Premier League Team of the Week – Unexpected heroes at Arsenal and Ipswich, Marmoush announces himself at Man City | OneFootball

Liverpool and Arsenal picked up wins to push themselves further clear at the top of the Premier League over the weekend.

Everton came away from Crystal Palace with a 2-1 victory and have now won four out of six in the league since David Moyes’ return.

Manchester City came through a potential banana skin unscathed, beating Newcastle United 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

Tottenham Hotspur climbed to 12th place with a 1-0 win over Manchester United.

Here’s a look at the individuals who shone brightest this weekend.

Goalkeeper – Alex Palmer – Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town have had their fair share of goalkeeping problems this season, with neither Arijanet Muric nor Christian Walton really impressing between the sticks.

The club brought in Alex Palmer from West Bromwich Albion late in the winter transfer window, and he had a debut to remember at Villa Park on Saturday.

Ipswich held on for a 1-1 draw despite playing most of the game with 10 men after Axel Tuanzebe’s 40th-minute dismissal.

They are two points off Wolverhampton Wanderers in 17th, but Kieran McKenna will take plenty of encouragement from the grit his side showed at Villa.

Right-back – Yankuba Minteh – Brighton & Hove Albion

Minteh started as the right wing-back, as Fabian Hurzeler set up Brighton to have men behind the ball against a toothless Chelsea attack.

The plan was executed to perfection, as the Seagulls beat Enzo Maresca’s side for the second time in a week, this time by a 3-0 scoreline.

Brighton were largely untroubled defensively, despite only having 30 percent of the possession.

They countered with purpose and directness when Chelsea made a mistake, and two of those breakaways ended with Minteh scoring.

Centre-back – James Tarkowski – Everton

James Tarkowski is loving life under David Moyes.

The Everton captain produced another commanding display in the heart of the defence alongside Jarrad Branthwaite at Selhurst Park.

Jean-Philippe Mateta scored for Palace, but Tarkowski kept the in-form Frenchman quiet other than that.

He made five interceptions, ten clearances and won 90% of his duels in Everton’s 2-1 victory.

Centre-back – Calvin Bassey – Fulham

Fulham produced one of the surprise results of the weekend, beating third-placed Nottingham Forest 2-1 at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

Marco Silva’s side could have won by more, as they had 24 shots on goal and were denied by a superb performance by Forest goalkeeper Mats Sels.

Centre-back Calvin Bassey could have done better for Chris Wood’s equaliser.

However, he made amends just past the hour mark with a smart back-post header from a corner to score the winner.

Left-back – Keane Lewis-Potter – Brentford

Brentford haven’t grabbed too many headlines for their defensive prowess this season, but kept a clean-sheet in a 1-0 win at West Ham United on Saturday.

Keane Lewis-Potter has established himself at left-back since Rico Henry’s ongoing injury issues.

The Englishman produced a brilliant display at the London Stadium, keeping Jarred Bowen quiet. He also bombed forward in attack when he had the chance to.

He had the second-highest number of touches in the entire Brentford team and was absolutely everywhere down the Bees’ left flank.

Centre-midfield – Nico Gonzalez – Manchester City

Manchester City splashed the cash in January to bring in Nico Gonzalez from Porto as a replacement for the injured Rodri.

He came off injured on debut against Leyton Orient in the FA Cup last weekend but was passed fit to take the field for his first Premier League outing against Newcastle United.

Gonzalez more than held his own against Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joe Willock as Man City cantered to a 4-0 win.

He will be a key man for Pep Guardiola in midweek as City look to overturn a 3-2 first-leg deficit at Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Centre-midfield – Ryan Christie – Bournemouth

Bournemouth finished the weekend in fifth place following a 3-1 victory away at bottom-side Southampton.

The Cherries took the game away from the Saints in two first-half minutes, with midfielder Ryan Christie producing two moments of pure class.

The Scot whipped in a venomous cross with his left foot, which was glanced home by Dango Ouattara. Just a few seconds after the re-start, Christie scored with a sumptuous curling effort.

The 29-year-old has become an integral part of Andoni Iraola’s set-up, which is now scaling unexpected heights.

Left-wing – Kaoru Mitoma – Brighton & Hove Albion

After scoring the winner against Chelsea in the FA Cup last week, Kaoru Mitoma opened the scoring against the same opposition on Friday night.

The Japanese international scored one of the goals of the weekend, killing a long ball from goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen with a delectable first touch.

He subsequently beat Trevoh Chalobah and fired the ball into the bottom corner. This was his fourth goal in all competitions since the turn of the year.

Right-wing – Ethan Nwaneri – Arsenal

Amidst all the injuries woes at Arsenal, Ethan Nwaneri has been playing with supreme freedom.

The academy product was the Gunners’ most positive player at Leicester City and set up the first of two late goals that won the game for the away side.

Mikel Arteta has tried several different options to fill the void left by the injured Bukayo Saka. It seems like he has finally found the answer.

Attacking midfield – Omar Marmoush – Manchester City

Omar Marmoush has had to wait for his first goal for Man City since his big money from Eintracht Frankfurt last month.

The Egyptian made up for lost time on Saturday, netting a 14-minute hat-trick against Newcastle.

Marmoush started on the left-hand side but drifted centrally into the box, where his second and third goals came from.

His first was a lob following Ederson’s long ball over the Newcastle defence – the Brazilian goalkeeper’s sixth career assist in the Premier League.

Centre-forward – Mikel Merino – Arsenal

With Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz out injured, it was up to Arteta to improvise at Leicester.

He started with Leandro Trossard up front but decided to try something new with 20 minutes remaining.

Midfielder Mikel Merino came on to play as the number nine, and the Spaniard scored twice in the last ten minutes to seal all three points.

This was definitely an inspired, albeit unexpected, substitution.

Here is your Gameweek 25 Team of the Week in the Premier League: