James GordonIt’s hard to believe it’s been four years since the 25-year-old Brazilian goalkeeper joined the Blues on a season-long loan from Roma. He’s been on loan three times since then, and has made the most of his opportunities every time. This season in the Premier League, Alisson has set new standards, becoming the first goalkeeper to keep more than 40 clean sheets in a single season.
As you already know from the previous weeks team of the week, Garth Crooks picks a team each week and this week he picks his team of the week. England had a great start to their World Cup qualifying campaign last Saturday (6th March 2018) as they beat Switzerland 2-0. In his team of the week he has named the following players.
The following article is about Garth Crooks’ team of the week in England’s Premier League: Liverpool. The article will look at three individuals who have done well for their respective clubs so far this season.
Manchester City’s Premier League championship defense started with a 1-0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur.
Neighbors of the city Manchester United started their season with a 5-1 thumping of Leeds United, while Chelsea defeated Crystal Palace 3-0 and Liverpool defeated Norwich 3-0.
Brentford celebrated their promotion to the Premier League with a 2-0 win against Arsenal.
Leicester won 1-0 at Wolves, West Ham won 4-2 at Newcastle, and Everton rallied from behind to win 3-1 at Southampton.
Finally, Watford defeated Aston Villa 3-2, while Brighton defeated Burnley 2-1.
Check out my team of the week before making your own choices at the bottom of the page.
Alisson is the goalkeeper (Liverpool)
Alisson: The Liverpool goalkeeper seems to be at ease between the sticks once again. Norwich, on the other hand, seemed to be completely out of their element.
Alisson’s save from Teemu Pukki, who took an eternity to get the ball under control, seemed ordinary, while his point-blank stop from Ben Gibson was spectacular.
Meanwhile, Norwich has been out of the Premier League for a season, but they don’t seem to have learnt anything from their hiatus. They’ve returned to the Premier League with players capable of winning the Championship, but I’m betting they won’t last the season in the Premier League.
What will Delia Smith and her executive board do about it is the question.
What if I told you that Only Ederson (55) has kept more Premier League clean sheets than Alisson since joining Liverpool before to the 2018-19 season (45).
Tottenham’s Japhet Tanganga, Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, and Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah are among the defenders (Chelsea)
Japhet Tanganga: When I saw Tottenham’s starting lineup against Manchester City, I said to myself, “There’s no way Spurs can win this game.” Spurs, on the other hand, matched City’s grit and drive. Tanganga’s performance represented this concept well.
The defender dominated Raheem Sterling and irritated the England international to the point that he was ultimately replaced. On Tanganga’s side of the field, Jack Grealish was also there, but he was unable to upset the player.
He’s no Cyril Knowles, but he might be part of a new Tottenham squad that people take seriously once again.
What if I told you that Tanganga gained possession five times more than any other Spurs defender against Manchester City, including three times in the defensive third.
Virgil van Dijk: It was nice to see him again, but the clean sheet was the deciding factor for me. Liverpool didn’t even put up a stellar effort; they cruised to victory.
Van Dijk is low on match experience and is still recovering from the psychological anguish of last season’s injury, but his sheer presence and power in defense was palpable.
After six or seven games, we’ll know whether the Netherlands’ most complete defender since Ruud Krol is really back to his best.
What if I told you that Since making his league debut for Liverpool in January 2018, Van Dijk has helped the Reds win 76% of their Premier League games (73/96), compared to just 53% (18/34) when he hasn’t played.
Chelsea supporters urged Trevoh Chalobah to go for goal, and the defender dutifully complied. Chalobah, who has been with the club since he was eight years old, scored a fantastic goal. It’s hardly unexpected that the goal-scoring moment got a little too much for the youngster.
When debutants perform like this, I’m prone to getting carried away. Chalobah, on the other hand, has a calm demeanor on the field and does not panic under pressure. Is he the genuine thing or a phony? The only way to know for sure is to wait and see.
Did you know? Chalobah (22 years 40 days) became the second-youngest Chelsea player to score on their Premier League debut for the club after Paul Hughes (20 years 274 days) against Derby in 1997.
Son Heung-min (Tottenham), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Marcos Alonso (Manchester United) are among the midfielders (Chelsea)
Son Heung-min: If Spurs needed any more convincing to accept Manchester City’s offer for Harry Kane, this was it: a win against the Premier League winners without the England captain.
Kane is a world-class player, which is why he costs so much, but so is Son. The South Korean international’s winning goal was flawless and characteristic of the striker.
Lucas Moura’s tenacity and drive also indicate that a cash infusion of about £130 million to create a real top-four team isn’t necessary. Take the cash!
What if I told you that Son, along with Bruno Fernandes (51), Kane (50), and Mohamed Salah (50), is one of just four Premier League players who have been directly involved in 40 or more goals in all competitions since the start of last season (23 goals, 17 assists) (40).
Bruno Fernandes: Fernandes’ three goals against Leeds United on the season’s first day indicate that he is well beyond Portugal’s early exit from the European Championship. He didn’t play a significant part for his country, which I believe was one of the reasons the previous champions were eliminated early.
What exactly happened in Leeds? What happened to the team that shook Liverpool to its core at the start of last season? I’m hoping this isn’t a harbinger of things to come. Leeds supporters have been waiting far too long for their team’s return to the Premier League, and they deserve better.
What if I told you that Fernandes’ hat-trick for Manchester United was the 10th in Premier League history in the opening weekend, with Leeds becoming the first team to allow two such trebles in the league (also via Mohamed Salah last season).
