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Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week

Sports Mole picks out the most impressive 11 players from the 22nd weekend of Premier League action.

What many felt was either a six or seven-team Premier League title race has now been cut to three after the 22nd round of matches.

Victories for Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea has seen that trio open up a six-point gap to Liverpool, who could only a muster a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at Anfield, in fourth.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Cardiff City dropped to the bottom following a 4-2 defeat away at Man City, while Crystal Palace moved out of the relegation zone courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Tony Pulis's former club Stoke City.

So, with another weekend of action done and dusted, Sports Mole has selected a team of players that made the biggest impression on us.


Jack Butland (Stoke City)
He may have ended up on the losing side, but without a number of saves from Butland, Crystal Palace's winning margin would have been even greater at Selhurst Park.

Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur)
After Spurs had weathered the Swansea City storm, they took control of the contest. Walker, in particular, benefited as he made numerous advances forward from right-back. It was his cross that resulted in his team's second goal.
Ryan Bennett (Norwich City)
Not only did Bennett play a key role in Norwich keeping a clean sheet, he also scored one of his side's most important goals of the season to date.
Gary Cahill (Chelsea)
As well as defending with his usual stubbornness against Manchester United, Cahill also played a key role in Eto'o completing his hat-trick at Stamford Bridge.
Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur)
Just like Walker on the opposite flank, Rose caused numerous problems to Swansea, which ended in him laying on Spurs's third goal at the Liberty Stadium.

Craig Noone (Cardiff City)
The winger has flourished since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge at Cardiff and he continued his recent form by scoring a memorable goal at the Etihad Stadium.
Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United)
Paris Saint-Germain are said to be keen on Cabaye and after this showing against West Ham United, you can understand why. He is playing in a free role for Newcastle right now and showed his quality by scoring twice.
Yaya Toure (Manchester City)
In scoring against Cardiff, Toure displayed all of his positive qualities. Pace, strength and power were all present as he fired in following a lengthy run.
Santi Cazorla (Arsenal)
The Gunners had found it hard to break Fulham down during the first half, but their Spanish playmaker made a vital intervention by scoring a quickfire double after the restart.

Samuel Eto'o (Chelsea)
He has hardly covered himself in glory since his summer arrival, but Eto'o made a major impression by scoring all three of his team's goals against United.
Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham Hotspur)
On this form, Adebayor is unplayable. He scored twice against Swansea and would have had a hat-trick had Mousa Dembele passed to him in wide open space rather than shooting wide.

Numpty of the week

Nemanja Vidic and Rafael da Silva: One of these Man United defenders was sent off and the other was only booked, with many believing that the punishments should have been reversed. The fact is, though, that neither were smart challenges as their frustration seemingly got the better of them.

Goal of the week

Craig Noone (Man City vs. Cardiff City): There are not many attackers that make Vincent Kompany look foolish, but Noone managed it. Having wrong-footed the Man City skipper, he then caught out Joe Hart with a shot inside the near post, when it appeared that the home goalkeeper was expecting his effort to fly across the goal.

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Written by
Liam Apicella
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Manchester City's Spanish midfielder Jesus Navas celebrates after scoring his teams second goal during the English Premier League football match against Cardiff City on January 18, 2014
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool20145148202847
2Arsenal21127241192243
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest21125430201041
4Newcastle UnitedNewcastle21115537221538
5Chelsea21107441261537
6Manchester CityMan City2110563829935
7Aston Villa2110563132-135
8Bournemouth219753225734
9Fulham217953230230
10Brentford218494037328
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2061043029128
12West Ham UnitedWest Ham217592741-1426
13Tottenham HotspurSpurs21731143321124
14Crystal Palace215972328-524
15Manchester UnitedMan Utd206592328-523
16Everton203891526-1117
17Ipswich TownIpswich2037102035-1516
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2144133148-1716
19Leicester CityLeicester2135132346-2314
20Southampton2013161244-326


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