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Premier League Team of the Week - Gareth Bale, Son Heung-min, Kai Havertz

PL Team of the Week - Bale, Son, Havertz
© Reuters
Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 34, including Gareth Bale, Son Heung-min and Kai Havertz.

The headline fixture of gameweek 34 was postponed in remarkable circumstances as Manchester United fans invaded Old Trafford to protest against the Glazers prior to their scheduled meeting with Liverpool.

The abandoned fixture means that Manchester City must wait to be crowned champions, although they did move to within one win of the title with their victory over Crystal Palace.

Liverpool's inactivity leaves them now seven points adrift of the top four after Chelsea beat Fulham in the West London derby, while fifth-placed West Ham United came from behind to beat Burnley on Monday night.

Tottenham Hotspur moved up to sixth with a thumping 4-0 win over Sheffield United, but Everton's Champions League hopes took a major blow when they were beaten at home by Aston Villa.

Leicester City were held by 10-man Southampton, while Arsenal beat Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion overcame Leeds United and the spoils were shared in the Black Country derby between West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers, leaving the Baggies on the brink of relegation.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 34.



DEFENCE

Leicester City's Jonny Evans scores their first goal on April 30, 2021© Reuters

Chelsea's 2-0 victory over local rivals Fulham looks like a routine derby win for the Blues, but things would have been far less comfortable without the form of Edouard Mendy, who made two particularly good saves to keep the Cottagers at bay and edge out Sam Johnstone for a place between the sticks in this week's team.

There was plenty of competition at right-back in particular in the defence this week, with Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker-Peters both unfortunate to miss out.

Serge Aurier is the first of three Tottenham players selected, having not only kept a clean sheet but also helped himself to two assists, setting up the first and third goals for his side in their rout.

Brighton's clean sheet against Leeds earns them two defenders in the XI, with Dan Burn producing the standout left-back performance of the weekend and his teammate Lewis Dunk leading by example in that victory by winning possession 15 times - more than twice as much as anyone else in the game.

Craig Dawson was also in contention at centre-back, but the final spot in the defence goes to Jonny Evans, who netted the equalising goal for Leicester against Southampton to edge them one point closer to Champions League football next season.



MIDFIELD

Chelsea's Kai Havertz celebrates scoring their second goal on May 1, 2021© Reuters

Man City had a number of impressive performers in their win over Crystal Palace and could have easily provided more than just one player to this week's team, but the solitary man who does make the cut is Rodri in holding midfield, having made four tackles and won six aerial duels against the Eagles.

Alongside him in the holding two is Mohamed Elneny, who not only helped Arsenal to a clean sheet against Newcastle but also scored the opening goal in style - his first league goal for the club in his 66th such appearance.

Ruben Neves and Mason Mount are both worthy of mentions in midfield too, while Ferran Torres was also in contention for a wide berth, but the three selected behind the striker were shoo-ins given their contributions.

Kai Havertz appears to have transitioned into something of a target man for Chelsea over the course of his first season at the club, and he helped himself to both goals in their win over Fulham.

Havertz is flanked by a Spurs duo, and there is no doubt that Gareth Bale produced the outstanding individual performance of the week as he helped himself to a high-quality hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Sheffield United, reaching 50 Premier League goals in the process.

Son Heung-min also played a big role in that rout, capping off the scoring with the fourth goal 13 minutes from time, having earlier assisted Bale's second too.



ATTACK

West Ham United's Michail Antonio celebrates scoring their second goal on May 3, 2021© Reuters

West Ham striker Michail Antonio leads the line as the solitary centre-forward in this week's team, having announced his return from injury with a bang during the final match of the gameweek on Monday night.

The forward netted twice in the space of eight minutes - the first a brave, thumping header and the second a smart finish - to earn a crucial victory for his side to keep them very much in the race for a top-four spot.

As is often the case, centre-forward was the most competitive position in this week's team, with Danny Welbeck, Ollie Watkins, Sergio Aguero and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all worthy of honourable mentions too.



SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK

PL TOTW GW34

SM Premier League Team of the Week (4-2-3-1): Mendy; Aurier, Dunk, Evans, Burn; Rodri, Elneny; Bale, Havertz, Son; Antonio

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool14112129111835
2Chelsea1594235181731
3Arsenal1585229151429
4Manchester CityMan City158342721627
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest157441918125
6Aston Villa157442323025
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
9Brentford157263128323
10Fulham156542220223
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1562731191220
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle155551921-220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham155372028-818
15Everton143561421-714
16Leicester CityLeicester153572130-914
17Crystal Palace152761420-613
18Ipswich TownIpswich151681427-139
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1523102338-159
20Southampton1512121131-205


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