goals in a 2-1 win over Bournemouth, the equaliser at Crystal Palace and the first in the comeback win over Watford.

Wood, meanwhile, has gone a long way to repaying the money Burnley invested in him in the summer, including the late leveller at Wembley against Spurs.

Nine points won

No player even comes close to challenging Raheem Sterling, though. With nine points gained from his nine goals, he is by far the Premier League's most important player in this regard.

Sterling has now hit late winners against Bournemouth, Huddersfield and Southampton, the final one of which sparked wild celebrations led by Pep Guardiola at the Etihad this week.

On top of those, he also scored the odd goal in the 3-2 win at West Brom and the equaliser at home to Everton in the only game City have come close to losing this season.

Most points won - Premier League 2017/18

He has made an exceptional start to the season and the significance of him as free-scoring City's highest goal-scorer should not be understated. In a team including Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus that is some achievement.

Last season, Diego Costa won more points than everyone else, but Sterling is well on his way to matching the 15 points earned by the former Chelsea man over the entirety of a campaign.

Could it be that Sterling is in the running for player of the year? It is early days, but as things stand he is certainly up there.