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Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week

Sports Mole picks out the best 11 players from the 22nd round of Premier League fixtures.

There are still plenty of points to play for, but we could end up looking back on this weekend as a pivotal round of matches as far as the Premier League title is concerned.

Two points separated Chelsea and Manchester City heading into the 22nd round of fixtures, but the West Londoners, who thumped Swansea City 5-0 at the Liberty Stadium, have stretched that advantage to five points.

Champions City were defeated 2-0 at home by Arsenal, who sit behind Southampton and Manchester United in the standings thanks to their victories away at Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers respectively.

Elsewhere, Liverpool's recent upturn in fortunes continued with a 2-0 win away at Aston Villa, while West Ham United went one better at home to Hull City.

Towards the bottom, Crystal Palace overturned a two-goal deficit to claim all three points at Burnley, while Leicester City slumped to a 1-0 loss at the hands of Stoke City.

Sunderland were also beaten, with the Wearsiders going down 2-1 at Tottenham Hotspur. The only 0-0 draw of the weekend was played out at Goodison Park.

Here, Sports Mole has looked back over all 10 encounters to select the 11 players that made the biggest impression on us.

Rob Green (Queens Park Rangers)
He may have ended up on the losing side at Loftus Road, but QPR would have lost by an even greater margin had it not been for their goalkeeper. His stop to deny a Radamel Falcao header was the highlight.

Nacho Monreal (Arsenal)
The Spaniard has not always been reliable in Arsenal colours, but it was a real disciplined performance that he put in against City. He won the penalty for the opening goal and went on to make numerous challenges.
Florin Gardos (Southampton)
Although still a novice as far as the Premier League is concerned, the Romanian looked a seasoned professional against the Magpies. His reading of danger saw him thwart numerous attacks.
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)
The centre-back adds some much-needed composure and calmness to Arsenal's ranks. Not only did he carry out his defensive duties to the letter, he also kept possession.
Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)
With Chelsea in the ascendancy for most of the contest at the Liberty Stadium, Ivanovic had plenty of freedom down the right flank. He certainly didn't need a second invitation and went on to assist his side's fifth goal.

Eljero Elia (Southampton)
In just his second game in England, Elia showed that he could well be a shrewd addition by Ronald Koeman. Some quick movement resulted in a brace of goals, while he never shirked his defensive responsibilities.
Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur)
Where would Spurs be without the Dane? He's become a real talisman this season, pulling strings from an advanced midfield position. To round off a great performance, he scored the winning goal in the closing stages.
Santi Cazorla (Arsenal)
Not only did Cazorla score from the penalty spot and assist his team's other goal in Manchester, he produced the type of display that we didn't know he was capable of. For most of the contest he made some important challenges and helped to nullify the threat posed by his fellow Spaniard David Silva.
Oscar (Chelsea)
Used to seeing his teammates hog the headlines, the Brazilian got in on the act in South Wales. He showed a clinical touch on two occasions to go alongside a highly creative showing.

Olivier Giroud (Arsenal)
With the way that Arsenal lined up at the Etihad, Giroud knew that he was going to have his work cut out against an expensive City defence. His response was to run himself into the ground for the cause, hassling the likes of Vincent Kompany. The Frenchman certainly deserved his goal.
Diego Costa (Chelsea)
There is not much left to say about Costa following his start to life with Chelsea. The frontman was at his deadly best in front of goal against Swansea, scoring twice and he quite easily could have had more.

Numpty of the week

Chris Foy and Adam Nunn: Now, we at Sports Mole are well aware that referees and their assistants have an extremely tough job - perhaps the hardest in football. Yet, as former ref Dermot Gallagher told Sky Sports News on Monday morning, you "don't defend the indefensible".

With Sunderland goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon up for a corner in stoppage time, hosting Spurs counter-attacked. Jan Vertonghen was played through by Paulinho and the Belgian duly rolled the ball into an unguarded net to make it 3-1. Yet, his celebrations were cut short by the linesman's flag, much to the amazement of all those at White Hart Lane.

The replays confirmed that when Paulinho had made the pass, Vetonghen was three or four yards inside his half. Video evidence has since suggested that linesman Adam Nunn told referee Chris Foy that with Pantilimon stranded, there was only one covering Sunderland defender. That was irrelevant, though, as Vertonghen had not crossed the halfway line. It certainly wasn't the finest moment for the officials involved.

Goal of the week

Marouane Fellaini - QPR vs. Manchester United: In terms of individuals, Sebastian Larsson scored a goal of high quality, but we've plumped for Fellaini. Coming off the bench, the big Belgian was involved earlier in the neat passing move which he ended when he controlled Antonio Valencia's cross from the right flank, before slamming the ball into the roof of Green's net with a powerful half-volley.

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Christian Eriksen of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring his team's second goal with Harry Kane (L) and Danny Rose during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland at White Hart Lane on January 17, 2015
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool16123137162139
2Chelsea17105237191835
3Arsenal1796234161833
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest179442319431
5Bournemouth178452721628
6Aston Villa178452626028
7Manchester CityMan City178362925427
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle177552721626
9Fulham176742422225
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1772839251423
12Brentford177283232023
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd176472122-122
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham175572230-820
15Everton163761421-716
16Crystal Palace173771826-816
17Leicester CityLeicester173592137-1614
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1733112740-1312
19Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
20Southampton1713131136-256


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