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Premier League Team of the Week - Harry Kane, Kevin De Bruyne, Thiago Silva

Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week, including Harry Kane, Kevin De Bruyne and Thiago Silva.

The latest round of Premier League fixtures is done and dusted, with Manchester City still six points clear at the summit after humbling rivals Manchester United 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

Liverpool kept the pressure on the champions by seeing off West Ham United 1-0, and Chelsea maintained their grip on third place with a 4-0 thumping of Burnley.

Arsenal moved up to fourth after an enthralling 3-2 win away to Watford, while their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur put five unanswered goals past Everton.

Wolverhampton Wanderers' top-four pursuit was dealt another blow in a 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace, and Southampton's strong run of form came to an end with a 4-0 loss to Aston Villa.

Elsewhere, Leeds United kicked off life without Marcelo Bielsa with a 1-0 loss away to Leicester City, Brentford returned to winning ways against Norwich City 3-1, and Newcastle United ran out 2-1 winners over Brighton & Hove Albion.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Team of the Week for the latest round of Premier League fixtures.


DEFENCE

Thiago Silva warms up for Chelsea in February 2022© Reuters

It is easy to forget that Kasper Schmeichel is 35 years of age sometimes, but the Danish shot-stopper was on top form to see Leicester over the line against Leeds, making four saves, four high claims and two successful run outs to hand Jesse Marsch a losing start.

There were multiple standout performances from right-backs in the gameweek just gone, but it would have been a crime to overlook Trent Alexander-Arnold, who came up with a somewhat unorthodox assist for Sadio Mane's winner against West Ham, as well as making five key passes and producing a stellar goal-line clearance from Pablo Fornals's chip.

On the other side of the rearguard, another right-back has been shifted to an unfamiliar position, as Matt Doherty just had to get into the team somehow. The ex-Wolves man has been given a new lease of life under Antonio Conte and contributed two assists, four key passes and five tackles to the thumping of Everton.

While the future of his centre-back counterparts remain up in the air, Chelsea managing to tie Thiago Silva down for another year was a crucial bit of business, as the 37-year-old starred against Burnley with four clearances, four out of five aerial duels won and a 96% pass accuracy at Turf Moor.

Finally, while Schmeichel did have plenty to do against Leeds, he was aided by the efforts of Caglar Soyuncu, who won all six of his ground duels and made six tackles, six clearances and two blocks in a performance that Leicester fans will hope to see more often.


MIDFIELD

Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne celebrates scoring their first goal on March 6, 2022© Reuters

An extremely forward-minded midfield begins with one man who terrorized Man United over the course of 90 minutes at the weekend, as Riyad Mahrez got two goals to his name - one of which was an incredible first-time effort on his left foot from outside the area - and he posted a total of eight shots and a 98% pass accuracy in a dazzling display.

Kevin De Bruyne bagged the other two goals in the 4-1 Manchester derby drubbing, with Pep Guardiola now believing that the Belgian is back to his best. De Bruyne also found Mahrez for the Algerian's left-footed thunderbolt and finished the day with a 93% pass accuracy - not bad for the creative hub of the team.

Aston Villa helped themselves to four strikes of their own against Southampton, and Philippe Coutinho had a hand in two of them with one strike and one assist at Villa Park, so it comes as no surprise to learn that Steven Gerrard is reportedly keen on a permanent move for the Brazilian.

In similar fashion, Ryan Fraser is also reaping the rewards of working under his former Bournemouth boss in Eddie Howe, as the Scottish attacker was in the right place at the right time to open the scoring against Brighton before his free kick found the head of Fabian Schar in another Magpies success.


ATTACK

Harry Kane celebrates scoring for Tottenham Hotspur against Everton on March 7, 2022© Reuters

Hailed as the best penalty-taker in the world as Brentford ended their winless streak away to Norwich, Ivan Toney took home the match ball after bagging all three of his side's goals at Carrow Road - two of which came from 12 yards - as the 25-year-old leads the Bees away from danger.

It was extremely difficult to limit ourselves to two frontmen given the stellar performances of Kai Havertz and Cucho Hernandez this weekend, but Tottenham talisman Harry Kane ultimately gets the nod after taking both goals with customary aplomb against Everton to surpass Arsenal legend Thierry Henry in the all-time Premier League goalscoring charts with his 175th and 176th strikes, and the Spurs faithful certainly enjoyed that one.


SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK

PL TOTW GW28

Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week (4-4-2): Schmeichel; Alexander-Arnold, Soyuncu, T. Silva, Doherty; Mahrez, De Bruyne, Coutinho, Fraser; Kane, Toney


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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1311112681834
2Arsenal1374226141225
3Chelsea1374226141225
4Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton136522217523
5Manchester CityMan City137242219323
6Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest136431613322
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1362528141420
8Brentford136252623320
9Manchester UnitedMan Utd135441713419
10Fulham135441818019
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle135441414019
12Aston Villa135441922-319
13Bournemouth135352019118
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham144371827-915
15Leicester CityLeicester143471928-913
16Crystal Palace142661218-612
17Everton132561021-1111
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves132382232-109
19Ipswich TownIpswich141671325-129
20Southampton1312101025-155


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