Liverpool made it five wins out of five as they swept aside Southampton 3-0 on Saturday to go top of the Premier League table.
Chelsea drew with West Ham, ending their perfect start to the new campaign, whilst Manchester City made slight work of Cardiff, beating Neil Warnock’s side 5-0 to stay level with the Blues in second place.
Arsenal and Tottenham kept up the pressure with wins over Everton and Brighton, whilst Manchester United dropped points again at Wolves, who continue to impress in their first season back in the top flight.
Elsewhere, Burnley beat Bournemouth and Leicester beat Huddersfield Town. Newcastle and Crystal Palace, and Fulham and Watford saw out the weekend’s two goalless draws.
But who were the standout performers from the weekend’s action?
Team of the Week (3-5-2)
GK: Lukasz Fabianski – West Ham United
There were a number of impressive keeping displays at the weekend, namely from Arsenal’s Petr Cech and Manchester United’s David de Gea, but Fabianski was the pick of the bunch. The Pole produced a string of fine saves – including one off his chin – to deny Chelsea at the London Stadium on Sunday as the Hammers kept their first clean sheet of the season.
CB: Willy Boly – Wolves
Romelu Lukaku may have his critics, but no-one can deny the big Belgian is a real handful on his day. Wolves’ Willy Boly did a marvellous job of mitigating the Manchester United’s striker physical threat on Saturday, and denied him what would have been a real goalscoring opportunity late on with a fine interception.
CB: Issa Diop – West Ham United
Diop is quickly becoming a fan favourite at the London Stadium. After scoring a rocket goal in the Carabao Cup a fortnight ago, the Frenchman has followed it up with fine performances against Everton and Chelsea. Against the latter, Diop boasted the highest passing accuracy (94.7%) of any player on the pitch, and also made a number of important tackles and blocks to deny the Blues.
CB: Joel Matip – Liverpool
The performance of Joel Matip on Saturday was encouraging for a number of reasons. Not only did it prove Liverpool’s strength in depth, as well as Cameroon star’s sometimes questioned quality, but it also perfectly represented the spirit within the Liverpool camp at the moment. Having not started any of the Reds’ Premier League games so far, Matip could have been forgiven for an unmemorable afternoon. But instead he put in a Man of the Match display, scored and gave Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez plenty of food for thought.
RM: Xherdan Shaqiri – Liverpool
A first Liverpool start for Xherdan Shaqiri against Southampton on Saturday, and boy did he make it count. The Swiss star had a huge hand in two of Liverpool’s goals, and troubled the Saints defence throughout with his powerful running in-behind. Unfortunately he was dragged off at half-time in what Jurgen Klopp called a ‘tactical’ decision, but his 45 minute cameo will have certainly put him in contention for start against Chelsea on Wednesday night.
CM: Ilkay Gündoğan – Manchester City
No David Silva? No problem when you’ve got a guy with this quality as a replacement. Gundogan was simply superb as City swept aside Cardiff City on Saturday – scoring one and assisting one in a comfortable 5-0 win for Pep Guardiola’s side.
CM: James Maddison – Leicester City
Maddison has made a hugely impressive start to the life in the Premier League following his summer move from Norwich City, and again showed why Leicester splashed £20 million on him with his Man of the Match display against Huddersfield on Saturday. The Englishman’s fine free-kick from the edge of the box gave Claude Puel’s side the lead after going behind early on.
CM: Will Hughes – Watford
You can’t help but think it won’t be long until Watford’s Will Hughes gets a call-up to the England side such has been his form so far this season. The former Derby man was excellent again versus Fulham on Saturday, playing a vital role in both halves of the pitch for Javi Gracia’s side. Hughes set up Andre Gray for the opener with barely a minute played, and made a brilliant last ditch interception to deny Fulham at the other end late in the first half.
LM: Riyad Mahrez – Manchester City
Mahrez’s brace against Cardiff on Saturday would have done him a world of confidence after a hit-and-miss start to life at The Etihad. The Algerian was teed up for a sitter by Ilkay Gundogan for his first, and slammed home his second moments later with a trademark shimmy and shot on the edge of the box. Expect Mahrez to kick on in style from now on.
ST: Aleksandar Mitrovic – Fulham
Aleksandar Mitrovic was hit-and-miss at Newcastle United. With Fulham, he is menacing. The big Serb scored his fifth goal of the season to earn The Cottagers a draw against Watford on Saturday, poking home Luciano Vietto’s cross in typical poacher’s fashion. He could have scored the winner moments later had it not been for the crossbar. That’s 17 win 26 games since moving to Craven Cottage in January – a record that makes him the most prolific scorer in English football this year.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – Arsenal
Sometimes it takes just a moment of magic to turn an otherwise disappointing afternoon into a good one, and that is exactly what Alexandre Lacazette provided for Arsenal on Sunday. The Gunners were having a frustrating afternoon against Everton before the Frenchman curled home his sensational effort early in the second-half – with his strike completely changing the dynamic of the game. Unai Emery’s side looked rejuvenated after, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang going on to score the second in a 2-0 win.
