Gameweek 17 of the 2023-24 Premier League season was overshadowed by an extremely distressing incident during Luton Town's clash with Bournemouth, where the game was abandoned with the scoreline at 1-1 due to Hatters captain Tom Lockyer suffering a cardiac arrest on the field.
Luton confirmed the reassuring news that Lockyer was responsive as he was sent to hospital for tests, while elsewhere on Saturday, reigning champions Manchester City dropped points for the fifth time in six matches in a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
Liverpool were also stunted in a goalless draw with Manchester United, allowing Arsenal to regain their place at the top of the standings with a 2-0 beating of Brighton & Hove Albion.
Aston Villa remain on the podium positions courtesy of a 2-1 fightback success over Brentford, while Tottenham Hotspur made it back-to-back wins by defeating Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Friday.
Newcastle United responded to their disheartening European exit with a straightforward 3-0 win over a 10-man Fulham, whose West London rivals Chelsea eased past Sheffield United 2-0.
Elsewhere, West Ham United continued their wonderful winter run with a 3-0 home success over Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Everton boss Sean Dyche got one over his old club Burnley in a 2-0 Turf Moor triumph.
Here, Sports Mole selects its Team of the Week for the latest round of Premier League fixtures.
DEFENCE
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As much as Liverpool were left to rue their own profligacy against Man United, Red Devils number one Andre Onana put in one of his finest displays since arriving in England to help keep the Reds at bay. The Cameroonian shot-stopper came up with a crucial eight saves at Anfield, the most amount of stops for a Man United goalkeeper without conceding since David de Gea in January 2019.
The effective James Tarkowski-Jarrad Branthwaite pairing at Everton has restricted Michael Keane's opportunities in recent weeks, but the former Clarets defender returned to his old stomping ground with a bang at the weekend. After seeing one opportunity repelled, Keane capitalised on a fortunate bounce to put away his side's second against Burnley, while he also made eight clearances and two blocks to help sink his old employers.
Keane was not the only defender to put one away at the second bite of the cherry this weekend, as Newcastle man Dan Burn had one effort saved by Fulham's Bernd Leno before being in the right place at the right time to register the rebound, while he also made four interceptions and - of course - won all seven of his aerial battles at St James' Park.
While Burn has been shifted from his previous central position to the left-hand side, Ben Davies's roles have reversed the opposite way amid Spurs' defensive crisis, but he did not look one bit out of place against Forest, winning five of his seven aerial battles, making six clearances and completing 92% of his passes to earn high praise from Ange Postecoglou.
MIDFIELD
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Showcasing his best form in a Lilywhites jersey again, Dejan Kulusevski proved far too tricky for the Tricky Trees to handle on Friday evening. Firstly providing a pinpoint cross for Richarlison before smashing home Spurs' second at Matt Turner's near post, the Swede became just the fourth Tottenham player to score and assist in back-to-back Premier League away games after Son Heung-min, Dimitar Berbatov and Harry Kane.
As speculation over purported Barcelona interest rages in the background, Bruno Guimaraes did his chances of another marquee transfer no harm whatsoever with a scintillating midfield display against Fulham. The Brazilian charged through to notch an assist for young teammate Lewis Miley, provided the cross for Burn's eventual third and created a total of five chances in a morale-boosting success.
Joining one of his namesakes in our gameweek 17 selection, Amadou Onana opened the scoring in Everton's beating of Burnley on Saturday night with a towering header - one of six duels in the air he won at Turf Moor - while five of his six ground battles also ended with the domineering Belgian emerging triumphant.
Shoehorned into a left-wing back role for the purposes of selection, it was simply impossible to overlook Lucas Paqueta's masterful playmaking display in West Ham's emphatic beating of Wolves. Laying on two passes for Mohammed Kudus and also setting up Jarrod Bowen's strike, Paqueta became just the second Brazilian to register three assists in one Premier League game, following in the footsteps of Roberto Firmino.
ATTACK
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The beneficiary of Paqueta's first two assists at the London Stadium, Mohammed Kudus proved yet again why he was such a clever coup for the Irons. The ex-Ajax man firstly fizzed a low strike beyond the reach of Daniel Bentley - who arguably should have done better - before calmly rolling the ball into the far corner for a 32-minute brace, the quickest at the London Stadium in the Premier League to date.
Also coming up with two crucial contributions of his own at Stamford Bridge, Cole Palmer - another man on the move this summer - held the key to unlocking the Sheffield United door, smashing home a Raheem Sterling cross before getting to the byline and squaring for Nicolas Jackson to double Chelsea's lead. The Englishman should have ended the game with a pair of assists to his name, only to see Armando Broja blaze his cutback over the bar with the goal at his mercy.
While Palmer and Kudus both secured their desired moves in the summer, Palace marksman Jean-Philippe Mateta remained at Selhurst Park to ostensibly continue playing second fiddle to Odsonne Edouard. However, the Frenchman's unforeseen revival saw him score his second goal in as many weeks, tapping home against Man City to give the Eagles hope before nipping in ahead of Phil Foden and winning the penalty for Michael Olise to stroke home in a phenomenal Palace fightback.
SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK
Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week (3-4-3): Andre Onana; Keane, Burn, Davies; Kulusevski, Guimaraes, Amadou Onana, Paqueta; Kudus, Mateta, Palmer
