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Tottenham Hotspur rounded off gameweek nine with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Fulham on Monday night, moving two points clear at the top of the league.
Arsenal missed the chance to draw level with Spurs at the top, but they salvaged a 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, while Luton Town also recovered from two goals behind to get a point against Nottingham Forest, keeping them above the relegation zone.
Manchester City returned to winning ways with a 2-1 home victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, while Manchester United paid tribute to club hero Sir Bobby Charlton before defeating Sheffield United by the same scoreline on Saturday night at Bramall Lane.
Newcastle United blasted Crystal Palace 4-0 at St James’ Park, while Aston Villa also scored four goals as they defeated West Ham United 4-1 at home to move into the top five.
Brentford, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Liverpool all won against 10-man teams; 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 Merseyside bragging rights with a 2-0 victory over Everton in the Saturday lunchtime kickoff.
Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week for the most recent round of games.
Few goalkeepers stood out from the crowd in gameweek nine, but Tottenham’s new shot-stopper Guglielmo Vicario gets the nod after comfortably holding 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 season.
Kieran Trippier, dubbed “one of the best right-backs in the world” by Eddie Howe, had another brilliant afternoon in the black and white of Newcastle, wreaking havoc down the right side with Jacob Murphy and Sean Longstaff.
Trippier setup Murphy for the opening goal against Crystal Palace, his sixth assist of the season, while also having more touches (112), crosses (nine), long balls (four), and the joint-most key passes (two) than any other player while also keeping a clean sheet.
Captain Virgil van Dijk, a towering presence at the heart of Liverpool’s defense, was instrumental in the Reds keeping one of only four Premier League clean sheets in gameweek nine.
The towering Dutchman won at least four aerial duels more than any other player in the Merseyside derby, while also winning 100% of his ground duels, making 10 ball recoveries, five clearances, and boasting a 90% passing accuracy as Jurgen Klopp’s side took maximum points at Anfield.
While Christian Romeo of Tottenham Hotspur deserves an honorable mention, Harry Maguire just pips him to the post in defense this week after his impressive man-of-the-match performance against former club Sheffield United, winning five aerial duels, six ground duels, 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.
Jacob Murphy returned Howe’s faith with a brilliant man-of-the-match performance against Crystal Palace in his first Premier League start of the season.
Murphy set up efforts by Anthony Gordon and Callum Wilson with two Kevin De Bruyne-esque passes either side of half time after superbly thumping the opening goal into the far corner.
The winger also worked hard at the opposite end, assisting the Magpies with five recoveries and two clearances.
From one man-of-the-match performance to the next, Aston Villa lynchpin Douglas Luiz had an impact at both ends of the pitch in their resounding victory over West Ham.
The Brazilian has made Villa Park his playground, scoring seven goals in his previous six home games, including a brace against West Ham on Saturday.
Luiz’s first-half goal from the edge of the box was followed by a composed penalty kick after the break, and he also produced three vital passes, nine ball recoveries, three tackles, and two clearances to help Unai Emery’s men extend their winning league streak at Villa Park to 11 games.
Summer signing James Maddison, who shone once again in the win over Fulham, has been instrumental in Tottenham’s stunning start under Ange Postecoglou.
In addition to scoring his third goal of the season, the playmaker created the joint-most chances (four), had more shots (three), more touches in the opponent’s box (nine), and registered the most pressures (40) than any other player, while also winning eight ground duels and boasting an 86% passing accuracy.
Despite his performance in attack for Brentford against Burnley, Bryan Mbeumo completes our latest TOTW midfield four.
With a pinpoint pass, the Frenchman set up Yoane Wissa for the opening goal before curling a sweet left-footed strike from outside the box into the top corner, while also having the most shots (four), the joint-most key passes (three), and contributing with four ground duels in a brilliant all-around performance for Thomas Frank’s side.
Only Mohamed Salah (35) and Erling Haaland (27) 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
Chris Wood of Nottingham Forest takes up the central role in our front three, taking 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).
Last but not least, Tottenham’s Son Heung-min is embracing his starring position under Postecoglou, combining with Maddison to great effect once again in their win against Fulham, teeing up the latter with a brilliantly weighted pass after curling a stunning opening into the top corner.
In a straightforward win for the league leaders, the South Korean also delivered four vital passes, five ball recoveries, and four ground duels.
