The latest wave of the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold in the Premier League in gameweek 17, with three of the midweek matches being called off due to outbreaks at various clubs.
Brentford vs. Manchester United, Burnley vs. Watford and Leicester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur were all called off at late notice, but the seven games which did take place still provided plenty of action - particularly at the top of the table.
Leaders Manchester City sent out their most emphatic statement yet with a 7-0 obliteration of Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium, before Liverpool kept pace by battling past Newcastle United 3-1 at Anfield.
However, Chelsea lost more ground on the top two as their blip continued, with a depleted Everton side holding out for a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal now complete the top four after beating West Ham United 2-0 to leapfrog the Irons in the table, while Wolverhampton Wanderers climbed up to eighth courtesy of their 1-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Dean Smith experienced an unhappy reunion with Aston Villa as his former club ran out 2-0 winners over Norwich City at Carrow Road, while Crystal Palace and Southampton played out an entertaining 2-2 draw.
Here, Sports Mole selects its Team of the Week for gameweek 17 of the Premier League season.
DEFENCE
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The biggest surprise of the midweek fixtures was an out-of-form and understrength Everton side holding Chelsea to a draw at Stamford Bridge, with Rafael Benitez denting the title challenge of one of his former clubs in the process.
The result was in no small part down to the heroics of Jordan Pickford in goal, with the England number one making nine saves in total, including a fine one with his feet to deny Mason Mount when one on one.
Pickford's fellow Merseysider and England international Trent Alexander-Arnold put on another star showing with a man-of-the-match display against Newcastle, capping his performance with a thunderous strike from range to wrap up the three points.
The Liverpool full-back was by no means alone in getting on the scoresheet from defence this week, though, with our centre-back pairing of John Stones and Romain Saiss also finding the back of the net.
Saiss scored the only goal of the game to hand Wolves their win at Brighton, while Stones hit number six in Man City's rout and beats off competition from Nathan Ake - who got the seventh and final goal - to a centre-back spot.
Unsurprisingly, Man City's seven-star showing means they dominate this week's team, and the second of their six selections comes at left-back, with Oleksandr Zinchenko holding off Kyle Walker-Peters for a place in the team.
MIDFIELD
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A lack of a recognised centre-forward did not hamper Man City's goalscoring exploits in any way on Tuesday night, and as such they boast four of the five midfielders in this week's team, with all of them pitching in with goal contributions.
Kevin De Bruyne was arguably the star of the show, and certainly scored the pick of the bunch with a thunderous strike which almost lifted the goal out of the ground to make it 5-0.
That was the Belgian's second goal of the game as he began to show signs of returning to his best form, although the attacking talent ahead of him in this team forces him into a slightly deeper position for us.
Phil Foden started that match as the false nine and notched up a goal and an assist, a return Riyad Mahrez matched to beat record-equalling Mohamed Salah to a place on the right wing.
Jack Grealish also got in on the act with his first headed Premier League goal, and in truth it could have been a full house of Man City midfielders with Ilkay Gundogan coming off the bench to chalk up two assists.
However, Jacob Ramsey breaks the Man City monopoly courtesy of his fine solo effort to help Aston Villa to victory at Norwich.
ATTACK
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While Ramsey's goal was all about his own run and finish, Ollie Watkins was officially credited with the assist, and he later added a goal of his own to wrap up all three points for Steven Gerrard's side.
That return earns the Aston Villa man the centre-forward role in this team, beating Arsenal's stand-in skipper Alexandre Lacazette and Liverpool's Diogo Jota to spearhead the attack.
Lacazette missed a penalty but otherwise led the line well and helped himself to an assist, while Jota's equaliser against Newcastle means that now only teammate Salah has scored more league goals than him this season.
SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK
Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Saiss, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Ramsey; Mahrez, Foden, Grealish; Watkins
Barney Corkhill
