Gameweek 27 would see yet another enthralling round of Premier League action as we get towards the business end of the campaign. It would kick off on Saturday lunchtime with Chelsea hosting Spurs in a massive clash in the hunt for Champions League football. Leicester would face Manchester City in the late kick off in similar fashion. Sunday would see Arsenal host Everton before Liverpool rounded the weekend off as they welcomed West Ham United to Anfield on Monday night. Anyway, here’s the FPL Updates gameweek review…
Goalkeeper
Kasper Schmeichel – Leicester City hosted Manchester City at the King Power on Saturday evening, which gave the Foxes a chance to test their Champions League credentials against a league rival. In a tight contest City would be denied from the spot as Kasper Schmeichel left trailing legs to deny Sergio Aguero. However, his fellow forward Gabriel Jesus would spare the Argentine’s blushes as he netted late on to give City a big three points.
Defenders
Patrick van Aanholt – Crystal Palace as per usual have had a real mixed bag of a season, with patches of form being as excellent as they are terrible. They were faced with Newcastle United at Selhurst Park on Saturday. In a match short on quality a Patrick van Aanholt freekick would be enough to take all three points for Roy Hodgson’s side. It could have been better but for Valentin Lazaro hauling down Wilfried Zaha when through on goal.
Romain Saiss & Matt Doherty – Wolves have really found their feet since being promoted to the Premier League last season and are one of the divisions more impressive sides on their day. They sometimes struggle against weaker sides at home but had their wits about them as they hosted Norwich City on Saturday. They romped to a comfortable 3-0 home win and may be beginning to think about a potential Champions League place.
Phil Bardsley – Burnley hosted AFC Bournemouth at Turf Moor following on from their impressive victory over Southampton at St. Mary’s last time out. Yet again they were impressive, running out 3-0 winners in an impressive performance. It leaves Eddie Howe’s side with cause for concern after a dismal season by usual standards. It remains to be season whether the Cherries have what it takes to keep themselves in the Premier League for another season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold – It’s hard to argue that Trent Alexander-Arnold isn’t one of the Premier League’s best players after the last two seasons. The Liverpool academy graduate was in wonderful form as his side came from 2-1 down to beat West Ham United late at Anfield on Monday. The England international recorded two assists on the day as goals from Salah, Mané and Wijnaldum sunk the Hammers.
Midfielders
Dwight McNeil – Perhaps one of the more underrated youngsters in the Premier League, Dwight McNeil has made himself a firm favourite among Burnley fans over the past twelve months, showing a brilliant turn of pace combined with a deadly delivery. He found the net as well as supplying one for his team on Saturday afternoon as the Clarets dispatched Bournemouth 3-0 at Turf Moor on the day in a brilliant display from Sean Dyche’s side.
Bruno Fernandes – Manchester United’s new signing Bruno Fernandes has shown glimpses of brilliance in his first couple of games at Old Trafford, but against Watford on Saturday he really showed his class, scoring and assisting in a match that could have gone either way in the first half. The other goals came from Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood, who both netted excellent finishes past Ben Foster on the day.
Forwards
Diogo Jota – It’s fair to say that Diogo Jota is in brilliant form. Having netted hat-tricks in back-to-back Europa League matches, he was on hand to net another two as Wolves welcomed Norwich City to the midlands on Saturday afternoon. The other goal came courtesy of talismanic striker Raul Jimenez, who has had to take a back seat to his colleague over recent weeks. Their partnership is one of the main reasons Wolves find themselves in the hunt for Europe yet again.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Arsenal have had a strange start to life under Mikel Arteta, with a high number of draws seeing the Gunners come in for criticism from some fans and pundits. They came out on top of a 3-2 thriller at the Emirates on Sunday. The star of the show was Gabonese forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose brace combined with Eddie Nketiah’s finish saw the Gunners take a point that looked unlikely at times.
Shane Long – Much criticised for a poor goal record, Shane Long adds a great deal of energy to a Southampton side that have impressed over the past few months. He did manage to find the target this week, though, as they ran out 2-0 winners over Aston Villa on Saturday. Stuart Armstrong netted the other for the South coast side, who will be looking to secure a top half finish come May in what has certainly been a season of two halves.
Written by Ryan Nevin (@RNevin7)
