European Team of the Week: Alexis Sanchez and Paulo Dybala Are Perfect 10s

Alexis Sánchez is WhoScored.com’s European player of the week. The Chilean played a hugely influential role in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Stoke, registering the assist for Laurent Koscielny’s opener after six minutes before helping himself to a goal either side of half-time. Having played five key passes and completed five successful dribbles, Alexis certainly justified his WhoScored.com rating of 10.

The Arsenal star has now directly contributed to more goals than any other player in the Premier League this season (19) and having scored or assisted 51.4 percent of the Gunners’ 37 league goals, it’s fair to say Alexis is the club’s most valuable player right now.

Alexis’ former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi features on the opposite flank this week. The Argentine looked back to his best against defending La Liga champions Atletico Madrid on Sunday evening, registering the assist for Luis Suarez’s strike 10 minutes before the interval before getting his name on the scoresheet in the dying embers of the encounter. Having played two key passes and completed 12 successful dribbles, Messi played an effective role on the right of Barcelona's attack in a victory that saw them keep within touching distance of league leaders Real Madrid.

La Liga counterpart Vicente Iborra also turned out a good-enough performance to earn a place in the team of the week. The 26-year-old opened the scoring for Sevilla in their 2-0 win over Almeria and ensured Unai Emery’s team came away with a clean sheet and all three points after making one clearance off the line, two tackles and three interceptions.

Carlos Eduardo partners Iborra in the middle of the park after his display for Nice in the 3-1 home win over Lorient. The 25-year-old Brazilian provided the assist for Alexy Bosetti to put Nice ahead, before confirming the three points for the home side with a thunderous volley with 67 minutes on the clock. Fifteen of Eduardo’s 39 accurate passes came in the final third and having played three key passes, the attacker earned his man-of-the-match award.

Paulo Dybala was the highest-rated striker in Europe’s top five leagues this week. The young Argentine has played a key role in Palermo’s turn in fortunes and was on hand to net a brace in their 5-0 thumping of Cagliari in midweek. Dybala’s double came from only four shots on target, while the 21-year-old also played two key passes, completed six successful dribbles and was fouled five times as he led the attack with aplomb.

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He’s partnered this week by Ligue 1 man-of-the-moment Alexandre Lacazette. The Frenchman has attracted plenty of interest across the continent and his performance for Lyon in their 3-0 win over Toulouse will have left potential suitors salivating. Lacazette netted a first-half double to take his total for the season to 19; only Cristiano Ronaldo (26) has scored more in Europe’s top five leagues this term. The young France international may not have run the Toulouse back line ragged on Sunday, but he was ruthless in front of goal, netting with each of his two shots on goal.

Alvaro Arbeloa did his chances of securing a regular starting berth no harm this week following an effective display in the absence of Dani Carvajal in Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Espanyol. After back-to-back defeats, Los Blancos will have been relieved to return to winning ways to maintain their lead at the summit of La Liga.

The full-back registered an assist late on, providing the goal for Nacho’s strike, but was also on hand defensively to help keep a clean sheet. A majority of Espanyol’s attacks came down their left side (42 percent), but Arbeloa was able to deny the opposition, making three tackles and one interception.

Jose Holebas features at left-back this week. The Greek defender turned out resolute back-to-back displays for Roma against Udinese and Lazio to earn an average WhoScored.com rating of 8.08 this past week. The 30-year-old made a combined seven tackles, seven interceptions and 11 clearances over the two fixtures as Roma secured four points from a possible six. Holebas also registered the assist for Francesco Totti’s equaliser in Sunday’s Rome Derby, which resulted in the Italian’s now famous "selfie" at the Stadio Olimpico.

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While Hull succumbed to a 1-0 defeat at the Hawthorns at the weekend, Curtis Davies did his utmost to aid the Tigers at the heart of the defence. The 29-year-old made a staggering nine interceptions, 17 clearances and won 11 aerial duels—he perhaps did not deserve to be on the losing side at the weekend.

Simon Kjaer partners Davies at centre-back following impressive back-to-back defensive showings. Lille secured successive 1-0 wins over Evian and Caen, with Kjaer earning the WhoScored.com man-of-the-match award in each game. The 25-year-old won a combined 14 aerial duels and made one tackle, four interceptions and 25 clearances over the two fixtures to help Les Dogues to six points and successive clean sheets in the two Ligue 1 fixtures.

Diego Marino completes WhoScored.com’s European team of the week this week on account of his man-of-the-match award in Levante’s 0-0 draw with Deportivo. The 24-year-old made six saves in the stalemate and made one last-man tackle to help secure an important point for Levante.

All statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, where you can find yet more stats, including live in-game data and unique player and team rankings.