Premier League Team of the Week: Erling Haaland, Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo

The Reds were unable to capitalise on title rivals Arsenal and Chelsea also slipping up, as the Gunners were held to a 1-1 stalemate by Brighton & Hove Albion, as were the Blues at the home of Crystal Palace.

Nottingham Forest continue to dazzle and delight, though, going level on points with Arsenal by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0, while Newcastle United's Champions League charge is gathering pace thanks to their 2-1 triumph away to Tottenham Hotspur.

Reigning champions Manchester City appear to have stopped the rot if their 4-1 thrashing of West Ham United is anything to go by, but Bournemouth remain hot on their tails thanks to their 1-0 triumph over Everton.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa edged out relegation-battling Leicester City by two goals to one, Ipswich Town left Fulham's Craven Cottage base with a hard-earned point from a 2-2 draw, and Brentford put five unanswered goals past a sorry Southampton.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week for the latest round of matches.

DEFENCE

It would be unfair not to mention Matz Sels's performance in between the posts for Nottingham Forest at Wolves on Monday night, but with seven top saves at the Vitality Stadium - including a double stop from Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo - Everton's Jordan Pickford was the sole reason that the Toffees did not lose by more in Bournemouth.

There is a fellow honourable mention in the right-back category - Tottenham's Pedro Porro excelled against Newcastle, even though he came out on the wrong end of the scoreline - but Daniel Munoz was a defensive and attacking machine against Chelsea, creating four chances, making five tackles and winning nine of his 11 ground duels to further enhance his ever-growing reputation.

The M's are the theme for our four-man backline this week, as Nottingham Forest's rearguard rock Murillo forces his way in yet again. Strengthening his case for a team of the season nomination by the week, the 22-year-old made a terrific clearance off the line to deny Wolves' Jorgen Strand Larsen, while also putting in four blocks, two interceptions and three tackles in another defensive masterclass.

A South American who has been less impressive over the course of the season, Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez went from being lambasted against Newcastle United to lauded against Liverpool, opening the scoring with a devastating finish off the crossbar and also contributing three interceptions, three tackles and four clearances to earn the Red Devils an unexpected point.

Ending the defence with a player linked to both Liverpool and Man United, Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez fashioned the delightful David Brooks winner against Everton with a wonderful cross to the Welshman - one of three chances the Hungarian created - while two interceptions and two tackles were also pivotal to keeping Everton at bay.

MIDFIELD

"Good luck" was the message from Brentford boss Thomas Frank when asked about the possibility of teams buying Bryan Mbeumo, and the Cameroonian no doubt added a few more pounds to his transfer value at Southampton, chalking up another two goals with a high finish and confident penalty before laying on the assist for Keane Lewis-Potter's effort.

Over in the West Midlands, Aston Villa's Ross Barkley made a Premier League starting XI for just the third time this season, but he well and truly vindicated his manager's decision against Leicester, opening the scoring with a venomous drive, completing all three of his dribbles and registering an astounding pass accuracy of 98%.

Sticking with the theme of pass masters, Man United captain Bruno Fernandes did something that no Red Devils player has managed to do in the Premier League since 2003, create four chances in a game at Anfield. The Portuguese playmaker's delicate reverse pass teed up Martinez for the first goal of the encounter, and that slick assist also saw Fernandes bring up 200 career top-flight goal involvements.

From Manchester red to Manchester blue, Man City's revival has coincided with a Savinho resurgence, as the Brazilian winger followed up his goal and assist against Leicester with both helpers for Erling Haaland and the cross for Vladimir Coufal's own goal in the hammering of West Ham.

ATTACK

Briefly mentioned while we were singing Savinho's praises, Citizens talisman Erling Haaland scored his first Premier League brace in three-and-a-half months - a scarcely believable statistic - when the Irons came to visit, following up a back-post header with a delicate dink to keep Mohamed Salah honest in the Golden Boot race.

Another two-goal striker completes a two-man strikeforce this week, as Fulham hitman Raul Jimenez entered the record books as the highest-scoring Mexican in Premier League history, leaving Javier Hernandez in his wake. Converting two penalties with aplomb in the Ipswich draw - including the one that ultimately stole a point for the Cottagers - Jimenez is now 10 for 10 on Premier League spot kicks, becoming just the third player in the history of the competition to take at least 10 penalties and score all of them.

SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK

Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week (4-4-2): Pickford; Munoz, Murillo, Lisandro Martinez, Kerkez; Mbeumo, Barkley, Fernandes, Savinho; Haaland, Jimenez

Written by

Ben Knapton