The midway point of the Premier League season is edging ever closer, and Arsenal's lead at the summit has been cut back down to five points following their 0-0 draw with Newcastle United.
Manchester City closed the gap on the Gunners by overcoming a dogged Chelsea side 1-0, and Manchester United retain their grip on fourth after a thumping 3-0 success over Bournemouth.
Tottenham Hotspur remain on the coat-tails of the Red Devils after seeing off Crystal Palace 4-0, while Liverpool have lost more ground in the top-four race after being comfortably dispatched 3-1 by Brentford.
Fulham's continental charge gathered pace with a 1-0 triumph over Leicester City, and boos rang out around Goodison Park as Brighton & Hove Albion crushed Everton 4-1.
Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers played out a 1-1 West Midlands derby draw under their new managers, while Leeds United and West Ham United shared the spoils in a 2-2 stalemate, and Nottingham Forest edged Southampton 1-0 in a crucial basement battle.
Here, Sports Mole selects its Team of the Week for the latest round of Premier League fixtures.
DEFENCE
© Reuters
Bernd Leno has already garnered plenty of continental experience with Arsenal, and the German shot-stopper aided Fulham's push for an elusive European spot with a steadfast showing against Leicester, making six saves to keep the Foxes at bay.
Finding a consistent formula on the right-hand side has been a thankless task for Tottenham manager Antonio Conte, but his faith in Matt Doherty paid dividends during the showdown with Palace, as the Irishman produced a composed finish into the bottom corner and made four tackles in a pivotal victory.
With Chelsea producing a barrage of attacks on the Man City rearguard on Thursday night, Pep Guardiola thanked his lucky stars that John Stones was in inspired form, as the England centre-back completed 98% of his passes, made two tackles and won all four of his aerial battles on the night.
Speaking of inspired defenders holding off wave after wave of attacks, Newcastle were unwavering in their efforts against Arsenal, with particular mention to Fabian Schar, who contributed four clearances, two tackles and two interceptions to the staunch rearguard action.
It has certainly been a week of 'S' defenders in the opening stages of 2023. Stones, Schar, and now Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw. The England international enjoyed his brief stint in the heart of defence and retained some of his central knowledge against Bournemouth, darting into the penalty area to find the far corner of the net before producing the pass of the day for Bruno Fernandes to set up Marcus Rashford.
MIDFIELD
© Reuters
Selecting just one of Bryan Mbeumo or Yoane Wissa for this week's team certainly had us racking our brains, and while the latter's contributions against Liverpool should not go unnoticed, Mbeumo will be giving Ibrahima Konate nightmares for days - his corner found the French centre-back to turn home into his own net before nudging him off the ball to score Brentford's third and leave Jurgen Klopp seething.
Another midfielder donning the red colours to good effect showcased his world-class qualities at Old Trafford, as Casemiro produced an exquisite volley to open the scoring for Man United against Bournemouth before creating one big chance for Anthony Martial that the Frenchman arguably should have done better with.
Leaving a Brighton player out of this XI would have been an act of folly, but creator-in-chief Pascal Gross was a shoo-in for selection, as the German calmly chipped Jordan Pickford after Idrissa Gueye's error and made six key passes during a phenomenal Merseyside showing.
Gross's teammate Kaoru Mitoma was an honourable mention on the left-hand side, but the man who kicked off the goal-fest at Elland Road gets our vote here, as Leeds starlet Wilfried Gnonto found the corner brilliantly for his first Premier League goal and completed three of his four dribble attempts in a display that had plenty of tongues wagging.
ATTACK
© Reuters
The way that Evan Ferguson easily shrugged off William Saliba - one of the best performing defenders in the league this season - to score against Arsenal had people talking about the new Brighton kid on the block, and the 18-year-old followed that up with an even better performance against Everton, tapping home into the roof of the net and laying off Solly March in another promising display.
Ferguson may very well identify Harry Kane as a striker that he is seeking to emulate, and the Tottenham man proved exactly why at Selhurst Park. After heading home at the back stick and finding the far corner with a brilliant strike across goal, Kane recorded his 197th and 198th strikes in 300 Premier League games - a better record than the great Alan Shearer at that point in his career.
SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK
Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week (4-4-2): Leno; Doherty, Stones, Schar, Shaw; Mbeumo, Casemiro, Gross, Gnonto; Ferguson, Kane
