Another weekend of Premier League football with plenty of goals, 33 in total, is done and dusted and Tottenham Hotspur rounded off gameweek nine with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Fulham on Monday night to move two points clear at the top of the table.
North London rivals Arsenal missed the chance to move level with Spurs at the summit, but they managed to rescue a 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and Luton Town also came from two goals down to salvage a point at Nottingham Forest to remain above the relegation zone.
Reigning champions Manchester City returned to winning ways with a 2-1 home success over Brighton & Hove Albion, while Manchester United paid tribute to the passing of club icon Sir Bobby Charlton before beating Sheffield United by the same scoreline at Bramall Lane on Saturday night.
Newcastle United claimed the biggest victory of gameweek nine as they thumped Crystal Palace 4-0 at St James' Park, while Aston Villa also netted four as they put West Ham United to the sword 4-1 on home soil to climb into the top five.
Brentford, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool all came out on top against teams reduced to 10 men; while the Bees cruised to a 3-0 home win over Burnley and Wolves came from behind to beat Bournemouth 2-1 at the Vitality Stadium, Liverpool secured the bragging rights on Merseyside with a 2-0 victory over Everton in the Saturday lunchtime kickoff.
Here, Sports Mole picks its Premier League Team of the Week for the latest round of fixtures.
DEFENCE
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Few goalkeepers truly stood out from the crowd in gameweek nine but Tottenham's new shot-stopper Guglielmo Vicario gets the nod this time around after comfortably keeping Fulham at bay, making three saves, including a fantastic fingertip save to deny an early Joao Palhinha header, registering 100% run-outs and keeping his fourth clean sheet of the season; the Italian now boasts an 80% save ratio which is the best of any Premier League goalkeeper so far this term.
Labelled as one of the best right-backs in world football by Eddie Howe, Kieran Trippier enjoyed another brilliant afternoon in the black and white of Newcastle, causing havoc down the right flank with Jacob Murphy and Sean Longstaff. Trippier picked out Murphy with a splendid first-time pass for the opening goal against Crystal Palace – his sixth assist of the campaign – while he also had more touches (112), registered more crosses (nine), more long balls (four) and the joint-most key passes (two) than any other player on top of keeping a clean sheet.
A colossal figure at the heart of Liverpool's defence, captain Virgil van Dijk was key to helping the Reds keep one of only four Premier League clean sheets in gameweek nine. The towering Dutchman won a total of 10 aerial duels in the Merseyside derby, at least four more than any other player, while he also won 100% of his ground duels, made 10 ball recoveries, five clearances and boasted a 90% passing accuracy as Jurgen Klopp's side claimed maximum points at Anfield.
While Spurs' Christian Romeo deserves an honourable mention, Harry Maguire just pips him to the post in defence this week following his impressive man-of-the-match display against former club Sheffield United, winning five aerial duels, six ground duels as well as making three clearances and three blocks while boasting the most touches (106) of any player as the Red Devils claimed all three points in South Yorkshire.
MIDFIELD
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Jacob Murphy repaid the faith shown by Howe with an inspired man-of-the-match performance on his first Premier League start of the season against Crystal Palace. After expertly lifting the opening goal into the far corner, Murphy set up strikes netted by Anthony Gordon and Callum Wilson with two Kevin De Bruyne-esque passes either side of half time. The winger also put in the hard graft at the other end with five recoveries and two clearances to help the Magpies keep a clean sheet.
From one man-of-the-match display to another and Aston Villa lynchpin Douglas Luiz had an effect at both ends of the pitch in their commanding win over West Ham. The Brazilian has certainly made Villa Park his playground having scored seven goals in his last six games on home soil, including a brace versus the Hammers on Saturday. Luiz's first-half opener from the edge of the area was followed by a composed penalty kick after the break, while he also contributed with three key passes, nine ball recoveries, three tackles and two clearances to help Unai Emery's men extend their winning league run at Villa Park to 11 matches.
One man who has been integral to Tottenham's remarkable start under Ange Postecoglou has been summer signing James Maddison who excelled once again in the win over Fulham. As well as slotting home his third goal of the season, the playmaker created the joint-most chances (four) had more shots (three), more touches in the opponents box (nine) and registered more pressures (40) than any other player, as well as winning eight ground duels and boasting an 86% passing accuracy en route to scooping the MOTM award.
For the purposes of our latest TOTW, Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo completes out midfield quartet despite shining for the Bees in attack against Burnley. The Frenchman set up Yoane Wissa for the opening goal with a pinpoint pass before curling a sweet left-footed strike from outside the box into the top corner, while he also had the most shots (four), registered the joint-most key passes (three) and contributed with four ground duels in a brilliant all-round display for Thomas Frank's side.
ATTACK
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Only Mohamed Salah (35) and Erling Haaland have contributed to more Premier League goals than Aston Villa talisman Ollie Watkins (27) since Emery's arrival at the club, with the in-form Englishman becoming the first player in Europe's top-five leagues to register five goals and assists this season after contributing with one apiece against West Ham; a perfectly-weighted flick-on for Luiz to fire home the opener was followed by a powerful strike of his own into the roof of the net.
Taking up the central role in our front three is Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood, who took advantage of Taiwo Awoniyi's absence to slot home two goals with aplomb, albeit to no avail in a score draw with Luton, with a deft chip to open the scoring followed by a glancing header expertly directed into the far corner; the New Zealander also had more shots (seven), won more ground duels (10) and aerial duels (eight) that any other player at the City Ground.
Last but certainly not least, Tottenham's Son Heung-min is relishing his starring role under Postecoglou and combined with Maddison to great effect once again in their victory over Fulham, teeing up the latter with a perfectly-weighted pass after curling a classy opener into the top corner. The South Korean also contributed with four key passes, five ball recoveries and four ground duels in a routine win for the league leaders.
SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK
Sports Mole's Premier League team of the week (3-4-3): Vicario; Trippier, Van Dijk, Maguire; Murphy, Luiz, Maddison, Mbeumo; Watkins, Wood, Son
