MX23RW : Thursday, August 30 06:59:57

Premier League Team of the Week - Lucas Moura, Toby Alderweireld, Alisson Becker

Sports Mole selects its team of the week for matchday three of the Premier League season, with Tottenham dominating the selection following their win at Man Utd.

Week three of the new Premier League season brought with it more misery for Manchester United as they followed up their defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion with a 3-0 loss at home to Tottenham Hotspur.

The rare triumph at Old Trafford saw Spurs maintain their 100% start to the season, and it is no surprise to see Mauricio Pochettino's men dominate this week's team as a result.

Liverpool, Chelsea and Watford also made it three wins from three with victories over Brighton, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace respectively, and all but the latter are also represented in this team of the week.

No fewer than three Fulham players make the cut after their 4-2 win over Burnley got them off the mark for the new campaign, while there was also a first win for Arsenal and a first point for Huddersfield Town.

Champions Manchester City dropped their first points of the campaign at newly-promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the spoils were also shared between Bournemouth and Everton in a four-goal clash which saw both sides end with 10 men.

Southampton also had a man sent off during an ill-tempered Saturday, and there was a further sting in the tail for them late on when Leicester City stole victory at St Mary's.

Here, Sports Mole selects its team of the week for matchday three.



PL TOTW GW3
There were plenty of players in the running for the gloves this week; Rui Patricio made a string of saves - including an early contender for save of the season - against the might of Man City, Mathew Ryan kept Brighton in the game against Liverpool while Hugo Lloris shook off his arrest on Friday morning to keep a clean sheet at Old Trafford.

Liverpool shot-stopper Alisson Becker gets the nod, though, as much for his ability on the ball - the highlight of which was an outrageous flick over the head of Anthony Knockaert - as his late save which denied Pascal Gross an equaliser. That stop ensured that he is still yet to concede since his summer arrival at Anfield.

There is also no shortage of competition for places in defence this week. Willy Boly, Aymeric Laporte and Michael Keane all got on the scoresheet, Virgil van Dijk put in another commanding display en route to a third successive clean sheet, while Christian Kabasele, Sol Bamba and Shane Duffy also deserve honourable mentions for the roles they played.

However, in the unlikely event that Jose Mourinho needed a reminder of how costly missing out on a centre-back could prove to be, Tottenham's Toby Alderweireld put in a towering display at Old Trafford while his United counterparts crumbled at the other end. Harry Maguire was another player to have been heavily linked with the Red Devils this summer, and his last-minute winner - courtesy of a right-footed shot from outside the area rather than a towering header - earns him a place in the team too, not to mention his team-high 10 clearances against the Saints.

It was a good weekend all round for the defenders, and Marcos Alonso once again proved that he will not be shackled by Maurizio Sarri's 4-4-2 system by winning a penalty and forcing the own goal in his side's victory over Newcastle. Ryan Bertrand deserves a mention for his net-busting goal against Leicester, while Nacho Monreal was also on the scoresheet and Jose Holebas continued his bright start to the season with a goal of his own - albeit inadvertently.

On the opposite flank, Kieran Trippier gets the nod for a clean sheet and an assist against United, beating the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Cesar Azpilicueta to a place in the team.

Chelsea needed time and a slice of luck to break down an obdurate Newcastle side, but Jorginho was the man who kept things ticking over in midfield. The summer signing completed more passes than the entire Newcastle team and registered 186 touches during the game - the joint-highest tally recorded since such stats began in 2003-04.

Mousa Dembele also deserves a mention in the holding midfield role, but his teammate Dele Alli does get into the team for his contribution to the win over United, holding off stiff competition from Georginio Wijnaldum, who completed 75 of his 76 passes against Brighton. Jean-Michael Seri also makes the team following his goal-of-the-season contender against Burnley, with James Milner and Christian Eriksen among those to miss out.

Theo Walcott continued his good form at the start of the season with a goal against Bournemouth, but Lucas Moura's display at Old Trafford makes him a shoo-in for the team. The Brazilian's brace means that he is now Tottenham's top scorer at Old Trafford in the Premier League era.

Andre Schurrle also got on the scoresheet - eventually - with his 11th shot of the game against Burnley, including one which crashed against the crossbar. The German holds off competition from fellow gameweek three goalscorers Eden Hazard and Roberto Pereyra for a place in the front three.

Schurrle is joined by his Fulham teammate Aleksandar Mitrovic too, with even Burnley boss Sean Dyche conceding that the striker was comfortably the best player on the park during their match. The Serbian's two goals leave him joint-top of the scoring charts and take him to 15 in the league since his Fulham debut - a tally only Mohamed Salah can match in English football during the same period. Not even Harry Kane's goal and assist at Old Trafford can dislodge him from leading the line.

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Sergio Aguero celebrates scoring for Manchester City in the Community Shield on August 5, 2018
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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool33007079
2Tottenham HotspurSpurs33008269
3Chelsea33008359
4Watford33007259
5Manchester CityMan City32109277
6Bournemouth32106337
7Leicester CityLeicester32015326
8Everton31206515
9Arsenal310256-13
10Crystal Palace310234-13
11Fulham310257-23
12Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton310235-23
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd310247-33
14Wolverhampton WanderersWolves302135-22
15Cardiff CityCardiff302102-22
16Newcastle UnitedNewcastle301224-21
17Southampton301224-21
18Burnley301237-41
19Huddersfield TownHuddersfield301219-81
20West Ham UnitedWest Ham300329-70

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