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Nottingham Forest, Leeds, Southampton and Leicester all suffered significant losses and are all represented in the worst Premier League XI of the weekend based on match ratings from WhoScored.
GK: Ilian Meslier (Leeds) – 5.72
What are we going to do with you, Mr. Meslier? Two weeks in a row you’ve been here. Well, conceding nine goals in two matches will do that, won’t it?
Meslier’s performance wasn’t helped by the fact Sam Johnstone was excellent in the Crystal Palace goal – although the algorithm definitely does not take that into account. The Frenchman managed two saves, but conceded over double that amount in what quickly became an embarrassing result when Leeds probably should have been out of sight by half-time.
RB: Seamus Coleman (Everton) – 6.15
Everton lost 2-0 at Man Utd on Saturday and there is no shame in that, even if the Red Devils have been poor in the Premier League since winning the Carabao Cup.
Four Everton starters had worse games than Seamus Coleman – who was the worst right-back in the Premier League this weekend after his catastrophic error led to Anthony Martial’s goal, which sealed the points for United.
CB: Armel Bella-Kotchap (Southampton) – 5.67
Southampton’s defence was dismantled by a wonderful Man City team, who welcomed back Erling Haaland after he missed the 4-1 demolition of Liverpool.
German defender Armel Bella-Kotchap showed a lot of promise at the beginning of the season but Saturday’s 4-1 home defeat to the champions was a day to forget for him and the Saints.
Bella-Kotchap lost his only aerial duel, had zero tackles and interceptions, and couldn’t contain Haaland. There is no judgement here.
CB: Pascal Struijk (Leeds) – 5.66
The only two Leeds players in this team were also here last week, when they had a lot more inclusions after the 4-1 defeat at Arsenal. They played better that day against a superior team and conceded fewer goals, but the shambles at St Mary’s and Leicester’s loss to Bournemouth have saved the Whites’ blushes a bit here.
Losing 75 per cent of your aerial duels will always contribute to a poor match rating and that is exactly what Pascal Struijk did against Palace.
READ MORE: Hodgson gives Palace escape velocity but Leeds deep in trouble after abject collapse
LB: Kyle Walker-Peters (Southampton) – 5.16
Kyle Walker-Peters conceded a penalty, made 73 per cent of his attempted passes, attempted zero tackles, had one clearance, and no interceptions.
The former Tottenham defender has always been very reliable for Southampton but will need to shake that performance off with a huge home match against Crystal Palace coming up.
CM: Jonjo Shelvey (Nottingham Forest) – 5.27
Nottingham Forest fans are still trying to work out what Jonjo Shelvey was thinking as he assisted Bertrand Traore for Aston Villa’s first goal in their 2-0 win on Saturday.
That huge error absolutely battered Shelvey’s rating, who didn’t help himself with his 59 per cent pass accuracy. The former Newcastle man didn’t show much defensively either as Forest extended their winless run to nine games.
CM: Harrison Reed (Fulham) – 5.53
Apparently scoring an own goal will have a pretty detrimental effect on your match rating. Who knew?
Scoring in your own net is never nice, but when it’s the only goal of the game it’s pretty bloody horrible.
AM: James Maddison (Leicester) – 5.84
“I am very low at the moment,” James Maddison said after his error allowed Philip Billing to score the only goal of the game in Leicester’s home defeat to relegation rivals Bournemouth.
Maddison took full responsibility but was forced to deactivate his Twitter account after the match. Poor fella.
RW: Theo Walcott (Southampton) – 5.91
The third and final player making his second consecutive worst XI of the weekend, Theo Walcott played where he made his name, but could not make an impact against City starting on the right wing.
The former Arsenal forward had a dismal 17 touches – the least out of any player named in Ruben Selles’ starting XI – and made a gargantuan nine accurate passes. Walcott spent more time defending than attacking and was pretty bad at both.
Defeat leaves Southampton bottom of the Premier League.
ST: Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest) – 5.78
You are always going to struggle as a team if your lone striker fails to register a single shot, and that is exactly what Brennan Johnson did in Forest’s 2-0 loss at Villa.
Johnson attempted six passes, making four of them, which is very concerning. He was also offside four times and committed three fouls. Looking at these stats alone, 5.78 seems very generous.
LW: Harvey Barnes (Leicester) – 5.92
It was a weekend to forget for the Foxes with two of their best players disappointing in the costly loss against Gary O’Neil’s side.
Harvey Barnes was substituted in the 71st minute after failing to make an impact. He had 26 touches, which was double the amount Jamie Vardy – the only Leicester starter with less – managed. Completing 70 per cent of your passes is also less than ideal, as is only having one effort at goal and failing to hit the target with said effort. Barnes also failed to complete his one attempted dribble. It is safe to say it was a bad day at the office for him and Leicester.
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