MX23RW : Friday, November 8 16:48:58| >> :60:683:683:

Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week

Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week
© PA Photos
Sports Mole's selects its Premier League Team of the Week after a frantic start to the festive period.

After a busy start to the festive season there was action at both ends of the table as Manchester United stretched their lead at the top to seven points and Wigan Athletic slipped into the bottom three.

United initially lost ground after being held by Swansea City on Saturday, but their thrilling 4-3 win over Newcastle United on Boxing Day put them seven clear after Manchester City lost at Sunderland.

Chelsea put an eye-watering eight goals past Aston Villa on Saturday, with the Villans then going on to concede another four at home to Tottenham Hotspur.

At the bottom Queens Park Rangers are still with only the one win this season with a loss at home to West Bromwich Albion followed by a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle.

After considering all the action, Sports Mole selects the best 11 players of the week.

Simon Mignolet (Sunderland)
Sunderland notched a couple of much-needed clean sheets and Mignolet was at the heart of both of them, in particular against Manchester City where he produced a string of fine saves.

Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)
The Serbian has been in fine form all season and showed his experience twice in the week with two complete shut-outs of his opposing winger and managed to get on the scoresheet against Aston Villa.

Patrice Evra (Manchester United)
The French left-back scored a goal in each of United's two games this week and had a huge say in their four points. His second was a fine strike low from distance.

Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City)
Although he gave away the penalty for Liverpool's goal in Stoke's 3-1 win he captained his side to four huge points against Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.

David Luiz (Chelsea)
Luiz did his best Franz Beckenbauer impression against Villa, bossing the game from deep and scored a superb free kick at the other end.

Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
The Belgian winger was a constant threat during his side's 8-0 win and finished with a goal and two assists.

Gareth Bale (Tottenham)
The Welshman did not get a lot of joy against Stoke, but at times he was the only player on the pitch against Aston Villa as he stormed his way to a hat-trick.

Chris Brunt (West Brom)
He notched a fine goal against Queens Park Rangers and his deliveries in the previous fixture against Norwich caused no end of trouble.

Leon Osman (Everton)
Osman kept the ball superbly in both of Everton's fixtures, with his turn of pace helping them to two 2-1 wins. He also opened the scoring against Wigan on Boxing Day.

Robin van Persie (Manchester United)
Van Persie completely outshone his strike partner Wayne Rooney against Swansea and set up Evra's header with a fine cross. He was also unlucky to hit the bar with a superb flicked volley. His deliveries again caused chaos against Newcastle and scored a vital equaliser to help United to the 4-3 win.

Jonathan Walters (Stoke City)
Walters was a constant thorn to the Liverpool defence and notched two goals on Boxing Day, the second an absolutely sublime chest and volley.

ID:61156: cacheID:61156:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4575:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Chelsea star Juan Mata scores the first goal against Norwich on December 26, 2012
Read Next:
Match Analysis: Norwich 0-1 Chelsea
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
FT
Bengals
34-35
Ravens
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!