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Kaoru Mitoma, Brighton, £6.5m – Leicester (h)
Backing a forward player against Leicester pays off almost every week and Mitoma is easily Brighton’s most reliable midfielder.
The most shots, shots in the box, on target, key passes, xG, goals – I could go on.
Newcastle’s Murphy had a haul from the flanks against the Foxes, now it is Mitoma’s turn.
Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, £13.8m – West Ham (h)
It is
Emi Martinez, Aston Villa, keeper, £5m – Nottingham Forest (h)
The Argentine kept just his fourth clean sheet of the season in Wednesday’s win at Brighton but he is a differential keeper option for this week and the rest of the season.
Villa face goal-shy Southampton next week before a double in 33.
Forest are not an easy opponent for Villa but they are definitely not as threatening without injured
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool): This is the first time you’re going to hear me say this and probably the last. I was at the game and I would pay a huge amount of money to watch that. He was incredible: passing range, fitness, endeavour, defensive work as well as attacking work. He hit the bar. I thought he was excellent. Player of the weekend by a country mile.
Josko Gvardiol (Manchester
Life could hardly be much better for Newcastle fans right now.
The Magpies are on a club record-equalling nine-match winning run in all competitions, they have one of the hottest strikers in world football at their disposal in Alexander Isak, and they are back in the top four of the Premier League for the first time since September.
In-form Isak became the first Newcastle player to score in eight successive
Howe’s team were 12th in the table in early December but began the game knowing that victory would lift them into the Champions League places after a four-month absence.
Though not at their fluent best in the first half Newcastle created the vast majority of the chances – but needed a slice of good fortune to get their noses in front, Isak’s shot striking Ait-Nouri before curling inside Sa’s right-hand
Isak has always dealt with the pressure of potential. As a 16-year-old he became the youngest scorer in local club AIK’s league history, and quickly established himself as a hot prospect across Europe. Comparisons to legendary countryman Zlatan Ibrahimovic soon followed, but the pair could hardly have been more contrasting.
Ibrahimovic’s brash, ego-driven persona was not shared by Isak. Born to Eritrean parents in Stockholm, he grew up humble and
Isak himself was quick to praise his Magpies colleagues after Saturday’s victory – their sixth in a row in all competitions.
Aside from Isak’s goals, Sandro Tonali’s deep-lying role alongside midfield team-mates Joelinton and Guimaraes has been pivotal to Newcastle’s resurgence, as has the form of Gordon, Murphy and left-back Lewis Hall.
Martin Dubravka has deputised admirably for injured first-choice goalkeeper Nick Pope, while Sven Botman – who was such
Newcastle didn’t need to come up with anything radical to seize control of the match.
In an age of analysts, throw-in coaches and fitness gurus, a TV set with an ability to record would have been enough.
Manchester United’s deficiencies in defending set-pieces have been highlighted in every post-match inquest since Nottingham Forest came to this stadium on 7 December and scored after two minutes with a corner dropped to
Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, £13.5m – away at West Ham
Even in a “quietish” game on Boxing Day, Salah still got nine points.
It’s hard to see a week in the near future where you wouldn’t captain him too.
Luis Diaz, Liverpool, £7.5m – away at West Ham
Diaz is a risky, mega-high upside pick. He rarely starts back-to-back games but, with four double-digit returns (13,14,15 and 16 points) in 11
Matheus Cunha (Wolves): Back-to-back weeks he’s my number 10. Wolves’ best player by a country mile, he scored past a very poor Manchester United team – but we all know that anyway. If you score from a corner you’re getting in the team of the week.
Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) and Anthony Gordon (Newcastle): Both these players were excellent and dynamic. They drove their teams forward and both scored. They were