Premier League Team of the Week features Arsenal assist king | OneFootball

Our Premier League Team of the Week as Arsenal’s assist king shines and West Ham’s forward line finds its spark.

Goalkeeper: Matz Sels – Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest have become stubborn opposition under Nuno Espirito Santo and extended their run to one defeat in seven with a draw at Chelsea.

Matz Sels produced a brilliant goalkeeping performance to frustrate the hosts, with seven saves made. The Belgian might have been disappointed with the equaliser but he more than atoned for that, including a fantastic double-stop late on from Cole Palmer.

Centre-back: Wout Faes – Leicester

Wout Faes became a meme machine after scoring two own goals against Liverpool in 2022, but the Belgian is silencing past critics right now. Quietly excellent for Leicester in the opening weeks, he produced a top-class performance to help the Foxes to a 1-0 win over Bournemouth.

Faes racked up a huge nine clearances, was so often in the right place to snuff out danger, and threw himself in front of three goal-bound shots.

Centre-back Nikola Milekovic – Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest have become incredibly difficult to beat this season and Nikola Milenkovic has been a big part of that. The Serbian centre-back has been a towering presence since arriving in the summer and deservedly claimed Forest’s Player of the Month for September. Against Chelsea this weekend, he defended well with five aerial duels won and assisted Chris Wood’s goal with a knockdown from a set piece. A snip at £12m.

Centre-back: Jonny Evans – Manchester United

Manchester United have thrown plenty of cash at centre-backs of late, but it was a veteran free transfer who held their backline together at Aston Villa. Jonny Evans won four tackles and 11/12 defensive duels, including 100% of the battles contested in the air (5/5). At 36, Evans used all his experience to guide the struggling Red Devils to a much-needed clean sheet.

Midfield: Mateo Kovacic – Manchester City

The deepest of Manchester City’s midfielders as Pep Guardiola looks to replace Rodri, Kovacic’s biggest impact instead came at the other end. He slammed home a deflected equaliser after Fulham took a shock lead at the Etihad, before finding a second with a well-taken finish. A dominant display from the classy Croatian.

Midfield: Mikkel Damsgaard – Brentford

The hub of a five-star performance from Brentford. After two underwhelming seasons in West London, Damsgaard is fit, confident, and finally showing his quality in a Brentford shirt.

The Denmark international was excellent in the 5-3 win over Wolves, as he recorded two assists and six chances created. Damsgaard’s creativity helped Brentford lead all Premier League clubs for goals (5), xG (4.2) and big chances (8) this weekend.

Midfield: Kai Havertz – Arsenal

In a deeper role against Southampton but no less effective. A stunning goal brought Arsenal level in the game and saw Havertz score for the seventh straight game at the Emirates, while his all-round game was good as he floated around the pitch.

Havertz is now just one goal or assist from matching his haul as a Chelsea player, despite having played less than half the games for Arsenal (44) that he did at Stamford Bridge (91).

Right-wing: Bukayo Saka – Arsenal

After an electric but fruitless individual performance against Leicester, Saka got his rewards for another display of devastating wing play this weekend. He set up each of Arsenal’s first two goals in the come-from-behind win over Southampton at the Emirates, before clinically dispatching the third on his weaker right side.

Saka has evolved into an elite creator and now has seven assists in seven league appearances this season. The single-season Premier League record (20) might just be in his sights.

Left-wing: Kaoru Mitoma – Brighton

Kaoru Mitoma’s injury record might just be what kept the winger at Brighton in the summer. Mitoma was back to his best against Spurs this weekend as Brighton turned around a two-goal deficit to win at the Amex Stadium.

An elite dribbler with fantastic end product, Mitoma gave Pedro Porro a torrid time to end the contest with an assist, three key passes and two big chances created. A top talent, there will be a queue for the Japan international next summer if he maintains this level.

Forward: Jarrod Bowen – West Ham

A big result for West Ham, in which their big names delivered.

Jarrod Bowen was a livewire against Ipswich with the West Ham winger involved throughout in a 4-1 win at the London Stadium. He teed up Michail Antonio for the opener inside the opening minute, before scoring the third with a superb solo effort. Bowen was the provider again with a cross for Lucas Paqueta to score the fourth and looked back to his best. Julen Lopetegui will be delighted to see the club captain in this mood.

Forward: Michail Antonio – West Ham

West Ham have splashed the cash on strikers in recent windows but so often return to the tried and tested.

Michail Antonio might be 34, but he rolled back the years against Ipswich with a bulldozing centre-forward display. Antonio opened the scoring inside the first minute after starting and finishing the move, before playing a key role in each of the other three goals for West Ham.

He should have claimed an assist with a peach of a cross that Kudus headed against the woodwork, while a header of his own against the bar fell for the Ghanaian to turn in the Hammers’ second. Left everything out there and Ipswich couldn’t handle him.

Read – Tweets of the Week: Inevitable Duran, Cardi B, and own goal of the year

See more – Fathers and sons who have played in Premier League

Follow The Football Faithful on Social Media:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | TikTok