Premier League Team of the Week

Posted Tuesday, March 19, 2013 by Foxsports.com

Frank Lampard managed to steal the limelight on a Premier League weekend which saw the title race virtually gifted to Manchester United.

With the early kick-off in Saturday's fixtures, Manchester City knew they had to beat Everton keep their faint title hopes alive but instead it was David Moyes who continued his fine form over Roberto Mancini with a 2-0 victory.

This perhaps had a bearing on Manchester United's game as they seemed content with a scrappy 1-0 win over Reading in the final game that Saturday.

And this set the stage for Frank Lampard to hog the headlines this week as he scored his 200th goal for Chelsea in their 2-0 win over West Ham the following day.

Southampton are also definitely worthy of a few column inches in the coming days as a fine display saw them stroll to a 3-1 win over Liverpool while Aston Villa secured a massive 3-2 result over QPR in a relegation six-pointer on Saturday.

Arsenal kept up their bid for the top four Champions League places with a notable win at Swansea which was made even sweeter by Fulham's 1-0 win over Tottenham on Sunday.

We've gone with a 4-4-1-1 formation this week.

GK: Jan Mucha (Everton)

A forgotten man at Everton given Tim Howard's consistency and fitness, Jan Mucha staked his claim for the goalkeeping jersey with a fine performance in Saturday's 2-0 win over champions Manchester City.
The pick of his saves came against James Milner and Pablo Zabaleta to leave the Toffees to celebrate yet another good result against Roberto Mancini.

RB: Seamus Coleman (Everton)

Another Evertonian has made it in our Team of the Week but Seamus Coleman fully deserves the recognition for his efforts for Everton against Manchester City. Not many people would have expected him to be the best full-back on the pitch given big name players like Pablo Zabaleta and Leighton Baines were around, yet it was Coleman who shone brightest.

His work-rate was excellent and whenever City were getting stretched at the back, he moved into the spaces intelligently and in the end it was his lay-off which set-up Leon Osman for the game changing goal in the 2-0 win.

LB: Nacho Monreal (Arsenal)

Premier League Team of the Week

These days left-backs are better going forward than defending and you certainly get the feeling this is the case with Nacho Monreal. The Arsenal signing repaid Arsene Wenger's faith in him with a crucial goal to hand the Gunners a vital 2-0 win over Swansea to keep the hunt for Champions League football next season very much alive.

CB: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)

Those who were expecting a cricket score for Manchester United in Saturday's late kick-off against Reading were left disappointed. In fact, United's best player on the night was veteran central defender Rio Ferdinand which tells you how much of a snooze fest it was at Old Trafford.

In the end, it was Ferdinand's brilliant charge up field which completely left Reading in disarray and allowed Wayne Rooney to score the only goal of the game.

CB: Brede Hangeland (Fulham)

There haven't been too many teams which have been able to keep Gareth Bale and Co. quiet in the Premier League of late. As a result, credit must go to Fulham's Brede Hangeland whose solid defensive display on Sunday at the back provided the platform for Dimitar Berbatov to net the winner against his former side.

RM: Andi Weimann (Aston Villa)

Aston Villa's 3-2 win over QPR on Saturday was a brilliant advertisement for the Premier League in my opinion. There's just something quite unique about the high drama of a relegation battle in England's top flight.

Bottom-side QPR needed a win against Villa who were hovering just above the drop zone on Saturday and it was Harry Redknapp's side who looked the more impressive. Villa had to work extremely hard for all three points and no player did it better than Andi Weimann who never stopped closing down and making life difficult for his opponents. His goal was, of course important, but the hustle he showed to chase down a loose ball and cut it back for Christian Benteke to score the winner was priceless.

LM: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)

Premier League Team of the Week

Eden Hazard was easily the best player of the match during Chelsea's 2-0 win over West Ham on Sunday. The midfielder had his way with the Hammers and scored a peach of a goal as well. I thought Juan Mata had a good game as well but Hazard was simply out of this world.

CM: Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton)

Liverpool lost the battle in midfield against Southampton on Saturday and got thrashed 3-1 as a result. Key to the Saints outplaying the likes of Steven Gerrard and Joe Allen was Morgan Schneiderlin. It was a well-rounded all-action display combining midfield graft and energy with intelligent passing and finishing.

CM: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

What else can you say about Frank Lampard and Chelsea which hasn't already been said? He continues to be a living legend for the club and his goal in Chelsea's 2-0 win over West Ham on Sunday takes him up to 200 goals for the Blues.
FW: Santi Cazorla (Arsenal)

There's no point trying to pigeonhole Santi Cazorla as a winger as he's just such a versatile player he can play anywhere across the attacking line. Left, right or behind the striker, Cazorla is able to slot right in for Arsenal and produce the goods like he did against Swansea. Michael Laudrup's defence did not look prepared enough for Cazorla playing deep through the middle where he was given the freedom to try and test both opposition full-backs at any time.

ST: Jay Rodriguez (Southampton)

Premier League Team of the Week

As already mentioned, Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin was the catalyst for their dominance in a 3-1 win over Liverpool, but to win games every team needs a cutting edge in front of goal and this is what Jay Rodriguez provided on Saturday.

It was his quick thinking which led to him nodding the back for Schneiderlin to open the scoring and he wrapped things up with the third goal for the Saints in the 80th minute.