Who Is Hot and Who Is Not in World Football After Weekend of Oct. 31-Nov 2
Another weekend of world football action has come and gone, alternately enthralling and bemusing us as the top players pulled the best and worst traits out of their individual lockers.
We've taken our usual look around the top flights and picked out the most notable moments and names to give us our Hot or Not choices from the weekend, taking in La Liga, Ligue 1, the Premier League and Serie A this time.
Feel free to add your own from elsewhere below!
Hot: Alexandre Lacazette
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French forward Alexandre Lacazette seems to be going from strength to strength over the past year or so, and his goalscoring is just one aspect of his game that continues to shine.
Lacazette hit two more at the weekend, both coming late in an away game against Nice to give his Lyon side a 3-1 victory. It was Lyon's fourth win in a row, and they are now in third place.
With 10 goals, the young striker is tied for the most scores in Ligue 1 this season.
Not: Chris Smalling
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"Stupid" is how manager Louis van Gaal branded Chris Smalling's decision to go lunging into a tackle in the Manchester derby this week, per the BBC, with the centre-back already on a yellow card following the pictured block on a Joe Hart goal-kick.
Smalling soon after went sliding into a challenge on James Milner that he was never going to win. In doing so, Smalling received his second booking and subsequent red card, leaving Manchester United to play more than half the match with 10 men.
They lost 1-0 and remain without an away win this season.
Hot: Karim Benzema
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Real Madrid made it 11 wins on the bounce in all competitions with a 4-0 victory over Granada at the weekend. Karim Benzema was the undoubted star of the show this time.
The French striker notched one goal, made two assists and was involved in the other score in a virtuoso forward's display, combining great movement inside the penalty area with selfless off-the-ball running, good link-up play and, of course, a well-taken finish when a chance dropped his way.
It helps when you have great service behind you, but Benzema was at the top of his own game as well this weekend and led the line with aplomb.
Not: Barcelona's Misfiring Trio
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Real's rivals Barcelona endured a frustrating afternoon by comparison. They played well, dominated and had plenty of chances to beat Celta Vigo, but the famed front three of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez simply couldn't find the back of the net.
They managed more than a dozen shots between the three of them and struck the woodwork four times with the opposition goalkeeper denying them on other occasions.
In general play, they all three were impressive, but the finishing, which Barcelona badly needed from them this time, was simply not there. It will probably be the only time all season all three misfire at once, and Celta took full advantage to win 1-0.
Hot: Alexis Sanchez
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Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez took a couple of weeks to find his feet at Arsenal, but he's their main man right now and is leading the charge for another season in the top four.
He started and finished the scoring in a 3-0 win over Burnley in the Premier League at the weekend, taking himself to seven goals for the league campaign and the Gunners into fourth place in the process.
Sanchez has five goals in his last four games.
Not: Dejan Lovren
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Liverpool's defence continues to come under scrutiny following another disappointing defeat, with centre-back Dejan Lovren the most scrutinised player and consistently the one performing worst.
The Croatian defender was given a torrid 20 minutes or so by Newcastle United's Gabriel Obertan before the winger went off injured, no doubt much to Lovren's relief. It didn't get much better, though, as he was bullied in the air, beaten on the ground and bizarrely left his position in the six-yard box amid other errors as Newcastle scored the only goal of the game, winning 1-0.
Brendan Rodgers' new defensive leader isn't doing much leading at present nor defending (of the expected kind at least).
Hot: Jose Callejon
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Napoli's indifferent start to the season has been firmly put behind them after a run of seven Serie A matches unbeaten has lifted them to fourth, one point behind Sampdoria.
Their best win of the season came at the weekend. They beat Roma 2-0 with the league's highest goalscorer, Jose Callejon, adding another, his eighth of the season so far, to his tally.
The Spanish forward managed 15 strikes last season but is well on course to surpass that number this time around.
Not: Cristian Zapata
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Finishing up in Serie A, Cristian Zapata had a terrible first half for AC Milan against Palermo on Sunday night, coming on as substitute just two minutes into the match and barely having time to adjust before heading in an own goal.
He was then made to look a bumbling fool twice in a few minutes by forward Paulo Dybala. The second occasion left Zapata sprawled on the floor in the penalty area and Dybala wheeling away to celebrate a second Palermo goal.
Milan tightened up after the break, but Zapata's entrance and impact was to be a lasting one with the game ending 2-0 to the Sicilians.
