Premier League Team of the Week: Suarez stars again as Manchester rivals impress

Manchester City provided a number of candidates for our team this week after they put Arsenal to the sword on Saturday, but Liverpool and Manchester United also hit the right notes and all three sides have provided three players each.

With a couple of 0-0s there were a handful of goalkeepers who might have been given the gloves this weekend, but it is Asmir Begovic who edges ahead of the rest thanks to his man-of-the-match performance for Stoke City at Hull City.

In defence, Pablo Zabaleta is the first of those City players to make the line-up, his third appearance of the season. He put in a typical performance against the Gunners: solid in defence and a great outlet in attack.

Next to him is Vincent Kompany, who made his return to the City defence and showed his enduring class. On a couple of occasions he strode out of the backline to launch attacks, and helped keep Arsenal at bay – to a degree.

Johnny Evans partners Kompany after he helped Manchester United keep their first Premier League clean sheet since November 10, a feat in itself. Jon Flanagan completes the defence after putting in a solid defensive display for Liverpool, and crashing in a fine maiden goal for the club, too.

In midfield, Antonio Valencia looked back to his old self against Villa, making a number of powerful, unstoppable runs, getting some dangerous crosses into the area and linking up well with Rafael.

Fernandinho, as the stand-out performer at the Etihad on Saturday, lines up in the middle. The Brazilian put in his best City performance to date since joining from Shakhtar Donetsk in the summer, scoring twice and helping to create the last-minute penalty. He’s partnered by Jordan Henderson after the England man shone for Liverpool, and scored the second goal, in their resounding 5-0 win against Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

Tom Cleverley can count himself unfortunate to miss out, having notched four stars out of five and scored a goal against Aston Villa.

Craig Noone makes his first appearance in our team. The youngster made his first league start for Cardiff and put in a series of fine crosses, one of which was headed home by Peter Whittingham for the winner.

Of course, Luis Suarez is the star of the side after yet another dazzling display for Liverpool. He scored two and laid on three to secure his fifth appearance in our team this season alone.

Danny Welbeck lines up next to him after scoring two goals to get Manchester United back to winning ways in the Premier League against Aston Villa. He took his first with the kind of predatory instincts that he is not exactly known for, before thundering in a second.

Among those to miss out up front were Theo Walcott, who scored twice against City despite Arsenal’s struggles. Alvaro Negredo was on target for City and Gary Hooper scored a superb goal to earn Norwich a point against Swansea.

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