Paul Pogba: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.” Paul Pogba is almost unplayable when he’s in form. In Leeds’ 5-1 thrashing, the World Cup champion produced more assists than he did in the whole previous season. Is it even possible?
In 2020-21, a player of Pogba’s caliber only had three assists. He ripped Leeds apart with a performance of pinpoint passing that I haven’t seen at Old Trafford since the days of Bobby Charlton. Pogba, on the other hand, has an issue with this. Unlike the great Charlton, he gives you all or nothing.
What if I told you that After Dennis Bergkamp, Jose Antonio Reyes, Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor, Santi Cazorla, and Harry Kane, Pogba became the eighth player in Premier League history to assist four goals in a single game.
Marcos Alonso: This is something we’ve come to anticipate from Marcos Alonso. When Alonso is on the field, every free-kick on the outskirts of the box is dangerous for the opponent, as he demonstrated against a surprisingly weak Crystal Palace side.
I anticipated Palace to have the same battling spirit, passion, and drive that their new manager had throughout his playing career. Maybe I’m expecting too much from Patrick Vieira, but wasn’t that why he was chosen in the first place?
I hope he doesn’t become another one of those great players who, when they become coaches, forget what made them great players in the first place and instead focus on the tactics board. Has no one informed him of Frank de Boer’s fate?
What if I told you that Only Manchester United (64) has scored more direct free-kick goals in Premier League history than Marcos Alonso’s strike for Chelsea.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), and Richarlison (Manchester City) are among the forwards (Everton)
Mohamed Salah: It was absolute brilliance the way Liverpool’s Egypt international positioned himself to collect the ball with his left foot and plant it so precisely in order to smash the ball past Tim Krul before a single Norwich player had chance to move.
Salah’s performance has been a source of contention for me in the past, but not against Norwich. I didn’t see any selfishness in front of goal or a desire to take cheap penalties.
What I witnessed was a player who, as when he first came at Anfield, put the team first and received the goal he deserved for his efforts. I’m hoping he continues up the good work.
What if I told you that Salah has scored on the first matchday of each of his five Premier League seasons with Liverpool, making him the only player in the competition’s history to do it five times.
Mason Greenwood: When Leeds tied it up at 1-1, I felt they had a chance, but that was before Mason Greenwood got two of the greatest touches you’ll ever see on the run, and then buried the most beautiful ball from Pogba into the goal with his third touch.
I’ve seen Manchester United’s Denis Law, Frank Stapleton, Mark Hughes, and Andy Cole lead the line, but not at 19. I’m not sure whether the game has become easier or if Greenwood has improved. What I do know is that the adolescent scored well.
It’s worth mentioning that he withdrew from England’s Euros team to allow himself to completely heal from an underlying ailment and be fit and ready for the start of the season. It seems like he made the correct choice.
What if I told you that Greenwood is the fifth-highest scoring youngster in Premier League history, with 18 goals to Michael Owen’s 40, Robbie Fowler’s 35, Wayne Rooney’s 30 and Nicolas Anelka’s 30. (19).
Richarlison: What a summer for the Brazilians. In July, he loses in the Copa America final to Argentina, then rushes to Tokyo to join his Olympic squad and assist them win the men’s gold medal, before returning to Goodison Park to be greeted by a new Everton manager in time to demolish Southampton on Premier League opening weekend.
Richarlison responds to the call of club and country equally and without fear or favor, while other international players take lengthy vacations to recuperate from the Euros.
Rafa Benitez, I believe, owes this youngster a debt of gratitude. If Benitez loses the first game, the Everton boo boys, who despise his connection with Liverpool, will be on his tail. Richarlison has gotten him off to a great start and has bought him some time.
What if I told you that Richarlison has scored in each of his last four Premier League games against Southampton, and his five goals against them are tied for his joint-best total in the league.
Choose your XI from our list and tell your friends about it.
Choose a formation. Team members should be confirmed.
The crooks in charge of the situation
Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejo It seems like we have reclaimed our game. Last season, I spent the most of my time moaning about VAR and the poor quality of officiating in the Premier League.
The Euros was one of the greatest tournaments I’ve watched in years, and it was mostly due to the excellent officiating. One referee even told a player who had chosen to fall to the ground and pretend to be injured to get up. It just doesn’t get much better.
This weekend’s opening games have been fantastic. We haven’t yet reached the stage where our officials advise players who fall to the ground easily to get up, but the officiating was a huge improvement over some of the crap we had to put up with before.
VAR was used sparingly, the game was allowed to run rather than being halted for minor infractions, and beautifully constructed goals were not chalked off because someone miles away looking at margins thought so. We can only hope that this trend continues.
I couldn’t believe Pep Guardiola began the game against Tottenham Hotspur without a known striker. Was I the only one who thought’serves you right’ when he ruined Manchester City’s chances of winning the Champions League by benching Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero last season?
Who does he think he’s fooling when he says he’s seeking to eliminate strikers? In a season when they had been royally screwed about by the coach, both guys still had the capacity to score 20 goals between them in all competitions. The contempt on Aguero and Fernandinho’s faces as they watched Chelsea hoist the title that they should – and would have – won if they had begun with a known striker…
Guardiola is now said to want Kane and is willing to pay £100 million in advance. Could you please explain it to me?
The World Cup may seem like a long way off, but as we start gearing up for it, we are looking at the teams that will make it to Russia 2018. With the World Cup kicking off on June 14th, we have a little bit of time to get a good look at the teams and the players to watch out for. This week, I am going to look at a group of players who are making an impact, and are primed to make their World Cup debuts.. Read more about team of the week > premier league and let us know what you think.
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James Gordon
