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At the end of every Premier League round of fixtures, BBC football pundit Garth Crooks is on hand to give you his Team of the Week.
But who has he picked this time? Take a look and then pick your own team below. As ever, Garth also has his say on the game’s big talking points in the Crooks of the Matter.
Keylor Navas (Nottingham Forest)
With 10 minutes left to play, Manchester City should have had this game at Forest done and dusted. Instead they succumbed to a late equaliser and left the City Ground with one point in what was a lacklustre performance.
Much of the credit for Forest gaining a very valuable point must go to Navas. The Costa Rica international goalkeeper used everything at his disposal to keep City at bay. His fingertip save from Ilkay Gundogan’s free-kick was tremendous while the stop from Aymeric Laporte’s header, at point-blank range with his nether-regions, was nothing short of heroic if not extremely painful. Navas has a top-class pedigree and Forest are lucky to have him.
Tim Ream (Fulham)
Centre-back Ream had a decent World Cup and, at the age of 35, he wasn’t expected to go. However, since his return to the Premier League, the United States international has been playing out of his skin.
Another three points and a clean sheet for Fulham against Brighton signals just how far the Cottagers have come under the direction of Marco Silva. Fulham currently sit sixth in the table – four places above their closest rivals Chelsea and having spent a fraction of the money in comparison.
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
He’s back and much to the relief of manager Jurgen Klopp. Van Dijk has been out with a hamstring injury for six weeks and Liverpool desperately felt his absence.
Not only did they beat Newcastle at St James’ Park on Van Dijk’s return, they also kept a clean sheet. The question now is can Liverpool put a significant run together that could take them back into the top four? With Van Dijk back in the team they are certainly capable of it.
Jan Bednarek (Southampton)
What a defensive display by Southampton at Stamford Bridge. For a team that has kept one clean sheet in 20 games, they defended against Chelsea as if their lives depended on it. I could have selected any one of their back five against the Blues, they were that impressive, but Bednarek was the standout defender for me.
The Poland international has had a difficult season, but put his body on the line on more than one occasion, organised his defence brilliantly and weathered everything Chelsea could throw at him. Would I give interim manager Ruben Selles the Southampton job permanently? Well, he can’t do any worse than Nathan Jones now, can he?
Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal)
Zinchenko was involved in almost every Arsenal move that resulted in a chance – he was literally popping up everywhere. Arsenal are having an extraordinary season and so is the Ukrainian.
Since he arrived at the Emirates his performances have been outstanding. Zinchenko had an opportunity to use his lethal left foot earlier in the game but, for some reason, chose not to. However, when he did let fly, the ball arrowed past Emiliano Martinez in the Villa goal and set up the Gunners for a famous victory. It was, without doubt, Arsenal’s best away performance this season.
Emerson Royal (Tottenham)
He has never been one of my favourite players but Royal made my selection after his performance against Manchester City, having done an excellent marking job on Jack Grealish. His game is one you would call gritty and not pretty.
He is an old-fashioned enforcer but can play when forced to. Royal also knows how to score a goal too. His effort against West Ham, who looked a team lacking direction, was a striker’s finish and left Lukasz Fabianski grounded. The victory takes Tottenham back into the top four while their manager Antonio Conte recovers from surgery in Italy. I wonder if he will come back.
James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
If anyone is going to pull Southampton out of their current situation it’s Ward-Prowse. Championship football is out of the question for the likes of him, he is far too good for that level. The Saints showed real grit against Chelsea and Ward-Prowse his quality.
So Chelsea have spent over £600m in the transfer window and had to turn to a 20-year-old unknown in David Datro Fofana to provide them with the goals they desperately need. Is this a joke? I said last week I wasn’t sure if owner Todd Boehly knew what he was doing. I’m now asking the same question of manager Graham Potter.
The apprehension in the air at Stamford Bridge against Southampton was penetrating. We all know it can’t go on like this.
Jorginho (Arsenal)
I wasn’t entirely sure about the merits of his signing. Arsenal’s Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka are having a good season and Jorginho seemed to have lost whatever it was he had at Chelsea. However, I saw signs against Manchester City in midweek that he was getting the taste for the big games again.
His performance against Aston Villa was biting, while his style of play complements the artistry of Martin Odegaard. The Italy international’s 93rd-minute strike may have gone down as an own goal, but he won’t give a monkey’s about that.
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Arsenal are not just looking like champions, they are playing like champions. Having lost to City in midweek – a defeat Tottenham and Chelsea fans enjoyed immensely – and come back from behind, not once but twice, away from home is the stuff of champions. The man at the heart of these quite outstanding performances is Saka.
Like Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne, I’m running out of superlatives for this player – his equaliser against Villa was top class. He then went on to terrorise their defence, while the entire home team targeted Saka with the rough stuff and Villa fans booed him. Yet none of it made the slightest difference to what was a superb performance by one of the best players in the country.
Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)
A few weeks ago I suggested Nunez might be suffering from stage fright especially when playing at Anfield. However, the Uruguayan is looking more like a real threat these days and much more comfortable in front of goal.
His finish against Newcastle was emphatic and I now see a player growing in confidence. There was a moment against Newcastle when Nunez might have squared the ball to Mo Salah, and would have done six months ago, but chose to shoot and forced an excellent save from Martin Dubravka. These are all tell-tale signs of a striker starting to come of age.
Marcus Rashford (Man Utd)
Rashford is playing the best football of his career. He is scoring goals for fun and taking Manchester United places they have not been for years.
Meanwhile, Premier League referee Stuart Attwell should be relieved of his duties. He allowed Manchester United’s Marcel Sabitzer to remain on the pitch after the worst tackle I have seen in years and without so much as a caution.
What made matters worse, Attwell then booked Leicester City’s Nampalys Mendy, having made not one, but two, perfectly legitimate tackles. Of course it is the referee’s opinion that ultimately matters, but if a top-class official cannot distinguish between a ‘career-threatening tackle’ and two perfectly legitimate challenges, then that referee has no busy officiating in the top league in the world.
Top professional players deserve referees who know the difference between a good and a very bad tackle.
The Crooks of the Matter
So Mikel Arteta thinks the top teams who play on Wednesday nights shouldn’t be forced to play on Saturday at midday. Traditionally, that slot is reserved by the television schedulers for the more attractive fixture of the day. TV companies are only paying football clubs a considerable fortune for the privilege of watching players perform.
The Arsenal manager demands the Premier League gives clubs who play on a Wednesday the same courtesy as those playing in European competitions when they have a midweek game and generally play 24 hours later on a Sunday. The only difference is Arsenal have failed to qualify for European football, were not playing in a different time zone, but in north London against Manchester City who had to fulfil a similar fixture three days later themselves. City do play in European competitions and not a titter from them.
Perhaps Arteta’s argument would have more validity if his team had lost to Aston Villa, a game which also turned out to be a classic. It provided his team with an opportunity to bounce back from their midweek defeat against City and reinstate themselves at the top of the table. Arteta could continue with his crusade and return a proportion of the vast amount of money his club receives for fulfilling that fixture back to the television companies. But I can’t see that happening anytime soon, can you?
Pick your XI from our list and share with your friends.
