Liverpool's quest for Premier League invincibility came for a shuddering halt on Saturday when they suffered the shock of the season at the hands of Watford.
The Hornets ran out 3-0 winners at Vicarage Road to end the joint-longest winning run and second longest unbeaten streak in English top-flight history, ensuring that Liverpool did not extend their 22-point lead at the top of the table.
It was by no means the only surprise of the weekend, though, as Norwich City beat Leicester City on Friday night and Bournemouth held Chelsea to a 2-2 draw.
West Ham United also picked up a crucial victory over Southampton on a weekend which saw the relegation battle step up a notch, although Crystal Palace now look to be all-but safe following their derby win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
Manchester United missed the chance to close the gap on the top four to one point when they drew with Everton at Goodison Park, allowing Wolverhampton Wanderers to move level with the Red Devils courtesy of their dramatic 3-2 triumph at Tottenham Hotspur.
Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 28.
Palace produced a smash-and-grab victory in the A23 derby against Brighton, withstanding some heavy pressure and then scoring the winner just when Brighton were enjoying their best spell. Vicente Guaita was called into eight saves in order to keep his clean sheet intact, earning him the gloves in this week's XI.
Ben Foster kept his ninth clean sheet of the season in Watford's memorable triumph over Liverpool, but he had very little to do and that was down to the performances of Craig Cathcart and Christian Kabasele in front of him.
James Tarkowski and Gary Cahill both deserve honourable mentions, but the Watford duo managed to limit Liverpool to only one shot on target - their joint-lowest tally of the Jurgen Klopp era - on a night where Liverpool failed to score in a league game for the first time in almost a year.
Credit must also go to Etienne Capoue in that regard, though, with the central midfielder breaking up Liverpool's attacks and ensuring that the visitors' possession rarely threatened to produce a goal.
While the centre-back pairing are selected purely on their defensive exploits, the full-backs earn their place due to their attacking contribution this week. Matt Doherty provided Wolves' first equaliser in their topsy-turvy clash with Spurs, while Marcos Alonso rescued a point for Chelsea with his brace against Bournemouth.
The Spaniard has enjoyed an action-packed week with three goals and a red card in three games, and his latest performance was enough to deny Norwich's Jamal Lewis a spot at left-back despite his fine winner against Leicester.
Alonso had given Chelsea the lead before Jefferson Lerma equalised for the Cherries, adding to an all-round performance which sees him beat Abdoulaye Doucoure, Emiliano Buendia, Pablo Fornals and Bruno Fernandes to a midfield spot.
The majority of the standout performances this weekend came in attack, and none were better than Ismaila Sarr's against Liverpool. Watford's record signing scored twice before setting up the third to stun the champions-elect, inspiring the Hornets to do something no other team had managed since January 2019 by beating Liverpool in the league.
Sarr may have stolen the headlines, but Troy Deeney led the charge with a bruising display against Dejan Lovren in particular. The Watford skipper led by example and capped off his performance with his first ever goal against Liverpool to earn his place ahead of Sebastien Haller, who also deserves a mention.
Raul Jimenez and Michail Antonio were also in contention for the forward positions, but there are representatives from both West Ham and Wolves to complete the XI.
Jarrod Bowen marked his full Hammers debut with a man-of-the-match display against Southampton, opening the scoring and attempting more shots than any other player, while Diogo Jota continued his recent purple patch in front of goal with his sixth strike in the past 10 days, also adding an assist for good measure.
Barney Corkhill
