Premier League

Premier League Team of the Week - Joshua King, Raul Jimenez, Aleksandar Mitrovic

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 31 January 2019

PL Team of the Week - King, Jimenez, Mitrovic

Sports Mole picks its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 24, including four players apiece from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bournemouth.

Gameweek 24 of the Premier League season saw players around the country pay tribute to Cardiff City striker Emiliano Sala and pilot David Ibbotson, who went missing last week.

The midweek round of fixtures threw up surprises galore as four of the top six dropped points to add another twist to the title and top-four races.

Liverpool ultimately extended their lead at the summit to five points, although they were unable to fully capitalise on Manchester City's shock defeat at Newcastle United when held to a draw at home to Leicester City a day later.

For all the credit Newcastle and Leicester deserve for those performances, arguably the best display of the round came from Bournemouth, who ran riot over Chelsea with a 4-0 win at Dean Court.

Manchester United needed a rousing late comeback to rescue a draw with Burnley at Old Trafford as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's 100% start as manager came to an end.

Tottenham Hotspur also needed two late goals to come from behind and beat Watford, while Arsenal matched that 2-1 scoreline against Cardiff on an emotional evening at the Emirates Stadium.

Comebacks were the order of the gameweek with Fulham recovering from 2-0 down to beat Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2, breathing new life into their battle to avoid relegation.

Wolverhampton Wanderers were also big winners against West Ham United, while 10-man Everton piled more misery on Huddersfield and Southampton were held to a draw at home to Crystal Palace.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 24.

Remarkably, this week's team is made up of players from only four different clubs, with both Bournemouth and Wolves boasting four players apiece.

Two of those Bournemouth players come in a defence which kept the likes of Premier League debutant Gonzalo Higuain and Eden Hazard quiet, with Artur Boruc making seven saves to keep his clean sheet intact and Steve Cook the pick of the defenders in front of him.

Wolves also have two defensive players in the team; Matt Doherty's marauding runs down the right flank were a constant threat against West Ham, while Romain Saiss not only got on the scoresheet, but also won five aerial duels en route to the clean sheet.

Leicester's Harry Maguire deserves an honourable mention for his display in keeping Liverpool at bay - and scoring the equaliser, of course - but his teammate Ben Chilwell does make the XI having assisted that goal and made a string of important defensive contributions to keep Liverpool from building on their early lead.

Calum Chambers could also play in defence, but he has been featuring as a defensive midfielder for Fulham this season and that is where he starts in this team following his goalscoring contribution against Brighton at Craven Cottage, kicking off the second-half comeback.

Ruben Neves was in contention for the XI, but he was outshone by his compatriot and clubmate Joao Moutinho, who laid on two assists in the 3-0 win over West Ham to also beat Gylfi Sigurdsson to a place in the team.

The star attacking duo for Bournemouth were David Brooks and Joshua King, who dealt most of the damage to Chelsea in their rout. Brooks registered a goal and an assist, while King went one better with two goals and an assist to produce the standout individual performance of the gameweek.

It is a team full of goals this week, with both of the front two also helping themselves to braces. Raul Jimenez's double against West Ham wrapped up a dominant win for Wolves, while Aleksandar Mitrovic beats Glenn Murray - who scored twice in the same game - to a place in the XI by virtue of his two goals having contributed to a winning performance.

Honourable mentions must also go to the likes of Matt Ritchie, Salomon Rondon and the rest of the Newcastle team, who pulled off such a major shock in beating Man City for the first time since 2005.