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

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

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

Manchester City's Ederson saves a penalty from Everton's Gylfi Sigurdsson on May 23, 2021© Reuters

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

Newcastle United's Joe Willock scores against Fulham in the Premier League on May 23, 2021© Reuters

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

Sergio Aguero pictured during his final Premier League game for Manchester City on May 23, 2021© Reuters

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

PL TOTW GW38

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


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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
2Arsenal32225575264971
3Liverpool32218372314171
4Aston Villa33196868491963
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle321551269521750
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd32155124748-150
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham33139115258-648
9Chelsea31138106152947
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves32127134651-543
12Fulham33126154951-242
13Bournemouth32119124757-1042
14Crystal Palace3289153754-1733
15Brentford3388174758-1132
16Everton3298153248-1627
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3379174258-1626
18Luton TownLuton3367204670-2425
19Burnley3348213368-3520
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3237223084-5416


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