Premier League Matchweek Awards
Liverpool were busy winning their tenth EFL trophy and were unable to participate in a Premier League match week. Chelsea, on the other hand, were busy losing the trophy to Liverpool and fans must have wondered if their weekend would have been better if they faced Tottenham Hotspur instead.
The title race is heating up and many teams are playing exceptional football.
Week 26 was full of action and here are our matchday awards after an awesome gameweek.
Best Player – Jorginho
This week, Jorginho came into Arsenal’s starting XI to usurp Bukayo Saka to win our best player award.
The Brazilian-Italian midfielder was handed a start against the Magpies and ran the show against Newcastle United from start to the 89th minute when he made way for Mohamed Elneny. It was a performance that showed how important registas/pivots are in football, even if they do not have outstanding numbers like other players on their teams.
The Premier League player of the match committee agrees with us too.
Best XI
Arsenal are making the 2023/24 title race the best in recent seasons. The club’s fans will be regretting that December run that prevented them from clinching the top spot. The players too, because they have all been at their best since then.
From Saka to Declan Rice to their centreback juggernauts William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães, all under the leadership of Martin Ødegaard on the pitch, there is no team that can hold a candle to the Gunners at the moment.
Week 26 was another example of their dominance, with only a few others in the league matching them for performance..
Here are our best XI from week 26.
GK: David Raya – Arsenal
DF: Lewis Dunk – Brighton and Hove Albion
DF: Calvin Bassey – Fulham
DF: Gabriel Magalhães – Arsenal
DF: Jakub Kiwior – Arsenal
DM: Jorginho – Arsenal
CM: John McGinn – Aston Villa
CM: Douglas Luiz – Aston Villa
AM: Phil Foden – Manchester City
CF: Bukayo Saka – Arsenal
CF: Kai Havertz – Arsenal
Best Goal
Saka ran riot at the Emirates against Newcastle United but the club’s fans had no choice but to give him an ovation after his brilliant goal.
He received a simple pass from Kai Havertz before dribbling his way through a monochrome sea to bury the ball at the far post.
It was a beautiful solo goal worthy of a brilliant performance.
Best Game
Arsenal vs Newcastle United was one sided, but the Gunners made it a thoroughly entertaining game for fans and neutrals. The visitors also put up a good fight despite being on the back foot throughout the game.
Every player on the pitch delivered when called upon, although Arsenal players dominated the match.
Best Stats
Arsenal won another game with more than three goals (4 – 1 vs Newcastle), making it seven consecutive halves that a Premier League team has scored two goals or more.
This is the first time any team has done this in English top flight football.
Their run started with their 3 – 1 win over Liverpool in week 23. In that time, they have scored a total of 18 goals and conceded just two.
The Gunners may not win the league this season, but they have had a much better season than they did last season when they narrowly lost the title.
Best/Worst VAR decision
This week we have chosen not one, but two VAR decisions, both from the EFL Cup final. Spoiler: both were bad.
Firstly, Caicedo’s cynical tackle on Gravenberch, leaving the Dutch midfielder in a heap on the Wembley pitch, was quickly dismissed by the VAR team. Many similar tackles have been punished with red cards this season, but not this one.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk had the ball in the net on the hour mark, only for VAR to advise the referee that a ‘subjective offside’ decision needed a review. Wataru Endo was shown to be offside as he prevented Chelsea’s Colwill from getting into a position to challenge van Dijk. This decision makes us ask ourselves: how many set pieces generate this sort of situation on a regular basis? We have also come up with an answer: plenty.
We hope that the VAR can find some level of consistency when analysing moments like these.
Best Substitution
Newcastle may have lost, but Joe Willock came on to give the team something to be happy about.
The Magpies had not scored against Arsenal at the Emirates in a decade and Arsenal were less than 10 minutes away from keeping it that way. This was until Willock, who came into the game in the 73rd minute, met a Dan Burn cross with a diving header to score against his former team.
It is safe to say that Arsenal helped Newcastle break their duck at the Emirates.
Funniest Moment of the Matchweek
This week’s funniest moment happened off the pitch and on social media thanks to the African fans of the Premier League.
The Africa Cup of Nations ended a little over two weeks ago with Nigeria losing the final to claim second place. On their way to the final, they beat André Onana’s Cameroon.
In the Premier League’s 26th week, Nigerian players Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey both scored against Onana in Manchester United’s goal to help Fulham win against United at Old Trafford.
Social media came alive with memes and jokes about the issue and the banter spilled into the punditry studios as well.
A true reminder that the fans make the sport.