Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week, including Kevin De Bruyne, Rasmus Hojlund and Gabriel Magalhaes.
Spread out over two weekends, the latest batch of Premier League fixtures served up a total of 30 goals, four of which went to Liverpool as they moved five points clear at the top of the table with a demolition job of Bournemouth.
Three of the Reds’ adversaries have a five-point gap to make up to the leaders, including Manchester City, who were aided by a returning hero in a dramatic 3-2 beating of Newcastle United at St James’ Park.
Arsenal moved back onto the podium courtesy of a 5-0 battering of Crystal Palace, leapfrogging Aston Villa after the Lions could only manage a goalless draw away to Everton.
The blockbuster battle between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford ended with a share of the spoils in a 2-2 stalemate, but Chelsea continued their Stamford Bridge purple patch with a 1-0 West London derby triumph over Fulham.
West Ham United are firmly in the European mix despite being held to a 2-2 draw in a bad-tempered clash with Sheffield United, and the script wrote itself as Brentford sunk Nottingham Forest 3-2.
The closing Monday night battle between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion ended without the net rippling once, and 10 days prior to that deadlock, newly-promoted Burnley and Luton Town shook hands on a point in a 1-1 draw.
Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week for the latest round of fixtures.
DEFENCE
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An honourable mention must go to Newcastle’s stand-in goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, whose efforts against Man City were very nearly rewarded, but with seven saves at Turf Moor, Luton’s eye-catching shot-stopper Thomas Kaminski did his prospects of a possible marquee move no harm whatsoever.
Truly coming into his own in the Ange Postecoglou system, Tottenham right-back Pedro Porro took on the role of creator-in-chief against Man United, providing the assist for Richarlison‘s leveller – one of five chances he created on the day – as well as chipping in defensively with four tackles and three interceptions in a stellar all-around display.
Porro was not the only right-back to cut the mustard at Old Trafford, as Diogo Dalot – shifted over to the left for the purposes of this gameweek – also played a fundamental role in the Red Devils’ hard-earned point. All eight of Dalot’s ground duels were won by the Portuguese – making six tackles and two successful dribbles – while he also cleared a Rodrigo Bentancur header off the line in a near-flawless defensive performance.
Before Arsenal’s attackers finally rediscovered their shooting boots, the ever-threatening Gabriel Magalhaes took it upon himself to spark the goal rush against Crystal Palace, towering above Chris Richards to head home an early opener before also directing a second header from a set piece into the path of Dean Henderson, forcing the Eagles shot-stopper into an unfortunate own goal.
Speaking of centre-backs demonstrating their aerial prowess from set pieces, Brentford fan favourite Ben Mee did exactly that in the Bees’ long-overdue success versus Forest, making a darting run to the near post to direct a bullet header into the net – one of the five aerial duels he won on the night – while five clearances, two blocks, two tackles and one interception were also pivotal to Brentford’s morale-boosting victory.
MIDFIELD
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With Mohamed Salah still technically representing Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations and now dealing with a muscular injury, the onus is on Jurgen Klopp‘s less revered attackers to come up with the goods, and Diogo Jota did exactly that against Bournemouth. As well as a thumping finish at the near post and a slick strike after an initial miskick, Jota also slipped in Darwin Nunez to take his tally to two goals and three assists from his last five games in Liverpool colours.
As impressive as Jota’s contributions were at the Vitality Stadium, the Portuguese’s exploits unsurprisingly did not make as many headlines as Kevin De Bruyne‘s heroic return for Man City against Newcastle. Making his first Premier League appearance since the opening weekend of the season, De Bruyne expertly guided the ball into the bottom corner before finding Oscar Bobb for the winner with an exquisite long ball over the top, seamlessly slotting back into the City lineup like he never left.
While De Bruyne’s strike at St James’ Park was a peach, the Belgian misses out on the goal-of-the-gameweek award, which belongs to Nottingham Forest’s Danilo by virtue of his wonderful volley to open the scoring against Brentford. Mark Flekken could do little but slide across his line as the ball nestled into the bottom corner, and Danilo also created one big chance for his teammates in a competent performance, which deserved more than a narrow defeat.
Returning to players who came off the bench to steal the spotlight in the second half, a warm-weather training camp in Dubai did Arsenal’s offensive talents the world of good, and none more so than Gabriel Martinelli. Despite being overlooked for a place in the first XI, the Brazilian dusted off his best scoring boots to net two near-identical strikes in the Palace pummelling, opening up his body to curl a sweet strike into the bottom corner on more than one occasion.
ATTACK
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After going 14 gameweeks without an elusive first goal in the Premier League, Manchester United hitman Rasmus Hojlund now boasts strikes in back-to-back Premier League fixtures, having followed up his Aston Villa winner with a ferocious effort into the roof of the net versus Spurs. Not only that, but the Danish protege also added his first PL assist for Marcus Rashford in his finest English top-flight performance to date.
The jury may still be out on Darwin Nunez, especially given his catalogue of misses in the New Year alone, but the Uruguayan was far too hot to handle at the Vitality Stadium. After a calm first-time finish into the back of the Bournemouth net, Nunez timed his run to perfection before instinctively poking a second into the net via the post, thereby becoming the first Premier League player to hit 10 goals and 10 assists in all tournaments in 2023-24.
Sports Mole’s Premier League Team of the Week (4-4-2): Kaminski; Porro, Mee, Gabriel, Dalot; Jota, De Bruyne, Danilo, Martinelli; Nunez, Hojlund
