Premier League team of the week: Gameweek 9

25 October 2021 14:00

Quite the weekend in the Premier League, wasn't it?

10 games, 40 goals, Manchester United getting smashed by a rampant Liverpool 5-0 at Old Trafford, and Chelsea putting seven past a Norwich side who look desperately, desperately, desperately out of their depth at this level.

There was also fun elsewhere as Manchester City cruised past Brighton, at the Emirates Stadium as a resurgent Arsenal wiped the floor with Aston Villa, and also in east London; as West Ham catapulted themselves into the top four with victory over a lifeless Spurs.

But, of course, there can only be 11 players to make it into 90min's prestigious team of the week - so here are the lucky ones who made the cut...


Premier League team of the week: Gameweek 9

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Antonio Rudiger was sensational against a timid Norwich | ADRIAN DENNIS/GettyImages

GK: Lukasz Fabianski (West Ham) - It wasn't a great week for goalkeepers, truth be told. Emi Martinez saved a penalty for Villa against Arsenal, but did also concede three against his former club, allowing Fabianski, who made four saves against Spurs - including one point blank from Harry Kane - to secure the nod as best shot-stopper.

RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) - Manchester United were all over the place against Liverpool but there still needed to be quality from Jurgen Klopp's side to inflict a mauling. Alexander-Arnold had spadefuls of it, grabbing yet another assist with a fizzing low ball across the six-yard box.

RCB: Jonny Evans (Leicester) - Muzzling Brentford's front two of Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney isn't for everybody, but Evans was more than up for the challenge in west London. Makes Brendan Rodgers' defence look 100x more secure.

LCB: Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea) - Has a player ever been more liberated by a change of manager and system? We'll never have a definitive answer for that, but Rudiger sure is loving life as the most advanced left-sided centre-back the world has ever seen.

LB: Andy Robertson (Liverpool) - Getting stuck in has never been a problem for Robbo, and it was another all-action display from Liverpool's other full-back. Tore United shreds to going forward, too, in trademark fashion.

2. Midfielders

Foden was top billing for Manchester City | MB Media/GettyImages

CM: Naby Keita (Liverpool) - Written off by many as Liverpool's midfield 'weak link', Keita showed the masses who is boss with a sensational performance against United. Involved in everything going forward, he made countless lung-bursting runs through the middle and opened the scoring.

CM: Mason Mount (Chelsea) - Norwich's deficiencies have already been alluded to, but Mount's performance - in addition to scoring a hat-trick - was sensational nevertheless. Dictated play and looked a cut above.

AM: Phil Foden (Manchester City) - Has there ever been a more exciting young English talent than Foden? Breathtakingly brilliant in every position Pep Guardiola plays him in it seems, the 21-year-old scored twice, set up another against Brighton and was generally superb.

3. Forwards

Salah ran riot against a desperately awful Manchester United | Michael Regan/GettyImages

RW: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) - The best player in the world by a country mile right now, Salah's Sunday afternoon at Old Trafford was utterly spectacular. Bagged three goals to score in a tenth consecutive game, and showed brilliant awareness to set up Keita's opener.

ST: Josh King (Watford) - The most gratifying performance of the weekend was that of Watford's Josh King, who put former club Everton to the sword with a terrific late treble. Wasn't given a chance at Goodison last season so smashing them to bits would have tasted oh so sweet.

LW: Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal) - Arsenal's first half blitz of Aston Villa was pretty exciting to watch, but there was no better player on the Emirates turf than local lad Smith Rowe. A terrific all-round performance from a player who's growing in stature each and every week.

Source: 90min