With the FA Cup quarter-finals taking centre stage, only eight English top-flight sides emerged to the Premier League anthem across Saturday and Sunday, in the final set of top-flight fixtures before the international break.
Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur's London derby at Craven Cottage was the standout fixture of the shortened gameweek, and for the first time under Ange Postecoglou, the lacklustre Lilywhites failed to score in a Premier League game as they slumped to a 3-0 loss.
Aston Villa therefore had the chance to open up a five-point lead over Spurs in fourth place in the table, but they could only increase their advantage by one, surviving three disallowed goals in a frenzied 1-1 draw with West Ham United.
Two crucial basement battles also took place on Saturday, where Burnley benefitted from an early red card to Brentford in a 2-1 win over Thomas Frank's side at Turf Moor, although they still linger below the dotted line.
Luton Town also occupy a spot in the bottom three with the Clarets and Sheffield United, despite recovering from their catastrophic Bournemouth collapse with a creditable 1-1 draw at home to Nottingham Forest.
Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week for the four-match round of fixtures.
DEFENCE
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Not even keeping 19 clean sheets en route to the Championship title could spare Arijanet Muric demotion to the Burnley bench earlier this season, as James Trafford tried to stake his claim in between the sticks. However, after a spate of poor displays from the Englishman, Vincent Kompany finally swallowed his pride and recalled Muric, who justified his recall with five top stops against Brentford, as well as an amazing dash across his line to prevent Dara O'Shea scoring a comical own goal.
Heroic last-ditch clearances were also the theme at Kenilworth Road, where Luton's Reece Burke positioned himself expertly to produce a tremendous block from Divock Origi's goal-bound strike - one of three occasions he got his body in the way for the cause. In addition, the 27-year-old had a telling impact at the other end, heading the ball down for Luke Berry to fire in the Hatters' late leveller.
Alongside Burke in a ravaged Luton backline, Teden Mengi joined his teammate in the goal-line clearances club with a point-saving intervention of his own, sprinting back to hack Anthony Elanga's effort clear and also putting the ball in the back of the Forest net, only to be denied by the ever-controversial handball rule.
After Sergio Reguilon's ninth-minute red card in Brentford's clash with Burnley, the writing was on the wall for the Bees, but Kristoffer Ajer could give himself a pat on the back at Turf Moor. Winning all four of his aerial duels and contributing four tackles and two interceptions to the defensive effort, the ex-Celtic man also directed a clever header into the net via the post, although his contribution would ultimately be in vain.
MIDFIELD
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Further cementing himself as Marco Silva's first-choice pick on the right-hand side over Kenny Tete, Fulham's Timothy Castagne was irrepressible in defence and attack against Tottenham, setting up Sasa Lukic's strike, completing both of his dribble attempts, making three tackles and intercepting two passes in an all-around stellar performance.
On the opposite Craven Cottage flank, Antonee Robinson continued to steam ahead at the top of the Premier League's interception charts for 2023-24. With another four such interventions against Spurs, the American left-back now sits on 69 for the season - 19 more than closest challenger James Tarkowski - while he also chipped in with one last-man tackle and a slick delivery for Rodrigo Muniz's first effort on the day.
The third and final Fulham man to take his place in the engine room, Sasa Lukic retained his place in Silva's midfield as Harrison Reed made way for the returning Joao Palhinha, and the Cottagers boss evidently made the right call with that unenviable decision. There was an element of fortune about the Serbian's goal, which simply struck his thigh and deceived Guglielmo Vicario, but he got himself into the position to make something happen and also had two tackles and an interception to his name to justify further Premier League starts.
Another shout-out goes the way of West Ham's Edson Alvarez, but Nottingham Forest's creator-in-chief Morgan Gibbs-White led the Reds' offence against Luton Town, supplying Chris Wood with a sublime cross for the game's first goal - despite not even getting his head up to see where his teammate might be - which was one of four key passes he made on the day.
ATTACK
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It has been a season of frustration for Michail Antonio, who has often watched Jarrod Bowen shine in the West Ham striker spot during his injury absences, but he ensured that the London Stadium had not forgotten about him with a trademark diving header against Aston Villa, before having a second, close-range effort disallowed for handball.
Jacob Bruun Larsen's wait for a full 90 minutes in the Premier League goes on, but the Burnley winger made quite the impact in the 69 minutes that he was on the field against Brentford, firing a stunning penalty out of Mark Flekken's reach and completing 83% of his passes to help the Clarets on their way to a rare success.
Finally, the Rodrigo Muniz purple patch at Fulham is showing no signs of ending anytime soon, as the 22-year-old made it seven goals from his last seven top-flight games with a brilliant brace against Tottenham. Firstly finding the far corner with a crisp strike across goal, Muniz showcased exemplary predatory instincts and bravery to prod the ball home in the second half, albeit while hurting himself in the process.
SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK
Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week (3-4-3): Muric; Burke, Mengi, Ajer; Castagne, Gibbs-White, Lukic, Robinson; Antonio, Muniz, Bruun Larsen
