Premier League Team of the Week: Carroll, Vardy, Lamela and Fosu-Mensah Feature
And the storylines just keep coming! Leicester City have edged closer to the title; Manchester United have a soft gooey centre just ripe for exploitation; and Newcastle United are seemingly attempting to challenge Aston Villa for the crown of worst team in the division.
It's the Premier League, everybody!
We've selected the best performers from another thrilling weekend and slotted them into a workable formation—a 4-4-2 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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Not for the first time this season, the Premier League came up rather short in terms of goalkeeping quality. It's in stark contrast to the 2014-15 campaign, in which so many No. 1s were consistently strong.
Lukasz Fabianski was one of few goalkeepers this weekend who just didn't do a lot wrong. Most others' performances were either plagued by the shipping of too many goals (David de Gea, Vito Mannone) or included near-horror moments (Wayne Hennessey).
Swansea City's No. 1 did the simple things well, collected what he needed to and got the ball rolling from the back. He just about edges Fraser Forster for the spot in the Team of the Week.
RB: Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Manchester United
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Timothy Fosu-Mensah represented the glue that held Manchester United's defence together against Tottenham Hotspur.
For 68 minutes, he kept Spurs at bay; he played a positionally superb game, preventing Christian Eriksen from gaining any sort of steam, and filtered inside to track runners. The precision in his tackling game was superb, and he provided an outlet shuttling forward on the flank when in attack.
Unfortunately for United, the Dutchman had to go off injured midway through the second half. His replacement, Matteo Darmian, allowed three goals from his flank within six minutes of coming on.
CB: Robert Huth, Leicester City
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Robert Huth helped Leicester City collect a fifth consecutive clean sheet this weekend as they beat Sunderland 2-0 at the Stadium of Light.
Recently it's been Wes Morgan who has been showered in praise, but his central-defensive partner was the star this time around as he repelled every ball into the box and made several key tackles further up the pitch.
It's rare that teams are able to drag Huth out of his deep central position, but the Black Cats managed that. Sadly for them, he was decisive in his actions higher up and filed back in quickly to prevent anyone using the space left.
CB: Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham Hotspur
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Tottenham Hotspur limited Manchester United to very few chances at White Hart Lane on Sunday, and central to that resilient defensive effort was Toby Alderweireld.
The Belgian welcomed back compatriot Jan Vertonghen to the line, and the pair looked solid as a rock, preventing most attacks before they began and holding them to just five shots, per WhoScored.com.
In the second half, Alderweireld scored a superb header from an Erik Lamela free-kick, doubling Spurs' lead and guaranteeing the club's first win over the Red Devils in the league at home since May 2001.
LB: Alberto Moreno, Liverpool
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"[Alberto] Moreno has been subject to much criticism from the Liverpool support since the turn of the year—and often from the touchline, too—but the left-back was in strong form in a goalscoring display at Anfield," wrote Jack Lusby of This Is Anfield after Sunday's win.
The Spaniard whipped a cracking 25-yard strike home to open the scoring and also assisted Divock Origi's second goal, icing a very promising display. His defending wasn't as good as Nathaniel Clyne's, but it was significantly less...erratic than usual.
CM: Darren Fletcher, West Bromwich Albion
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Despite the fact West Bromwich Albion lost 2-1 to Manchester City this weekend, the best player on the pitch was visiting captain Darren Fletcher.
He was a key cog in what was the Baggies' best footballing display of the season, consistently starting attacks with positive passes and launching longer, accurate balls into the channels for his forwards to chase.
As a former Manchester United man, he's no stranger to the hostility at the Etihad Stadium, and he ignored the boos on the way to a brilliant individual showing.
CM: Danny Drinkwater, Leicester City
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Danny Drinkwater put in yet another super display for Leicester City this weekend, creating the Foxes' first goal in typical fashion.
The won a 50-50 with Lee Cattermole midway into his own half and immediately fired an inch-perfect pass into the space behind the defence, knowing Jamie Vardy would be preying on it. His England colleague collected and fired home, turning a great ball into a great assist.
Leicester then worked hard to close out the result and keep the clean sheet. Drinkwater was, of course, key to the effort.
RM: Erik Lamela, Tottenham Hotspur
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Erik Lamela missed a gilt-edged chance to put Tottenham Hotspur ahead against Manchester United on Saturday, heading wide from close range after Christian Eriksen had picked him out in the box.
The old Lamela would have crumbled after that—his head would have dropped, and he'd have withdrawn into his shell. But the 2016 version is resilient, gutsy and never stops, and he went on to assist one and score another on the way to a Man of the Match display.
He attempted seven tackles, per WhoScored.com—a heroic number for a winger—and his delivery for Toby Alderweireld's header was sumptuous.
LM: Jefferson Montero, Swansea City
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Jefferson Montero made his first start in the Premier League since Christmas Eve on Saturday, but he showed no signs of rustiness as he ripped Chelsea apart.
Blues fans will remember him as the man who destroyed Branislav Ivanovic in the season opener and rocked his confidence so badly it's caused him to have a horror season. This time, he came up against Cesar Azpilicueta and firmly bettered him, too, ducking and weaving his way down the left and creating chances.
It was his cross, headed half-clear by Matt Miazga in a panic, that led to Gylfi Sigurdsson's goal.
ST: Jamie Vardy, Leicester City
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Jamie Vardy scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season on Sunday to give Leicester City their fifth straight victory. They were his first goals since mid-February, when he netted a penalty against Arsenal.
Sunderland bottled him well in the first half with a deep defensive line, but the moment Vardy got a one-on-one with Younes Kaboul high up, he burned him over the top and netted with aplomb.
Late on, with the Black Cats chasing the game, he escaped in behind again, muscled off a defender, rounded the 'keeper and slotted home. Superb.
ST: Andy Carroll, West Ham United
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Andy Carroll blitzed Arsenal's defence to the tune of three goals on Saturday, placing a further dent in their Premier League title hopes.
He's unmanageable in the air for most teams, but the Gunners—who historically have struggled with titanic target men—are particularly susceptible to his talents, and the Englishman tore them to shreds. He scored a hat-trick in 10 minutes to turn the game on its head.
Carroll has a tendency to perk up and score in April just ahead of a major international tournament. He couldn't go to Euro 2016, could he?
Bench
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GK: Vito Mannone, Sunderland
CB: Ashley Williams, Swansea City
RB: Pablo Zabaleta, Manchester City
CM: Joe Allen, Liverpool
Wing: Samir Nasri, Manchester City
AM: Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea City
Fwd: Shane Long, Southampton
