SM
Watford vs. Leeds: 15 hrs 5 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Premier League Team of the Week - Gareth Bale, Kevin De Bruyne, Harry Kane

:Headline: Premier League Team of the Week - Gareth Bale, Kevin De Bruyne, Harry Kane: ID:437434: from db_amp
Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 26, including Gareth Bale, Kevin De Bruyne and Harry Kane.

Manchester City continued their seemingly unstoppable charge towards the Premier League title in gameweek 26 as a 20th successive win across all competitions was enough to edge them 12 points clear at the top of the table.

West Ham United were the latest team unable to stop the juggernaut, although the damage of that defeat was limited by the teams around them all dropping points too.

Manchester United played out a goalless draw with Chelsea, while Leicester City slumped to a surprise 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

Those results also allowed Liverpool to get their own top-four hopes back on track with an overdue return to winning ways at rock-bottom Sheffield United, who now sit 15 points from safety with only 12 games remaining.

Everton's victory over Southampton on Monday night kept them level on points with their Merseyside rivals, while there were also victories for Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa in the top half of the table.

At the other end, West Bromwich Albion picked up a valuable win over Brighton & Hove Albion, while Crystal Palace and Fulham played out a goalless draw and Wolverhampton Wanderers were held by Newcastle United.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 26.



West Brom's survival hopes are still fading with nine points the gap to safety and just 12 games remaining, but their victory over Brighton was crucial to keeping them alive and arguably the two players most responsible for that triumph make our XI this week.

Sam Johnstone made six saves to keep the goal-shy Seagulls at bay and keep his clean sheet intact, while Kyle Bartley was able to boast the only goal of the game in addition to that clean sheet.

Bartley was one of a number of centre-backs to get on the scoresheet over the weekend, making it the most competitive position in this XI, but he is the only goalscoring defender to make the cut as Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jamaal Lascelles and David Luiz all narrowly miss out, while Davinson Sanchez and Antonio Rudiger are also worthy of mentions.

Michael Keane also had the ball in the back of the net only for his goal to be ruled out for offside, but he still earns a place in the back three having helped to keep Southampton at bay by winning seven aerial duels en route to a valuable clean sheet.

Tyrone Mings was also a proud protector of his clean sheet as Aston Villa blunted the Leeds attack, and he is joined in this week's XI by clubmate Anwar El Ghazi.

El Ghazi scored the only goal of that game at Elland Road, but is forced into a slightly deeper position in this team due to the competition for places further forward.

There was also plenty of competition in the heart of the midfield, with Liverpool duo Curtis Jones and Georginio Wijnaldum in particular unfortunate to miss out, while West Ham's Jesse Lingard also deserves a mention in defeat.

Like everyone else, Lingard was forced to watch on and appreciate Kevin De Bruyne's assist for the opening goal in Man City's win over West Ham, with the Belgian entering the all-time top 10 for Premier League assists with a pinpoint ball from his weaker foot right onto the head of Dias.

Ruben Neves went one better for Wolverhampton Wanderers by getting on the scoresheet himself in their draw with Newcastle United, continuing his recent purple patch in front of goal with a rare header.

The likes of Adama Traore, Willian and Richarlison were in contention for the forward positions, but it is Tottenham who dominate from hereon in courtesy of their four-goal showing against Burnley.

Gareth Bale was the star of the show, finally showing a glimpse of his best form with two goals and an assist to make it seven goal involvements in his last four appearances for Spurs across all competitions.

The formation this week was dictated by the number of impressive centre-back performances and so Bale is hit with a throwback return to wing-back, dropping deeper to accommodate his Spurs teammate Lucas Moura on the right wing.

Indeed, it is an all-Spurs front three, with Lucas and Harry Kane both helping themselves to first-half goals as Jose Mourinho's side put the game to bed before the interval.

Son Heung-min was the only member of this Spurs quartet not to get on the scoresheet himself, but he did provide two assists to earn his place on the left.

amp_article__437434 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2021-03-02 12:05:09:
html db last update - 2021-03-10 12:14:04 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html
Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal28204470244664
2Liverpool28197265263964
3Manchester CityMan City28196363283563
4Aston Villa29175760421856
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
17Luton TownLuton2957174260-1822
18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014
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.



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