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Premier League Team of the Week - Gareth Bale, Kevin De Bruyne, Harry Kane

Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 26, including Gareth Bale, Kevin De Bruyne and Harry Kane.

Manchester City continued their seemingly unstoppable charge towards the Premier League title in gameweek 26 as a 20th successive win across all competitions was enough to edge them 12 points clear at the top of the table.

West Ham United were the latest team unable to stop the juggernaut, although the damage of that defeat was limited by the teams around them all dropping points too.

Manchester United played out a goalless draw with Chelsea, while Leicester City slumped to a surprise 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

Those results also allowed Liverpool to get their own top-four hopes back on track with an overdue return to winning ways at rock-bottom Sheffield United, who now sit 15 points from safety with only 12 games remaining.

Everton's victory over Southampton on Monday night kept them level on points with their Merseyside rivals, while there were also victories for Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa in the top half of the table.

At the other end, West Bromwich Albion picked up a valuable win over Brighton & Hove Albion, while Crystal Palace and Fulham played out a goalless draw and Wolverhampton Wanderers were held by Newcastle United.

Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League team of the week for gameweek 26.



PL TOTW GW26

West Brom's survival hopes are still fading with nine points the gap to safety and just 12 games remaining, but their victory over Brighton was crucial to keeping them alive and arguably the two players most responsible for that triumph make our XI this week.

Sam Johnstone made six saves to keep the goal-shy Seagulls at bay and keep his clean sheet intact, while Kyle Bartley was able to boast the only goal of the game in addition to that clean sheet.

Bartley was one of a number of centre-backs to get on the scoresheet over the weekend, making it the most competitive position in this XI, but he is the only goalscoring defender to make the cut as Ruben Dias, John Stones, Jamaal Lascelles and David Luiz all narrowly miss out, while Davinson Sanchez and Antonio Rudiger are also worthy of mentions.

Michael Keane also had the ball in the back of the net only for his goal to be ruled out for offside, but he still earns a place in the back three having helped to keep Southampton at bay by winning seven aerial duels en route to a valuable clean sheet.

Tyrone Mings was also a proud protector of his clean sheet as Aston Villa blunted the Leeds attack, and he is joined in this week's XI by clubmate Anwar El Ghazi.

El Ghazi scored the only goal of that game at Elland Road, but is forced into a slightly deeper position in this team due to the competition for places further forward.

There was also plenty of competition in the heart of the midfield, with Liverpool duo Curtis Jones and Georginio Wijnaldum in particular unfortunate to miss out, while West Ham's Jesse Lingard also deserves a mention in defeat.

Like everyone else, Lingard was forced to watch on and appreciate Kevin De Bruyne's assist for the opening goal in Man City's win over West Ham, with the Belgian entering the all-time top 10 for Premier League assists with a pinpoint ball from his weaker foot right onto the head of Dias.

Ruben Neves went one better for Wolverhampton Wanderers by getting on the scoresheet himself in their draw with Newcastle United, continuing his recent purple patch in front of goal with a rare header.

The likes of Adama Traore, Willian and Richarlison were in contention for the forward positions, but it is Tottenham who dominate from hereon in courtesy of their four-goal showing against Burnley.

Gareth Bale was the star of the show, finally showing a glimpse of his best form with two goals and an assist to make it seven goal involvements in his last four appearances for Spurs across all competitions.

The formation this week was dictated by the number of impressive centre-back performances and so Bale is hit with a throwback return to wing-back, dropping deeper to accommodate his Spurs teammate Lucas Moura on the right wing.

Indeed, it is an all-Spurs front three, with Lucas and Harry Kane both helping themselves to first-half goals as Jose Mourinho's side put the game to bed before the interval.

Son Heung-min was the only member of this Spurs quartet not to get on the scoresheet himself, but he did provide two assists to earn his place on the left.

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Bruno Fernandes scores a penalty for Manchester United against Newcastle United in the Premier League on February 21, 2021
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Todays Game Header Right
Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City31235366214574
2Manchester UnitedMan Utd30179458332560
3Leicester CityLeicester30175853341956
4West Ham UnitedWest Ham30157848371152
5Chelsea30149746301651
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs30147951321949
7Liverpool30147951361549
8Everton29145104138347
9Aston Villa291351142311144
10Arsenal30126124035542
11Leeds UnitedLeeds30133144748-142
12Crystal Palace30108123248-1638
13Southampton30106143953-1436
14Wolverhampton WanderersWolves3098133041-1135
15Burnley3089132440-1633
16Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton30711123338-532
17Newcastle UnitedNewcastle3078153050-2029
18Fulham31511152441-1726
19West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom3049172559-3421
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3042241752-3514

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