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.
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.
Barney Corkhill
