Premier League

Premier League Team of the Week: Billy Gilmour, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, James Milner

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 10 March 2020

Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 29, including Billy Gilmour, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and James Milner.

Liverpool are now just two wins away from clinching the Premier League title, having bounced back to winning ways with a 2-1 triumph over Bournemouth at Anfield this weekend, coupled with Manchester City's derby defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Pep Guardiola's side fell to a 2-0 loss at the home of their local rivals, meaning that they remain 25 points behind the Reds and could even surrender their title before Liverpool play again should they lose against Arsenal and Burnley this week.

Leicester City moved closer to securing a top-four berth with a 4-0 drubbing of relegation-threatened Aston Villa, but the race behind the Foxes is hotting up with Chelsea, Man United, Sheffield United and Arsenal all winning while Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers were held to draws.

Newcastle United ended their drought with a much-needed 1-0 win away to Southampton, while Watford were brought back down to earth when they lost by the same scoreline at Crystal Palace.

Here, Sports Mole picks its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 29.

There were a few outstanding goalkeeping performances this weekend, and in any other week Dean Henderson and Bernd Leno may have easily earned the gloves in this XI. However, Alex McCarthy outshone both with a stunning display against Newcastle, despite ultimately ending up on the losing side. The 30-year-old made six fine saves - including one from the penalty spot - to keep the Saints in the game before a 79th-minute winner which he could do nothing about.

The headline result of the weekend saw United beat Man City for a third time this season, including completing the league double over their local rivals for the first time in a decade, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka's defensive display was a major reason why City offered little attacking threat. The 22-year-old came out on top in his duel with Raheem Sterling and ended the game with eight tackles - twice as many as anyone else on the pitch.

On the opposite flank, James Milner once again produced a professional performance when asked to play out of position in Andrew Robertson's absence, with the veteran's stunning goalline clearance every bit as important to Liverpool's victory as the goals from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.

Gary Cahill won nine aerial duels en route to another clean sheet with Crystal Palace against Watford to earn his place in the team, while Chris Basham joins him at the heart of the defence having also kept the opposition at bay in Sheffield United's win over Norwich.

It is an all-Chelsea midfield in front of them following their dominant performance against Everton, during which Billy Gilmour further enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a second man-of-the-match display in the space of a week. The Scot completed a game-high 74 passes with an accuracy of 92.5% and also ran more than any of his teammates to back up his midweek performance against Liverpool, which earned comparisons with Roy Keane and high praise from the man himself.

Ross Barkley scored in that match against Liverpool and provided two assists against his boyhood club Everton, while also boasting an incredible pass completion ratio of 98%. Mason Mount, meanwhile, got himself back on the scoresheet with a smart finish to open the scoring after only 14 minutes.

Chelsea's four goals against Everton are rewarded with four players in this XI, with Willian completing the quartet having helped himself to a goal and an assist. Pedro matched that tally and is unfortunate to miss out on a place in the team, while Olivier Giroud also deserves an honourable mention having continued his Chelsea revival with another goal.

Others worthy of a mention include Mane, Salah, Allan Saint-Maximin and Anthony Martial, but Leicester's own four-goal showing against Aston Villa on Monday night sees them complete this XI with Harvey Barnes and Jamie Vardy.

Barnes opened and closed the scoring, capitalising on a goalkeeping error for the first and providing a fine finish for his second, while Vardy came off the bench to end his goal drought with a second-half brace - the first of which came from the penalty spot as he beat Pepe Reina in a battle of mind games.