Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week for gameweek 18, including Cody Gakpo, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Matheus Cunha.
After the festive round of Premier League fixtures, relentless title favourites Liverpool were walking in a winter wonderland, coming from behind to sink Leicester City 3-1 and maintain their insurmountable lead at the top of the table.
The Reds capitalised on Chelsea suffering a surprise 2-1 home loss to West London rivals Fulham on Boxing Day, although Arsenal have reduced the deficit ever so slightly thanks to their nervy 1-0 beating of Ipswich Town.
Manchester City are fearing for their Champions League position let alone any wafer-thin title hopes after drawing 1-1 with Everton, although their arch-nemesis Manchester United fared worse in the West Midlands, going down 2-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The latter’s former boss Nuno Espirito Santo continues to take Nottingham Forest to new heights and oversaw a 1-0 win over faltering Tottenham Hotspur, while Newcastle United enhanced their own European credentials by slaying Aston Villa 3-0.
Lower down the division, West Ham United gave new Southampton boss Ivan Juric a rude awakening with a 1-0 win on the South Coast, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace failed to breach each other’s backlines, and nor did Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford in Friday’s goalless stalemate.
It was not quite the famed Boxing Day of 1963 in terms of entertainment, but 11 performers still stood out above the rest, and here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week for gameweek 18.
DEFENCE
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Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz may have hogged the Stamford Bridge spotlight between them during Fulham’s shock beating of Chelsea, but Marco Silva‘s side would not have rejoiced in victory were it not for Bernd Leno, who made seven crucial saves including a remarkable reaction stop from Christopher Nkunku right at the death.
The German shot-stopper is one of four rearguard members to have shone against a traditional ‘Big Six’ club on Boxing Day, a quartet that also comprises Wolves defender Matt Doherty, who occupied a more central role than he is usually accustomed to against Man United. However, the 32-year-old seamlessly slotted into Vitor Pereira‘s system, making five interceptions, winning five aerial duels and registering six accurate long passes.
Forest powerhouse Nikola Milenkovic must accept being the bridesmaid to Murillo’s bride on this occasion, as the Brazilian just edges out his central partner on account of his magnificent display versus Spurs, where he put in 10 clearances, four tackles, three blocks and also completed both of his dribble attempts. For all of the signings the Garibaldi have made since their return to the top flight in 2022, there is an argument to put him down as the best.
A couple of Murillo‘s defensive metrics were shared by Everton rock James Tarkowski during the Boxing Day battle with Man City; the Englishman also produced a staggering 10 clearances and three blocks, in addition to three tackles and two interceptions to earn the Toffees yet another high-profile point.
MIDFIELD
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Never heralded for his attacking prowess during his Manchester United days, West Ham’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka has come on leaps and bounds in that regard this season. Against Southampton, the right-back created three chances and completed three successful dribbles, while also flaunting his well-documented defensive strengths, winning all seven of his ground duels.
Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber can count himself unfortunate to lose out to Wan-Bissaka, but fellow Gunner Myles Lewis-Skelly warrants a place on our left flank. The 18-year-old had not even been born when Arsenal played their first game at the Emirates, but he has taken to the North London turf like a duck to water and shone against Ipswich, winning eight of his nine ground duels, creating two chances and misplacing just one of his 59 passes.
Picking out star performers in Bournemouth’s dull affair with Palace was a tall order, but Eagles fulcrum Jefferson Lerma ran the show for the visitors in midfield, putting in three tackles and two interceptions while also spraying long passes for fun, finding his man with four of five such attempts.
In Alexis Mac Allister‘s first 14 Premier League games of the season, the Liverpool man did not register a single goal contribution. In the Argentine’s last two Premier League matches, he has been directly involved in three efforts, following up his strike against Spurs with assists for Cody Gakpo and Curtis Jones to engineer the fightback against Leicester.
ATTACK
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Briefly mentioned when waxing lyrical about Mac Allister’s contributions, delightful Dutchman Cody Gakpo restored parity for the Reds at the perfect time on Boxing Day, curling home a peach of an equaliser on the stroke of half time before laying on the assist for Mohamed Salah‘s 100th home goal in the Premier League.
Newcastle’s rejuvenated South American Joelinton has some way to go if he to match the Egyptian’s century, but he moved one step closer with a near carbon copy of Gakpo’s fine curler against Aston Villa, prior to which he teed up Anthony Gordon for a quickfire opener at St James’ Park.
Finishing with another barnstorming Brazilian, Wolves hotshot Matheus Cunha is still finding new ways to wow the Molineux crowd as he opened the scoring against Man United straight from a corner. After that collector’s item, the 25-year-old picked the right pass for Hwang Hee-chan to rubber-stamp the victory in added time, making it easy to see why Arsenal have reportedly added him to their transfer shortlist.
Sports Mole’s Premier League Team of the Week (3-4-3): Leno; Doherty, Tarkowski, Murillo; Wan-Bissaka, Mac Allister, Lerma, Lewis-Skelly; Joelinton, Cunha, Gakpo
