Matchweek Awards
Arsenal, for the third week in a row, have demolished their opponents and put the league on notice. Everyone is now wary of the real threat that Mikel Arteta’s young guns pose to the title challenge.
The other top six teams are also putting up a brilliant fight, making the current title race a very interesting one.
Week 25 was full of action and here are our matchday awards after an awesome game week.
Best Player – Bukayo Saka
Last week, the 22-year-old lost out on this award to his best friend and teammate Declan Rice. Now, he is on top, proving that his credentials as a world class player.
He scored two goals for Arsenal in their 5 – 0 away win at Burnley and could have had more but for Burnley’s good defending and goalkeeping in some moments.
Bukayo Saka will be pivotal for the Gunners as they chase down Liverpool and Manchester City for this season’s title.
Best XI
Once again, Arsenal players dominate our best XI for the week thanks to their brilliant performances away from home in week 25.
From their brilliant captain and creative powerhouse Martin Ødegaard, to our best player of the week Saka and to their brilliant defence, the Gunners stand out in a week that saw loads of great performances.
Here are our best XI from week 24.
GK: David Raya –Arsenal
DF: Axel Disasi – Chelsea
DF: William Saliba – Arsenal
DF: Gabriel Magalhães – Arsenal
DF: Malo Gusto – Chelsea
DM: Rodri – Manchester City
CM: Martin Ødegaard – Arsenal
CM: Jõao Gomes – Wolverhampton Wanderers
LW: Bukayo Saka – Arsenal
RW: Mohamed Salah – Liverpool
ST: Ollie Watkins – Aston Villa
Best Goal
Darwin Nuñez, the prince of chaos football, struck again with an otherworldly goal.
The Uruguayan ran alongside Diogo Jota in a two man counterattack against a single Brentford defender, received a headed pass from his Portuguese teammate to go one on one with Mark Flekken in the Bees’ goal, and chose madness.
Where players would have ran across the goalie to slot it into the net, the former Benfica striker lobbed the Dutch goalkeeper – who was still on his feet – from 20 yards.
Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen described the finish as brilliant and a “one in 10 attempts” type of goal.
This insane goal wins our goal of the week award.
Best Game
Manchester City and Chelsea delivered another solid game to the fans of the Premier League on week 25.
The game ended in a draw like the reverse fixture did. It also delivered many incredible moments that kept fans on the edge of their seats until the final whistle.
Chelsea fans left the match happier than City fans, however, who felt like their team dropped the ball.
Best Stats
Rasmus Højlund’s brace in seven minutes for Manchester United against Luton Town is our stat of the week.
His first goal came in the 37th second while the second came in the seventh minute. What makes the brace special and worthy of our recognition is that it is United’s fastest 2 – 0 lead in an away game in their history. The first of both goals is also United’s fastest Premier League away goal.
The Dane, who struggled in the earlier parts of the season for United following his transfer from Atalanta BC in the Italian Serie A, has now found his scoring boots and is shaping up to be their most important player as the season enters the business end of things.
Best/Worst VAR Decision
The red card awarded to Sheffield United’s Mason Holgate after a pitchside VAR review for a take-no-prisoners tackle on Kaoru Mitoma was a great example of how VAR should be used. We can only hope for the technology to continue taking steps forward, as it has already seen a lot of controversy since its implementation in the EPL.
Best Substitution
Jürgen Klopp watched his team struggle to create anything at the Brentford Community Stadium after Nuñez scored and threw Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo into the mix.
Both players took the bull by the horns and made sure that the Reds asserted their dominance over the Bees. The match ended 4 – 1 in favour of Liverpool and helped them remain at the top of the Premier League table.
Funniest Moment of the Matchweek
Rival fans, especially Brentford fans, will find Wolves’ celebrations at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium funny. This is because the hosts mocked Brentford a few weeks ago when they came back to a win at home.
Wolves played better than the Bees this time around, denying Spurs any comebacks and their celebrations were loud and proud. The social media banter that followed the game is proof of how funny the events of that match were.