Premier League Team of the Week: Vardy, De Bruyne and Tadic All Feature
Here lies this season's penultimate Premier League Team of the Week. We can see some of you getting a little misty-eyed, and we understand that, but there's still plenty to keep you going for now.
Competition for places up top this week was unforgiving, with Manchester City's Sergio Aguero and Arsenal's Olivier Giroud forced to take up seats on the bench. Jamie Vardy makes it, though, as does another of his title-winning colleagues.
We've selected the best players from another thrilling weekend and slotted them into a workable formation—a 4-2-3-1 on this occasion.
Disagree with our selections? Hit us up in the comments section below to start the conversation.
GK: Lukasz Fabianski, Swansea City
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Swansea City may have beaten West Ham United 4-1 this weekend—a convincing scoreline at first glance—but they really were made to work for it, and Lukasz Fabianski played a starring role.
The Hammers levelled 25 shots at goal as they sought a way back into the game, with the Polish goalkeeper forced to save seven of them.
Fabianski was also extremely proactive, claiming six balls into the box; he also produced one miraculous double save.
RB: Vurnon Anita, Newcastle United
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A renaissance we frankly did not expect to see under Rafa Benitez has come in the form of Vurnon Anita.
The Dutchman looked all at sea as he stepped in at left-back earlier this season, but after being moved to right-back, he's been a dominant force.
His crosses are excellent and his Newcastle colleagues should have converted one or two of them; Aston Villa's left side were unable to stop him getting into good positions.
A late-season surge to try and avoid relegation always reveals an unexpected star, but no one thought it would be Anita.
CB: Martin Skrtel, Liverpool
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Martin Skrtel exacted revenge on Watford and Troy Deeney this weekend, putting in a surprisingly good performance as Liverpool won 2-0.
It was a showing in stark contrast to the reverse fixture earlier in the year, in which the Hornets won 3-0 and their star striker called out Skrtel for his performance.
"We scored after a few minutes which settled the nerves and then we dominated. Skrtel went off, he didn’t fancy it, and it was a great victory," Deeney told Stan Collymore on TalkSport.
This time around, the Slovakian was great. If this was to be his final Anfield performance—as many fans hope it will be—then he has officially gone out in style.
CB: Ciaran Clark, Aston Villa
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If this defensive line actually played together in real life, it would probably be a disaster, but fortunately that doesn't have to happen.
A pairing of Ciaran Clark and Martin Skrtel would cause heart attacks in the stands, but the truth is that both players impressed greatly this weekend in their respective games.
Clark got in the way of everything he could, intercepting a game-high six balls and blocking shots at vital times. Positionally he was pretty strong, and he looked far more assured than usual.
His rock-solid showing, earning Villa a 0-0 draw, stopped a run of 11 consecutive defeats.
LB: Stephen Kingsley, Swansea City
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It's not often Stephen Kingsley gets a run-out for Swansea City due to the imperiously consistent form of Neil Taylor, but he was awarded one on Saturday and seized the chance with both hands.
It wasn't a perfect game defensively from him as Dimitri Payet moved over to his flank and gave him a tough time, but in the early stages he coped well and flew forward with aplomb.
Kingsley's whipped cross for Andre Ayew's opener was an absolute work of art.
CM: Andy King, Leicester City
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What a day it was for Andy King on Saturday.
The Welshman has been with Leicester City from League One to the Premier League, winning each division and lifting the trophy of all three.
This weekend he reached the pinnacle, kissing and raising England's top-tier silverware, and played a brilliant game against Everton to match it.
A goal and an assist for the central midfielder, who has been Danny Drinkwater's back-up this season, was the feel-good story of the day.
CM: Joe Allen, Liverpool
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The cult of Joe Allen continues to expand, and his latest excellent performance for Liverpool has ensured several new inductees this week.
Quietly, the Welshman has improved tenfold under Jurgen Klopp and has begun playing in a manner rather unlike the Allen we knew at Swansea City. His controlling of the game is effortless, while he is now making dashes into the box at good times in order to sniff out goalscoring chances.
He was arguably the man of the match against Watford and raced onto Christian Benteke's knock-down to convert for 1-0.
AM: Steven Davis, Southampton
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Is Steven Davis underrated? Well, not anymore.
Despite the fact he puts in a seven-out-of-10 performance almost every time he takes to the pitch, the Northern Irishman has only just entered some fans' consciousness after scoring twice in Southampton's 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.
He did a superb job breaking between the lines and into space, creating room for two good finishes and, early in the first half, should have been passed to by Dusan Tadic for another.
Wing: Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City
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Kevin De Bruyne looked like he was undergoing a catharsis on Sunday, banishing memories of a poor showing at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium by attempting to put Arsenal to the sword.
He scored a magnificent goal in the second half, beating Hector Bellerin to a 50-50, weaving forward past outstretched legs and firing a shot into the bottom corner.
His performance throughout was lively, determined and full of creativity.
Wing: Dusan Tadic, Southampton
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For the second week running, Dusan Tadic makes the Team of the Week following an assist-happy performance.
Last week we spoke of how brutally effective he can be at home but lamented his inefficiency away from St. Mary's Stadium. Perhaps he read the article, because at White Hart Lane on Sunday he turned it on, grabbing two more assists for Steven Davis' goals.
He broke through Spurs' defensive structure regularly, fired dangerous balls into the box and created lots of chances.
It was a performance that prompted uMAXit Football's Felix Keith to label Tadic one of the best creators in the Premier League.
ST: Jamie Vardy, Leicester City
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Jamie Vardy beats out some fierce competition for the striker's spot, with Olivier Giroud, Sergio Aguero and Dwight Gayle all forced to settle for a place on the bench in his wake.
The Leicester City man, who has just opened his own V9 striking academy, scored twice and missed a penalty for his hat-trick—thwacking the ball practically into orbit—as he enjoyed a fine day against Everton.
The game was merely a warm-up for the party afterward, but the Foxes won again, and it was Vardy's cutting edge that helped seal the points.
Bench
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David de Gea, Manchester United
Federico Fernandez, Swansea City
Victor Wanyama, Southampton
Ki Sung-Yueng, Swansea City
Dwight Gayle, Crystal Palace
Olivier Giroud, Arsenal
Sergio Aguero, Manchester City
All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com.
