Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week: Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Jamie Vardy

Liverpool's non-participation opened the door for the also-rans to close the gap to the top of the Premier League table, but only one of them managed to do so, as Chelsea pulled off a marvellous comeback from 2-0 down to trump Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 in one of the games of the season.

Neither Arsenal nor Manchester City could repeat the Blues' trick in the capital, though, as the Gunners' winning run ended in a 1-1 draw with Fulham, while the 10-man Citizens played out a fiery 2-2 stalemate with Crystal Palace.

Ruben Amorim's Manchester United went one worse, suffering a shock 3-2 home loss to high-flying Nottingham Forest, but Aston Villa's European bid remains alive and well thanks to their 1-0 beating of Southampton.

Newcastle United became the latest victims of the Gtech Community Stadium, as Brentford triumphed 4-2 in yet another home spectacular, while Ruud van Nistelrooy's Leicester City pulled off a terrific late fightback to hold Brighton & Hove Albion to a 2-2 draw.

Further down the division, Bournemouth also harnessed their comeback powers to defeat Ipswich Town 2-1, and Monday's crucial basement battle between West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers ended in an identical victory for Julen Lopetegui's team.

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

DEFENCE

Not often will a goalkeeper who has let in two goals be named the standout shot-stopper of the week, but Brentford's Mark Flekken could not have done much about either Newcastle effort and came up with a couple of critical moments of his own. As well as miraculously diving at the feet of Alexander Isak to deny the Swede a certain second, the Dutchman made his Fantasy Premier League players incredibly happy by registering one of those freak assists, as his long punt forward bounced once before being dispatched by Nathan Collins.

Speaking of centre-backs named Nathan, Southampton may have left Villa Park empty-handed, but Premier League novice Nathan Wood did not look one bit out of place on just his second top-flight start of the season. The 22-year-old produced five clearances - including one off the line - three blocks and one interception to keep the Saints in the game right until the final whistle blew.

Onto defenders who did come out on the correct end of the scoreline, Bournemouth's Ilya Zabarnyi produced the quintessential centre-back's battling display at Portman Road. Winning a staggering nine of his 10 ground duels, the Ukrainian produced six tackles - including one last-man challenge - and four blocks to play a starring role in the Cherries' comeback.

Completing a three-man backline with a combined age of just 68, Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix bullied a man half that age in 34-year-old Kyle Walker, who did not even jump to prevent the Frenchman from powering home a bullet header in the draw with champions. Always in the right place at the right time, Lacroix also put in nine clearances and won all three of his ground duels to put another severe dent in City's title aspirations.

MIDFIELD

Death, taxes, and Bryan Mbeumo excelling in a Brentford home game. The Cameroonian had hit a bit of a sticky patch before Newcastle came to visit, but he was on the ball - literally - on Saturday, opening the scoring with a beautiful strike before poking a pass through to Kevin Schade to cap off the six-goal spectacular.

On the opposite side, Rayan Ait-Nouri put in a late nomination with his eye-catching display in Wolves' loss to West Ham, but the 23-year-old just loses out to Bournemouth's Dango Ouattara, whose introduction against Ipswich completely changed the game. The Burkina Faso star delivered the cross which Enes Unal managed to bundle home with the aid of a deflection, before completing the visitors' fightback deep into second-half stoppage time.

Forming one half of an all-English midfield pairing, Crystal Palace fulcrum Will Hughes did not wilt in the face of Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva as he ran the midfield show against City. The 29-year-old curled a wonderful ball through to Daniel Munoz for the Eagles' opener before picking out Lacroix with a brilliant corner, while he also had three shots and won four of his five ground duels to complement his pair of assists.

Arsenal's Declan Rice was not quite able to emulate Hughes with an assist from a corner against Fulham, although his customarily perfect delivery to the back post was nodded on by Kai Havertz for William Saliba to level the derby. The 25-year-old's helper was one element of a masterful passing performance at Craven Cottage, where he found the mark with all four of his long ball attempts, created three chances and misplaced just one of his 52 passes for an excellent accuracy of 98%.

ATTACK

Filling in at centre-forward for Michail Antonio following the Jamaican's horrifying car accident, West Ham talisman Jarrod Bowen was the star of 'El Sackico'. The former Hull City man's corner to the back stick was headed back across goal and in by Tomas Soucek, before a winner of pure individual brilliance no doubt bought Lopetegui a bit more time in the hotseat.

Unlike the under-pressure Lopetegui, Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy is yet to lose in a Premier League managerial setting, and he has Jamie Vardy to primarily thank for that. The evergreen striker cut the deficit in half against Brighton with a composed side-footed volley, before unselfishly teeing up Bobby Decordova-Reid to draw level right at the death.

Last but by no means least, Chelsea's Cole Palmer was typically unperturbed as pieces of cardboard rained down on him from the Spurs stands, perhaps knowing that he would eventually whip out the 'cold' celebration in North London. True enough, the 22-year-old converted two spot kicks - including the most audacious panenka - to break a Premier League penalty record held by Yaya Toure, while also creating four chances and completing four of his five dribble attempts to ensure his side are taken that little bit more seriously in the title conversation.

SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK

Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week (3-4-1-2): Flekken; Zabarnyi, Lacroix, Nathan Wood; Mbeumo, Rice, Hughes, Ouattara; Palmer; Bowen, Vardy

Written by

Ben Knapton