MX23RW : Friday, April 26 07:58:18| >> :60:3583:3583:

Premier League Team of the Week - Phil Foden, Danny Ings, Alisson Becker

Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 30, including Phil Foden, Danny Ings and Alisson Becker.

Premier League football was back with a bang this weekend as the first full gameweek of action since the coronavirus lockdown took place.

Liverpool's wait to be crowned champions was prolonged courtesy of both their goalless derby draw at Everton and Manchester City's thumping 5-0 win over Burnley at the Etihad Stadium on Monday night.

While the destination of the trophy seems wrapped up already, the battle for the top four remains fiercely contested and Chelsea asserted their credentials with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday.

The result capped off a profitable weekend for the Blues, with Wolverhampton Wanderers the only other team in the immediate mix to have won - Leicester City, Manchester United, Sheffield United and Tottenham Hotspur all dropped points.

Arsenal slumped to another defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion to slip down to 10th as Crystal Palace continued their flying form to leapfrog the Gunners in the table.

There was also a comfortable win for Southampton on Friday night as they nudged Norwich City ever closer to relegation.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 30.



PL TOTW GW30

Liverpool were short of their best in the Merseyside derby, but things could have been even worse had it not been for a couple of crucial saves made by Alisson Becker to deny Everton a first win over their local rivals in 10 years.

The Toffees did create the better chances in the match, though, and that was largely down to how their defence kept Liverpool's attack at bay. Mason Holgate was a central figure in that, while Seamus Coleman also deserves a mention.

We have gone for a back three in this week's team, with Cesar Azpilicueta on the right of the centre-back trio courtesy of his two assists in Chelsea's victory over Aston Villa.

Craig Dawson went one better for Watford by getting his own name on the scoresheet, and in some style too as his late scissor kick rescued a point against Leicester which could be vital to their survival hopes.

We have channeled out inner Garth Crooks in choosing a number of players out of their more familiar positions in this XI, most notably at wing-back where James Ward-Prowse and Nathan Redmond are selected, despite making their impacts further up the field this weekend.

The Southampton pair have both played in their respective positions in this XI before and needed to be crowbarred into the team, with Ward-Prowse leading the way in his first game as permanent captain and Redmond capping off the scoring at Carrow Road.

Ben Chilwell and Oleksandr Zinchenko both deserve honourable mentions, while Zinchenko's Man City teammates Bernardo Silva and David Silva can also count themselves unfortunate not to have made this week's team.

One of the first names on the teamsheet was Phil Foden, though, as the youngster further enhanced his reputation with a well-taken brace, in addition to playing a key role in the buildup to David Silva's goal when he sliced the defence open with a delicious no-look pass.

Riyad Mahrez joined Foden in scoring twice in Man City's rout of Burnley - including one from the penalty spot - and that is enough to earn him a place in the front three ahead of Andre Ayew and Allan Saint-Maximin.

Stuart Armstrong did play in a wide right position in Southampton's win, but he is shifted into the middle for this team having scored one and created another as the Saints piled more misery on Norwich.

The chief protagonist in that game was Danny Ings, who completes the Southampton quartet in this week's team having opened the scoring, assisted the second, hit the woodwork and even produced a key tackle as the last man.

The 16-goal striker leads the line ahead of Raul Jimenez and Joelinton, although there is a Newcastle United representative from their impressive victory over Sheffield United, with Matt Ritchie earning a spot due to his goal and assist.

ID:403519: cacheID:403519:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:8038:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne in action with Chelsea's Mateo Kovacic in the Premier League on November 23, 2019
Read Next:
SM Football Shorts: Premier League predictions for gameweek 31
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Manchester CityMan City33237380324876
3Liverpool34228475344174
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd33165125150153
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle331551369541550
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Bournemouth34129134960-1145
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton331111115254-244
12Wolverhampton WanderersWolves34127154654-843
13Fulham34126165054-442
14Crystal Palace34109154456-1239
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton34118153648-1233
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3437243392-5916


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!