Premier League Team of the Week: David Raya, Eddie Nketiah, Nikola Milenkovic

The penultimate gameweek of the 2024-25 Premier League campaign offered some departing luminaries the chance to soak up the home atmosphere for the final time, and one such case came at the Etihad Stadium, where Kevin De Bruyne's farewell was a fond one thanks to a 3-1 win over Bournemouth.

Pep Guardiola's men remain in control of their Champions League destiny, while Arsenal have now guaranteed a seat at Europe's top table thanks to their 1-0 beating of top-five rivals Newcastle United.

The Gunners will join Liverpool in the continent's premier competition, although the reigning champions are not ending 2024-25 as they mean to begin 2025-26 following a 3-2 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion, making them the first-ever Premier League champions to fail to win any of their first three games after winning the title.

With Europa League matters taking precedence for Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Aston Villa took advantage with respective 1-0 and 2-0 victories, but Nottingham Forest's 2-1 beating of West Ham United means that the race for third, fourth and indeed fifth will go down to the final day.

However, only Brentford can potentially knock Brighton out of eighth spot, despite a 3-2 loss at home to Fulham, while Crystal Palace can still sneak into the top half after a 4-2 success over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Lower down the division, Everton's last Premier League game at Goodison Park was a joyous affair as they overcame Southampton 2-0, as did Leicester City at home to Ipswich Town thanks to a customary goal from soon-to-be former Foxes forward Jamie Vardy.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week for the latest round of fixtures.

DEFENCE

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The less said about David Raya's footwork against Newcastle the better - the Spaniard committed three errors directly leading to a shot - but he more than made up for it with a string of wonderful first-half saves, making five in total as well as two high claims to shut the Magpies out.

Raya was also offered adequate protection from his backline in the second half, in particular Jakub Kiwior, who continues to fill the Gabriel Magalhaes void effectively and came up with a monstrous 11 clearances, four tackles, two blocks and two interceptions at the Emirates, as well as creating two chances for his teammates.

Also making the desired impact in the final third of the field, Aston Villa centre-back Ezri Konsa made it a party atmosphere in the West Midlands on Friday night, volleying in the Lions' first against Spurs while also completing 98% of his passes and drawing two fouls in an exemplary display.

Finally, furthering his prospects of a warranted spot in the Premier League Team of the Season, Nottingham Forest new boy Nikola Milenkovic produced the critical moment against West Ham, flicking on an Anthony Elanga free kick while also shining in his own box with seven clearances, four interceptions and a last-man tackle to keep his side's fleeting top-five hopes alive.

MIDFIELD

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Exceptional defensive performances were not few and far between this week, and Forest's flying full-back Neco Williams reverts to his former right-sided role for the purposes of this XI, having come up with a whopping eight tackles and four interceptions vs. West Ham, as well as using his body expertly to win three free kicks.

Brighton's Pervis Estupinan can count himself unfortunate not to be bombing down our left-hand side, but Vitaliy Mykolenko put in a wonderful display worthy of the last Premier League game at Goodison Park, helping to nullify Southampton by winning a staggering 11 of his 12 ground duels, as well as playing two key passes on Saturday lunchtime.

While the blue half of Merseyside celebrated at the weekend, the red half did not, but it was not for a lack of trying from Harvey Elliott; the England Under-21 international made the most of a rare start - possibly his last for the club - by tapping in the opener, passing to Dominik Szoboszlai at the perfect time for the Reds' second and creating four chances in total.

Elliott has of course made quite the impact from the bench this season too, as did Fulham veteran Tom Cairney when the going got tough against Brentford; the 34-year-old rose graciously into the air to direct a beautiful header into the net for 2-2, and he completed 100% of his passes during his short but sweet time on the pitch.

ATTACK

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We recently put Eddie Nketiah up for the 'Worst signing of the season' award in our 2024-25 Sports Mole Readers' Awards, and he took that personally. The Crystal Palace centre-forward did not let a rare opportunity pass him by against Wolves after the Eagles' FA Cup win, forcing a first through the goalkeeper's gloves before dispatching a cool second at the end of a free-flowing move.

The strikers were indeed shining on the Selhurst Park turf on Tuesday evening, where Nketiah excelled with his feet and Jorgen Strand Larsen dominated the air, registering both an assist and a goal using his head but ultimately seeing his efforts fail to bear fruit.

Completing an all-brace attack for gameweek 37, Everton's Iliman Ndiaye will now go down in Toffees folklore as the man who scored their final two Premier League goals at Goodison Park, conjuring up two fine finishes in the beating of Southampton. The 25-year-old firstly found the bottom corner with aplomb before skipping past Aaron Ramsdale and making the famous nets ripple for one last time in the competition, and the challenge is now to produce similarly ruthless displays in Everton's new Bramley-Moore Dock home.

SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK

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Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week (3-4-3): Raya; Konsa, Milenkovic, Kiwior; Williams, Cairney, Elliott, Mykolenko; Nketiah, Strand Larsen, Ndiaye

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Written by
Ben Knapton