Premier League action returned this weekend following the international break and there was no shortage of drama across the 10 games. Manchester City continued their dominance with a victory over third-placed Leicester but there was another twist in the Top Four race as Tomas Tuchel’s 10-man Chelsea were stunned by West Brom who ran away with a 5-2 victory at Stamford Bridge. There were plenty of brilliant performances across matchday 30 and here is our Premier League Team of the Week for Matchday 30.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale (Sheffield United)
Aaron Ramsdale excelled in between the sticks for Sheffield United and if not for him in goal, the Blades could have conceded 3-4 goals against Leeds United.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Trent Alexander-Arnold had a point to prove after being left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad and was fantastic for the Reds at the weekend. He was their most dangerous attacking outlet throughout the 90 minutes and curled in a delicious delivery for the opening goal of the game.
CB: Nat Phillips (Liverpool)
Nat Phillips has matured in the centre-back role for Liverpool in recent games and put in a solid shift against Arsenal at the Emirates. Phillips completely dominated Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang in the air and didn’t let any one of Arsenal’s forwards run in behind him as Liverpool came away with a crucial clean sheet.
CB: Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
Ruben Dias has hardly put a foot wrong for Manchester City this season and continues to be imperious at the back. Dias had little to do throughout the 90 minutes but was quick to sniff out any danger against the speedy duo of Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho.
LB: Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City)
Benjamin Mendy has been in and out of Pep Guardiola’s side due to injury this season but put in one of his best performances of the year against Leicester. Mendy had little defending to do but was incredibly dangerous down the left flank and even scored the opening goal of the game with a wonderful curled strike with his weaker foot.
CM: Jesse Lingard (West Ham United)
It’s still unclear whether West Ham United signed Jesse Lingard or Lionel Messi on loan in January. Lingard continued his impressive form for the Hammers and scored a wonderful solo effort against Wolves wherein he picked up the ball in his half before cutting his way through the defence and slotting it past Rui Patricio in goal.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Kevin De Bruyne played one of the passes of the season in the lead up to Manchester City’s second goal and ran the show against Leicester City at the weekend to earn a place in the team of the week.
RW: Trezeguet (Aston Villa)
In the absence of Jack Grealish, Trezeguet stood up for Aston Villa and scored two goals within the space of 4 minutes to help Aston Villa complete the comeback against Fulham and secure all three points.
LW: Matheus Pereira (West Brom)
Matheus Pereira had the perfect performance for West Brom against Chelsea where he scored two, assisted two as West Brom thrashed the Blues to win the game 5-2. 10-man Chelsea had no answer for the Brazilian’s trickery or inventiveness and his two goals in first-half stoppage time completely changed the narrative of the game.
ST: Callum Robinson (West Brom)
Before the weekend, Callum Robinson had only scored three Premier League goals in his career, of which all have come against the Blues. Sticking to tradition, Robinson added another stunning pair of goals against Chelsea at the weekend to take his Premier League tally to 5.
ST: Diogo Jota (Liverpool)
Jota continued his stunning form since returning to injury to score two goals against Arsenal to help Liverpool take a crucial three points as they look to close the gap on the top 4. Jurgen Klopp brought Jota on in the 60th minute and the Portuguese wasted no time to get in on the action as he headed in Liverpool’s opening goal before doubling his tally in the dying moments of the game to seal the win.
Manager of the week: Sam Allardyce (West Brom)
Sam Allardyce’s West Brom thoroughly benefitted from Thiago Silva’s moment of madness that left Chelsea with 10 men but to his credit, West Brom were fully able to exploit the one-man advantage. West Brom scored five scintillating goals in a 5-2 victory that gives them a slim chance of survival this season.
Shivaan Shah