Premier League Team of Week: Henderson Impresses Like Gerrard, Benteke Delivers
A rare midweek round of Premier League fixtures took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, with some important fixtures at both end of the table.
Aston Villa beat West Brom thanks to a last-minute goal to make the biggest move of the relegation-threatened sides, while Manchester United, Liverpool, Southampton and Tottenham all won to keep things as they were in the race for the Champions League places.
As far as the title race goes, both Chelsea and Manchester City won, meaning it was very much a case of "as you were" for the top seven sides in the division.
Click on for the pick of the players from the latest round of Premier League fixtures.
Goalkeeper: Thibaut Courtois
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On these sort of performances title victories are built. Chelsea were not at their attacking best on Wednesday, not even close, but they defended diligently and brilliantly and ensured they kept a clean sheet—a defensive display that ultimately enabled them to sneak away with all three points.
Thibaut Courtois was an integral part of that. The Belgian must have been disappointed to miss out on starting in the Capital One Cup final on Sunday—it was Petr Cech's competition, of course, but then again Courtois is technically the club's No. 1—but he brushed aside that disappointment to resume starting duties at Upton Park, producing another brilliant display to keep Sam Allardyce's men at bay.
Tim Krul and Fraser Forster also had great individual performances this week, but Courtois was the pick of the bunch.
"In every title race you have difficult matches to play," as Jose Mourinho said afterwards to Reuters' Tony Jimenez (via Daily Mail). "You have matches where you need quality, others where you need luck and others where you need to adapt to the opponents."
"Today was one of those and Gary Cahill, John Terry and Kurt Zouma were good in handling the direct football while Courtois was amazing," he continued. "It was a game where you could lose two points and I'm happy with the fact we won."
Full-Back: Danny Rose
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After the disappointment of the Capital One Cup final, Tottenham bounced back with an important victory over Swansea City at White Hart Lane, a 3-2 triumph that keeps Mauricio Pochettino's men in the hunt for Champions League qualification.
Danny Rose was a key part of that result, the full-back providing the assist for Nacer Chadli's opener after just six minutes and then putting in a strong all-round display as perhaps the most exciting of the week's games roared into life.
Rose was substituted with about 15 minutes remaining for Ben Davies—for all his qualities, Rose is perhaps not yet the lock-tight defender he needs to be for the team to rely on him in tight, big games—but prior to that he had a solid all-round game that helped contribute to Spurs' eventual victory.
Full-Back: Kieran Gibbs
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Selecting Gibbs (another left-back) might throw off the balance of this team, but this is just a cross we will have to bear. The Arsenal full-back was another of the standout performers this week and deserves his inclusion in this team even if he could perhaps have done better for Charlie Austin's late consolation goal.
Prior to that, there was nothing but positive to be said about Gibbs' performance. He looked the most likely player to create something for Arsenal on the attacking end, and it was no surprise when it was he who provided the last Arsenal touch before Olivier Giroud swept home Arsenal's opener.
Gibbs can still work on the defensive side of his game, but his work rate and attacking instincts in this game underlined why Arsene Wenger always seems to have so much faith in the England international.
Centre-Back: Gary Cahill
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Big players perform under adversity, and Gary Cahill was another Chelsea player to thrive under the pressure on Wednesday night.
Coming under serious pressure from Kurt Zouma for his starting position in the Blues' back line, Cahill delivered a near-flawless performance against West Ham at Upton Park, even covering for his goalkeeper when Courtois made about his only mistake of the 90 minutes.
Dominant in the air, this was a big performance from Cahill that will have done a lot to restore Jose Mourinho's faith in him.
Centre-Back: Emre Can
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Whether Emre Can could play centre-back in a four-man defence is open to a certain amount of doubt. But this is our team, and we can slot the pieces together how we feel.
Can remains one of the key reasons behind Liverpool's revival in recent weeks, and he underlined that with another composed, cultured display against Burnley at Anfield.
The doubts were there at the start of the season (least of all in Brendan Rodgers' mind, it would seem), but Can has pretty much erased all of them now. It is clear Liverpool have a very, very talented player on their hands.
Central Midfield: Glenn Whelan
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Every team needs a little steel in the middle of the park, and Glenn Whelan provided that in abundance as Stoke City beat Everton on Wednesday.
Whelan may do few things noticeably well, but his effort can never be questioned. And he makes very few mistakes, qualities that helped him control the flow of the match against the Toffees.
Central Midfield: Jordan Henderson
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Whelan is partnered in midfield by Jordan Henderson, who seems to be giving Liverpool more and more confidence there will be life after Steven Gerrard's departure with each passing game.
The former Sunderland man is thriving in the absence of the club captain, stepping into the armband (so to speak) and driving his team forward. The Reds could have been forgiven for experiencing a hangover effect after their recent exertions, but Henderson broke them out of a turgid start to the game with a Gerrard-esque finish—and from there another important three points were secured.
Right Wing: Jesus Navas
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It would be nice to see Jesus Navas produce such performances in the biggest games, but the Spaniard certainly enjoyed himself against Leicester City—the league's worst side lest we forget—on Wednesday night.
Navas was a constant threat down the flanks for City, who shook things up in terms of team selection after the disappointing performances of recent weeks. Whether he did enough to convince Manuel Pellegrini to start him more regularly remains to be seen, but Navas certainly thrived on his opportunity—even providing the assist for James Milner's late clincher.
Left Wing: Alexis Sanchez
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Alexis Sanchez got back to scoring ways after eight goalless games for Arsenal, his game-winning strike the culmination of a solid all-round display that hints he is returning to full fitness (and form) at a timely moment.
The Chilean was Arsenal's most incisive and dangerous attacking player for almost the entire contest, proving the architect for Olivier Giroud's opener before single-handedly cutting the Queens Park Rangers defence into ribbons as he lashed home a cheeky second.
Striker: Charlie Austin
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It may have been in a losing effort, but Charlie Austin was a constant thorn in Arsenal's side—his perseverance, work rate and unwillingness to give up a credit to himself and a noticeable lift to his team.
For much of the game, the Englishman toiled away to little reward, he and strike partner Bobby Zamora feeding off scraps as they tried to penetrate the Arsenal defence. The few chances he did have were all self-created, including one that only narrowly missed David Ospina's near post.
In the second half Austin finally got his reward, scoring a fine individual effort that at least gave QPR the possibility of a comeback. It was not to be; Austin's performance certainly deserved more.
Striker: Christian Benteke
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Christian Benteke would get in this team on cojones alone after taking the crucial last-minute penalty that allowed Aston Villa to pick up a much-needed three points against West Brom on Tuesday. It is little exaggeration to suggest that penalty could prove pivotal to Villa's survival at the end of the campaign (although there is still a fair way to go).
Benteke had caught the eye prior to that moment—he created Gabby Agbonlahor's opener, which was eventually cancelled out by Saido Berahino—but in taking the penalty at the end of the game he put Villa's hopes on his shoulders and delivered.
It was perhaps the biggest moment of the week's games and could prove to be one of the biggest in the season. For willingly taking on that pressure and then delivering, Benteke is a worthy final member of our team of the week.
