Liverpool were in rampant form this past weekend, and so it’s no surprise that they dominate BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks’ Premier League team of the week.
The Reds secured a 5-1 win over Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday evening, as they maintained their healthy lead at the top of the Premier League.
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Off the back of that performance, Crooks has included Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino in his XI with the Brazilian ace leading the charge with a hat-trick against the Gunners.
In truth, he could have had his pick from the Liverpool line-up given that there were key performances across the pitch, but he has settled on three key individuals in each department on the pitch, and few will surely have any arguments with it.
Elsewhere, Cardiff City picked up a vital win over Leicester City to boost their survival hopes, with goalkeeper Neil Etheridge getting the nod between the posts after another penalty save which helped secure his side’s first away win of the season.
Sol Bamba and Victor Camarasa also do enough to join their teammate in the team, albeit Crooks could be open to criticism given that he has seemingly identified two sole key moments in the game as the basis on which he has included the pair.
Willy Boly completes the backline after playing a key role in the surprise 3-1 win over Tottenham at Wembley, but as is often the case with Crooks, a trend begins to emerge in that he has picked several players who scored over the weekend.
Boly sparked the comeback for Wolves on Saturday, although defensively he was crucial too.
That goalscoring trend continues in midfield with N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba both getting on the scoresheet, albeit the latter put in another star performance to guide Man Utd to their third consecutive win under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a brace and an assist. In turn, he certainly deserves his place in the XI.
Kante scored Chelsea’s winner at Crystal Palace, while the midfield is completed by Fernandinho who returned from injury to help Man City get back to winning ways. Given the reigning champions lost both games without him, it has become pretty clear how important he is for them.
Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic completes the team, as his injury-time goal against Huddersfield secured three vital points for Claudio Ranieri’s men which lifted them closer towards safety.
Perhaps the choice of Liverpool players and various snubs will ensure Crooks gets some criticism as expected every week, but overall, he’s chosen a balanced side with each individual selected on merit.
BBC Team of the Week: Etheridge; Bamba, Boly, Van Dijk; Wijnaldum, Kante, Pogba, Fernandinho, Camarasa; Firmino, Mitrovic.
