SM
Liverpool vs. Villa: 23 hrs 26 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data

Premier League Team of the Week - Sergio Aguero, Sadio Mane, Gareth Bale

:Headline: Premier League Team of the Week - Sergio Aguero, Sadio Mane, Gareth Bale:
Sports Mole selects its final Premier League team of the week of the 2020-21 season, including Sergio Aguero, Sadio Mane and Gareth Bale.
Sports Mole

The 2020-21 Premier League season came to an end on Sunday, with Liverpool and Chelsea securing the two remaining Champions League spots as Leicester City missed out on the final day for the second year in a row.

Liverpool ultimately made light work of their task, beating Crystal Palace 2-0 to complete a strong end to the campaign and finish third in the table.

Chelsea's nerves were slightly more frayed as they were beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa, but Leicester failed to take advantage as their 4-2 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur consigned them to Europa League football again next season.

Elsewhere, there was a party atmosphere inside the Etihad Stadium as Manchester City beat Everton 5-0 and then lifted the Premier League trophy in front of their supporters.

Manchester United also signed off with a win as they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 in Nuno Espirito Santo's final game at the helm at Molineux.

West Ham beat Southampton to seal a Europa League spot next season, while Leeds United ended their first campaign back in the top flight with victory over West Bromwich Albion.

Sheffield United's otherwise disappointing campaign ended with a win over Burnley, while Newcastle United beat Fulham and Arsenal overcame Brighton & Hove Albion.

Here, Sports Mole selects its final Premier League team of the week for the 2020-21 season.



DEFENCE

Our final defensive line of the season is an unorthodox one, but allow us to indulge ourselves in the attacking talent which sparkled on Sunday, forcing us to name two players who usually play in central midfield.

As far as the goalkeeper is concerned, it is fitting that Ederson ends another title-winning and Golden Glove-winning campaign by being named in this XI, having saved a penalty to help his side keep a clean sheet in their thrashing of Everton.

In front of him is his Man City teammate Fernandinho, who drops back to centre-back in this week's selection but proved that he still has plenty of fuel in the tank with his midfield performance in that win, providing assists for two of their five goals.

Declan Rice also falls into the category of midfielders playing at centre-back, earning his place in this team by virtue of his goal against Southampton as West Ham ended a fine season on a high.

Calum Chambers and Ben Chilwell were in contention at wing-back, but the relative lack of options in defence this week leaves us playing three at back, and that trio is completed by Sheffield United's John Egan, who won a whopping 11 aerial duels to keep Burnley at bay.



MIDFIELD

It is fair to say that our defence may not get a huge degree of protection from our midfield in this team, but it is a midfield full of creativity and goals.

Pablo Fornals produced the best attacking returns of any player on the final gameweek with two goals and an assist, having a direct hand in all of West Ham's goals as they cruised past Southampton.

The need to squeeze in another left-sided attacker further up the field forces Fornals into a left wing-back role, and it is a similar situation on the opposite flank, where Gareth Bale takes up a position on the right.

Bale came off the bench to score twice in what could be his final game for Spurs, ending Leicester's Champions League hopes with his late brace, including a fine solo effort for his second.

There was plenty of competition in the middle of the park too, with Martin Odegaard, Phil Foden and Thiago Alcantara among those in contention - in addition to Rice and Fernandinho, who drop into the defence instead.

Kevin De Bruyne was typically influential in Man City's win over Everton, though, opening the scoring after only 11 minutes before assisting the second just three minutes after that.

Alongside him is arguably the league's form player in the closing weeks of the season as Joe Willock scored in a seventh consecutive Premier League game, helping to fire Newcastle past Fulham.



ATTACK

The need for such gung-ho tactics is dictated by the number of players who were in contention for a forward position, and plenty of worthy contenders still miss out.

Harry Kane scored one and created another on what could be his final Tottenham outing, Jamie Vardy scored twice in that game, while Gabriel Jesus, David McGoldrick and Bertrand Traore are among the other goalscorers who are unfortunate to miss out.

All of our front three found the back of the net twice, though, including a fairytale ending to Sergio Aguero's Premier League career as he became the highest-scoring player for a single club in the competition's history.

While that was perhaps the standout individual story of the final day, the standout team one was Liverpool managing to finish third at the end of an injury-ravaged campaign, and they have Sadio Mane to thank for their final-day victory over Crystal Palace as his brace ensured a more comfortable finale than many fans may have feared.

Arsenal avoided their worst finish since 1994-95 courtesy of their final-day triumph over Brighton, with Nicolas Pepe getting both of his side's goals at the Emirates Stadium.



SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK

Sports Mole's Premier League team of the week (3-4-3): Ederson; Egan, Fernandinho, Rice; Bale, De Bruyne, Willock, Fornals; Pepe, Aguero, Mane


body check tags ::

amp_article__448851 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2021-05-24 15:27:31:
html db last update - 2021-05-24 15:27:31 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Share this article now:
BF
Read Next:
PL Team of the Week - Fernandes, Rashford, Pickford
>


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Read more about Sergio Aguero Sadio Mane Gareth Bale Nuno Espirito Santo Ederson Fernandinho Declan Rice Calum Chambers Ben Chilwell John Egan Pablo Fornals Martin Odegaard Phil Foden Thiago Alcantara Kevin De Bruyne Joe Willock Harry Kane Jamie Vardy Gabriel Jesus David McGoldrick Bertrand Traore Nicolas Pepe Football
Follow @SportsMole for the latest breaking news stories, and follow @sm_headlines to get every headline from Sports Mole
Recommended Next on SM
PL Team of the Week - Fernandes, Rashford, Pickford
"I agree" - Van Nistelrooy makes striker admission amid Hojlund, Zirkzee struggles

Page options

Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Key player is available but four miss out for Real Madrid vs. Osasuna

1

KP

Three-horse race? Arsenal 'considering January bid' for £66m wonderkid

2

TR

Preview: Wales vs. Fiji - prediction, team news, lineups

NEW

3

PW

Can Chelsea learn from Arsenal mistakes? Ex-scout suggests next phase for Estevao

4

CC

Preview: Chelsea vs. Arsenal - prediction, team news, lineups

5

PC

Double reunion in doubt? Arteta gives Rice, Havertz injury updates before Chelsea

6

DR

Preview: Estrela Amadora vs. Nacional - prediction, team news, lineups

7

PE

Preview: Nott'm Forest vs. Newcastle - prediction, team news, lineups

8

PN

Preview: Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona - prediction, team news, lineups

9

PR

Preview: Rennes vs. Toulouse - prediction, team news, lineups

10

PR


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .