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Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week

Sports Mole picks out the most impressive 11 players from the 22nd weekend of Premier League action.

What many felt was either a six or seven-team Premier League title race has now been cut to three after the 22nd round of matches.

Victories for Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea has seen that trio open up a six-point gap to Liverpool, who could only a muster a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at Anfield, in fourth.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Cardiff City dropped to the bottom following a 4-2 defeat away at Man City, while Crystal Palace moved out of the relegation zone courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Tony Pulis's former club Stoke City.

So, with another weekend of action done and dusted, Sports Mole has selected a team of players that made the biggest impression on us.


Jack Butland (Stoke City)
He may have ended up on the losing side, but without a number of saves from Butland, Crystal Palace's winning margin would have been even greater at Selhurst Park.

Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur)
After Spurs had weathered the Swansea City storm, they took control of the contest. Walker, in particular, benefited as he made numerous advances forward from right-back. It was his cross that resulted in his team's second goal.
Ryan Bennett (Norwich City)
Not only did Bennett play a key role in Norwich keeping a clean sheet, he also scored one of his side's most important goals of the season to date.
Gary Cahill (Chelsea)
As well as defending with his usual stubbornness against Manchester United, Cahill also played a key role in Eto'o completing his hat-trick at Stamford Bridge.
Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur)
Just like Walker on the opposite flank, Rose caused numerous problems to Swansea, which ended in him laying on Spurs's third goal at the Liberty Stadium.

Craig Noone (Cardiff City)
The winger has flourished since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge at Cardiff and he continued his recent form by scoring a memorable goal at the Etihad Stadium.
Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle United)
Paris Saint-Germain are said to be keen on Cabaye and after this showing against West Ham United, you can understand why. He is playing in a free role for Newcastle right now and showed his quality by scoring twice.
Yaya Toure (Manchester City)
In scoring against Cardiff, Toure displayed all of his positive qualities. Pace, strength and power were all present as he fired in following a lengthy run.
Santi Cazorla (Arsenal)
The Gunners had found it hard to break Fulham down during the first half, but their Spanish playmaker made a vital intervention by scoring a quickfire double after the restart.

Samuel Eto'o (Chelsea)
He has hardly covered himself in glory since his summer arrival, but Eto'o made a major impression by scoring all three of his team's goals against United.
Emmanuel Adebayor (Tottenham Hotspur)
On this form, Adebayor is unplayable. He scored twice against Swansea and would have had a hat-trick had Mousa Dembele passed to him in wide open space rather than shooting wide.

Numpty of the week

Nemanja Vidic and Rafael da Silva: One of these Man United defenders was sent off and the other was only booked, with many believing that the punishments should have been reversed. The fact is, though, that neither were smart challenges as their frustration seemingly got the better of them.

Goal of the week

Craig Noone (Man City vs. Cardiff City): There are not many attackers that make Vincent Kompany look foolish, but Noone managed it. Having wrong-footed the Man City skipper, he then caught out Joe Hart with a shot inside the near post, when it appeared that the home goalkeeper was expecting his effort to fly across the goal.

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Written by
Liam Apicella
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Manchester City's Spanish midfielder Jesus Navas celebrates after scoring his teams second goal during the English Premier League football match against Cardiff City on January 18, 2014
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool16123137162139
2Chelsea17105237191835
3Arsenal1796234161833
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest179442319431
5Bournemouth178452721628
6Aston Villa178452626028
7Manchester CityMan City178362925427
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle177552721626
9Fulham176742422225
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1772839251423
12Brentford177283232023
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd176472122-122
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham175572230-820
15Everton163761421-716
16Crystal Palace173771826-816
17Leicester CityLeicester173592137-1614
18Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1733112740-1312
19Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
20Southampton1713131136-256


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