By Neil Leverett and Niall Clarke
- Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Watford and Chelsea all continue 100% records at top of table
- Arsenal, Fulham register first wins, West Ham United only club without point at bottom
- Manchester United, Burnley, Southampton lose again, Cardiff City, Wolves, Huddersfield Town still without win
PREMIER LEAGUE, UK – London clubs dominate the Premier League team of the week in Matchweek 3, but who else made the Britwatch Football team’s XI this weekend?
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Goalkeeper – Hugo Lloris
We tipped Manchester United against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford as obviously the Game of the Week before the weekend, and for differing reasons it did not disappoint, as Spurs shutout the Reds Devils 3-0, piling more misery on United boss Jose Mourinho.
The Lilywhites’ defence was instrumental in this – no less stopper Lloris – who played his first minutes undaunted after his drink-drive charge earlier last week.
The French World Cup-winner made five saves, on a superb low stop to deny Romelu Lukaku seconds after the visitors had taken the lead, and kept a clean sheet as the hosts tried in vain to break the Spurs boughs.
Right-Back – Kieran Trippier
Like Lloris, Trippier was again a vital cog in the Tottenham machine in Manchester, and the England full-back is quickly becoming one of the best dead-ball specialists in the Premier League.
Having continued to catch the eye after his summer in Russia, Trippier netted his first goal for Spurs against Fulham last weekend, and here his whipped corner found the head of Harry Kane, to give the North Londoners a vital first goal.
Whilst the defender may not be the most sound in defence, he marauding runs down the flank cause a litany of issues of the opposition defence, as proved his supplying Christian Eriksen on the wing, before the Dane assisted Lucas Moura for his first of the evening.
Centre-Back – Jan Vertonghen
Completing the Spurs triumvirate at the back, Vertonghen had another of his customary stubborn outings against United. The Belgian made four tackles or blocks, with one interception – all at vital times during the 90 minutes.
Together with partner Toby Alderweireld, Spurs have won three out of three thus far, and their defence – particularly Vertonghen will be key if Tottenham are to mount another title tilt for the third successive season.
Centre-Back – Christian Kabasele
Interstingly, Kabasele is one of the English top flight’s ‘other’ wave of Belgian player plying their trade in the Premier League, and is quickly developing into a star for an already stacked pool of defensive names, enough to make Team of the Week.
Kabasele has been integral to Watford’s 100% start to the campaign, and against Crystal Palace, the Hornet’s stocky centre-back made an impressive six tackles and three interceptions to keep Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha quiet for the most part, as the Hornets clung on versus the Eagles.
Left-Back – Marcos Alonso
When Maurizio Sarri arrived to fill the boots of Antonio Conte, their was concern and intrigue in equal measure that Alonso may not have as great an impact as a full-back compared to a wing-back of the last two terms.
Those concerns however have been firmly put to bed as the Spaniard added two more assist on Tyneside – winning the penalty and initially shooting on goal before his shot was turned into his own net by DeAndre Yedlin – for the vital goal for the Blues.
Alonso already has four assists, a goal and clean sheet to his name after just three outings and shows no sign of his abilities up and down the pitch waning this season.
Right Midfield – Etienne Capoue
Capoue also makes Team of the Week, as Watford continued their impressive start to the new season with a 2-1 win against Crystal Palace and Capoue was a key part of the victory.
The Frenchman put in a powerful performance alongside Abdoulaye Doucoure in the centre midfield, but it was Capoue that caught the eye the most. He won four tackles and made three dribbles against the Eagles, one of which led to the opening goal. Only Kabasele had a better outing for the Hornets.
Centre Midfield – Jorginho
Did you know that Jorginho completed more passes himself than the entire Newcastle team? The Italian set a Premier League record of 158 passes against the Magpies and accounted for 15% of the entire possession in the game.
Jorginho may have not scored or done anything particularly spectacular, but his control from midfield was a sight to behold in of itself. The £52 million addition to Stamford Bridge is looking like he was worth every penny and could go down as one of the best buys of the summer.
Left Midfield – Jean Michael Seri
It was shrewd business when Fulham brought in Seri from Nice over the summer. The Ivorian was targeted by Barcelona so to say Fulham have bagged themselves a bargain could end up being an understatement.
Seri’s rocket strike to give his side the lead against Burnley on Sunday sent Craven Cottage into a frenzy and was the start of an impressive four goal haul against one of the Premier League’s better defences. His control from midfield was key to the victory and he could be a big player for Fulham as the season progresses.
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Right Wing – Lucas Moura
With Son Heung-min at the Asian games, Lucas has been given the chance to shine at Tottenham and shine he did in Spurs’ 3-0 win at Manchester United.
The Brazilian scored twice in the second half at Old Trafford as Spurs ran riot against an out of sorts United defence. Lucas was giving the back four nightmares with his pace and he could have earned a first half penalty when bundled over by Phil Jones at the end of the first half. Lucas is certainly stepping up when given the opportunity and has cemented his place in the Tottenham starting XI with this performance.
Striker – Aleksandar Mitrovic
Whilst Newcastle were struggling to get the ball off Chelsea at St James’ Park, Mitrovic was showing his former club what they are missing with a fine performance up front.
‘Mitro’ was certainly on fire when he scored twice against Burnley and quite frankly he was unlucky not to get more. Since joining the Cottagers he has scored 15 goals, a tally only matched in the same period by Mohamed Salah in England’s top four divisions.
Left Wing- Eden Hazard
On his first start of the season Hazard was hacked, pushed and bundled down on several occasions but that did not stop the Belgian putting in another quality performance.
Hazard should thrive under Sarri and Sunday gave an indication of that as Chelsea’s number 10 dazzled with his dribbling and passing throughout the game. His penalty was the reward for a commanding performance, even if he did take a few knocks on the way.
Here is our Team of the Week:
Do you agree with our picks for this week’s Premier League dream team?
The Premier League continues this weekend, as Leicester City host Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime.
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