Arsenal had the ultimate smash and grab, Liverpool blew their own title expectations and Hugo Lloris proved he'd be crap at head-tennis. Chelsea still sit pretty on top of the tree, with Diego Costa now back in the good books. That's a dangerous thing for the nineteen other Premier League teams. But we flew through the facts and stats to put together our team of the weekend. So without further ado we present...
The Balls.ie Premier League Team of the Weekend
GK – Lee Grant (Stoke City)
Man United had 25 shots on the Stoke goal, they absolutely dominated the Potters. Eight of those were on target. Seven of those were saved by Lee Grant. It took a superb strike from Wayne Rooney to beat him in the last minute. So close to his seventh clean sheet of the season.
LB – Chris Brunt (West Brom)
West Brom are justifying their position in the Premier League table. They had yet another home win, this time over hapless Sunderland. Darren Fletcher had a good strike but this was topped by the bullet from Chris Brunt. It was the Northern Irishman’s third goal in the Baggies last six games at the Hawthorns
6 - Chris Brunt has had a hand in six goals in his last five home Premier League games (three goals, three assists). Homely. — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 21, 2017
CB – Skhodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
Mustafi had a solid game against Burnley. He made 66 passes (more than Alex Iwobi!) had three important tackles and three interceptions. To top it all off he grabbed his first Arsenal goal from an old friend.
Mesut Ozil & Shkodran Mustafi pray prior to kick off at the Emirates.
62min: Ozil assist and Mustafi Goal! Great Header
🇩🇪 What a picture! pic.twitter.com/OddsPrue39— Football Factly (@FootballFactly) January 22, 2017
CB – Winston Reid (West Ham)
West Ham are in the top half. Go on check it yourself! They went to the Riverside on Saturday apparently in a crisis after the Payet saga. They didn’t show it as Middlesbrough couldn’t get into gear against a robust defence. Reid was the highlight with four interceptions, twelve clearances and three blocks.
RB – Seamus Coleman (Everton)
This one was probably predictable, but this isn’t just Irish bias. Hear us out.
Coleman had as many shots as both of his strikers (Lukaku and Mirallas) as he adopted a more advanced position in a 3-5-2 for the Toffees.
Plus, look at how well he did to make space for himself to score the winner. Ignore the fact that the man who was meant to be marking him was on/off the pitch with an injury.
Great Everton away day today, 60 grand Seamus Coleman 😃COYB pic.twitter.com/iYntxhuCnU
— Korova (@Korova_MC) January 21, 2017
RM – Mesut Ozil (Arsenal)
Remember when Mesut Ozil was on to break a Premier League record for assists in a season? He didn't quite do it and hasn't reached those kind of standards so far this year. But he did manage to grab just his sixth assist of the season. He harried Ireland international Stephen Ward all day though, finishing with a 92% pass success rate.
CM – Jack Wilshere (Bournemouth)
Wilshere was key for Bournemouth on Saturday as he had arguable his best game for the Cherries since moving on loan. An 88% pass success rate was higher than any other player, as was his seven dribbles. On the defensive side, he made three key blocks and only lost possession once inside his own half.
CM – Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)
Man City were in control of the game when Kevin De Bruyne capitalized on Hugo Lloris’ second howler. The Belgian had a 72% pass success rate, three shots, three tackles and was behind a lot of Pep Guardiola’s attacks
8 - The only player to record more Premier League assists than Christian Eriksen (8) this season is Kevin de Bruyne (9). Invention. — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 21, 2017
LM – Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
Firmino single-handedly dragged Liverpool back into the game against Swansea. Unfortunately, could do nothing about his crap defence.
He had more shots than any other Premier League player on Saturday (six) with two of them finding the net, including a sweet half volley
ST – Fernando Llorente (Swansea)
Unfortunately for Firmino, Fernando Llorente bullied Ragnar Klavan and Dejan Lovren all game. He won five out of his ten aerial duels against the centrebacks. Two of those found the net and he had a 100% tackle success rate while defending. It helped lift the Swans out of the relegation zone.
ST – Andy Carroll (West Ham)
Andy Carroll is the form horse in the Premier League. Even though he’s apparently supposed to be suffering from injury. He got a brace against Boro, the first a typical Carroll goal as he bulleted a header past Victor Valdes. His quick reaction to Valdes’ parry meant he got his second of the day and third in two games. Dmitri who?
These two haven't had a bad week...
3️⃣️ goals for @AndyTCarroll
4️⃣️ assists for @Michailantonio #COYI pic.twitter.com/jPOgiNcHNH— West Ham United (@WestHam) January 21, 2017
