Premier League Team of the Week - Haaland, Casemiro, Martinez

A goal-laden weekend of Premier League action has now been consigned to the record books, and Arsenal continue to lead the way at the top of the table despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton.

Manchester City cut the gap to the Gunners to two points with a 3-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, but Tottenham Hotspur fell further behind as they went down 2-1 to Newcastle United, who are up to fourth.

Neither Chelsea nor Manchester United could establish themselves in the top four after playing out a 1-1 draw, and Fulham are hovering around the European places after overcoming Leeds United 3-2.

Liverpool's mini-revival came to a halt with a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, while West Ham United took the spoils against Bournemouth on Monday evening with a 2-0 success.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa kicked off life after Steven Gerrard by thumping Brentford 4-0, Leicester City also put four unanswered goals past Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Everton ran out 3-0 winners over Crystal Palace.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week for the latest round of fixtures.

DEFENCE

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Only a few days on from producing a man-of-the-match performance at Brighton, Forest number one Dean Henderson was at it again in the triumph over Liverpool, making a whopping seven saves and keeping out a goal-bound header down low from Virgil van Dijk right at the death in another assured display.

Another member of our previous Team of the Week also forces his way in here, too, as Kieran Trippier showed his former club Tottenham exactly what they are missing. From getting back to clear Son Heung-min's parried effort off the line to making four tackles, three blocks and winning all seven of his ground duels, there was barely a blemish on Trippier's performance at his old home.

Over at Stamford Bridge, Lisandro Martinez showcased his importance to the Man United backline in another composed performance versus Chelsea, with the Argentine making five tackles and seven clearances to prevent the Blues from securing what would have been an undeserved victory.

Cherries manager Gary O'Neil will be demanding to see the handball rule book after his side were on the wrong end of two controversial calls on Monday, and Kurt Zouma took full advantage of one. Despite the ball clearly striking Thilo Kehrer's hand, Bournemouth failed to deal with the danger and allowed Zouma to direct a deft header into the back of the net, and the Frenchman also won all five of his aerial duels and posted an 89% pass accuracy from the back.

While Leicester new boy Wout Faes has taken most of the credit in the Foxes backline recently, Timothy Castagne's contributions at Molineux did not go unnoticed. The Belgian battled hard on the right to keep possession and set up Jamie Vardy, while he also made five clearances, three blocks and three tackles to help with the defensive effort.

MIDFIELD

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There was certainly a case to include two Fulham attackers in Willian and Andreas Pereira in our latest team of the week, but we have settled for just the latter in the end. The ex-Manchester United man added another two assists to his tally, with an on-the-money delivery for Aleksandar Mitrovic preceding a brilliant cross for Bobby Reid, and he should have added one for himself in a stellar playmaking performance.

On the left flank, Aston Villa were a team rejuvenated by the new manager bounce against Brentford, and Leon Bailey was at the heart of it. The Jamaican attacker made a darting run to meet Douglas Luiz's ball and crash home the opening goal before smartly taking the ball on his left and setting up Danny Ings in an explosive first-half display.

Speaking of reborn midfielders, Alex Iwobi was central to Everton's build-up play in their convincing win over Palace and ended the day with two assists to his name - producing some neat footwork before setting up Dominic Calvert-Lewin and coming up with a cheeky backheel to put the ball on a plate for Dwight McNeil to crash home.

Finally, Man United's new midfield enforcer Casemiro may not have come out on the winning side at Stamford Bridge, but he nevertheless demonstrated his world-class ability. The passion was evident when his last-gasp header hit the post and trickled over the line, while he also made five tackles and won three of his four aerial duels for the Red Devils.

ATTACK

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A penny for Gerrard's thoughts when Villa put three goals past Brentford before the 15-minute mark at the weekend, and Danny Ings bagged two of those strikes within seven minutes of each other. Firstly meeting Bailey's ball for a tap-in before crashing a confident penalty down the middle of the goal, the Englishman was a force to be reckoned with in the final third.

Of course, those at the Etihad know all about forces to be reckoned with in the final third, as Erling Braut Haaland was at it again. Brighton defender Adam Webster was no match physically for the towering Norwegian, who bullied the defender out of the way before slotting home, and his lethal penalty into the bottom corner made it 17 Premier League goals already for the Scandinavian sensation.

SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK

Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week (4-4-2): Henderson; Trippier, Martinez, Zouma, Castagne; Pereira, Iwobi, Casemiro, Bailey; Haaland, Ings