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Premier League Team of the Week - Mohamed Salah, Eden Hazard, Jamie Vardy

Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week from a depleted gameweek 33, including Mohamed Salah, Eden Hazard and Jamie Vardy.

Liverpool sit two points clear at the top of the Premier League at the end of gameweek 33 after beating Southampton 3-1 at St Mary's on Friday night.

Champions Manchester City were in FA Cup action during a depleted weekend of Premier League football, allowing the Reds to once again rise to the summit - albeit having played a game more than their title rivals.

There were more twists in the top-four race too as Chelsea beat West Ham United on Monday night to move into third place, taking full advantage of Arsenal's slip-up against Everton on Sunday.

Burnley came from behind to beat Bournemouth and give their survival hopes of massive boost, while Crystal Palace are also now on the brink of safety courtesy of their win over Newcastle United.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 33.



PL TOTW GW33

Only three goalkeepers kept clean sheets this weekend, and of those it was Vicente Guaita who had by far the most to do, making five saves as Palace kept Newcastle at bay.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka was also instrumental in that victory to earn his place at right-back, and otherwise it is an all-Everton defence this week following their 1-0 triumph over Arsenal at Goodison Park.

Phil Jagielka got the only goal of that game after just 10 minutes, coming into the side and firing a reminder to manager Marco Silva that he is still capable of doing a job as he had a telling impact at both ends of the field.

Jagielka's centre-back partner Kurt Zouma continued his good form to play his part in that triumph as Everton extended their fine recent run of clean sheets, while Lucas Digne is one of the most in-form full-backs in the league right now and put in another accomplished display against the Gunners.

Liverpool's performance against Southampton was sluggish and pedestrian until Jordan Henderson came off the bench shortly before the hour mark, with the captain immediately injecting some much-needed intensity and capping his impressive cameo with a rare goal to make sure of another three crucial points.

Leicester continued their winning run under Brendan Rodgers by piling more misery on relegated Huddersfield Town, and James Maddison scored the pick of the bunch in that match with a superb free kick that left the keeper no chance.

Maddison's Leicester teammate Youri Tielemans was in contention to join him in midfield, but Burnley's Ashley Westwood completes an all-English trio in the middle of the park courtesy of his well-taken goal and assist in the victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

Chris Wood also helped himself to a goal and an assist in that match, but he misses out on the central striking role this week courtesy of Jamie Vardy's brace against Huddersfield - another example of how much he is enjoying his football since Claude Puel's exit.

Mohamed Salah must have thought that he had wrapped up the individual goal of the week when he ran half the length of the pitch to end his eight-game goal drought against Southampton, but even if that accolade was snatched from him by the final member of our XI on Monday night, the importance of his strike at St Mary's cannot be overstated.

The standout performance of the gameweek came from Eden Hazard at Stamford Bridge on Monday night, though, as he grabbed both goals - including a stunning first - to fire Chelsea up to third. Manager Maurizio Sarri admitted after the match that Chelsea cannot afford to lose their talisman, and on the basis of that display he is exactly right.

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Written by
Barney Corkhill
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool15113131131836
2Chelsea1594235181731
3Arsenal1686229151430
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest168442119228
5Manchester CityMan City158342721627
6Aston Villa167452425-125
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
9Fulham166642422224
10Brentford157263128323
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle166552321223
12Tottenham HotspurSpurs1562731191220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham155372028-818
15Everton153661421-715
16Leicester CityLeicester163582134-1314
17Crystal Palace152761420-613
18Ipswich TownIpswich162681628-1212
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1623112440-169
20Southampton1512121131-205


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