Man City's Alvarez takes Haaland's place in Premier League team of the week
This week’s team of the week is dominated by Aston Villa, West Ham and Manchester City, who all have three players each. There is also room for a player each from Tottenham and Leeds.
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa) – 7.55
After three successive losses, Aston Villa returned to winning ways, inflicting Everton their first home defeat under Sean Dyche with a 2-0 win. After last weekend’s performance against Arsenal, which included an own goal, Emiliano Martinez returned a 7.55 WhoScored rating after helping his side to a clean sheet, making four saves and one claim.
Matty Cash (Aston Villa) – 7.77
Matty Cash may not have been playing as regularly in recent weeks, but was key in many ways against Everton. Though he is a threat down the right flank, Cash is best known for his defensive work, which played the biggest part in accumulating a 7.77 WhoScored rating. No player completed more tackles (6) than the Poland international, while he also won 50% of his aerial duels and made five clearances.
Ruben Dias (Manchester City) – 7.86
Featuring in defence is Manchester City’s Ruben Dias. City maintained the pressure on Arsenal with a 4-1 win over Bournemouth. While the attack played its part in the win, so too did the defence, and none more so than Dias. Shortly before the break, he made a last man tackle when City were 2-0 up, while he won four of his five attempted tackles. The passing side of his game is also key, and while 119 of his 127 tackles found a teammate, he also made 27 successful passes from his own half to the opposition half, at least 12 more than any other player managed throughout the weekend in the Premier League, helping Dias to a 7.86 WhoScored rating.
Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa) – 8.03
With a WhoScored rating of 8.03, Tyrone Mings completes the Villa trio in the XI. A key reason behind Villa not conceding was due to his solidity at the back, with no player able to dribble past him at Goodison Park, while he also won possession in the defensive third four times. His presence at the back is a key asset as he won all eight contested aerial duels.
After going ten league games without a win, Leeds recorded a huge 1-0 victory over relegation rivals Southampton. Junior Firpo put in a man of the match display as he returned an 8.31 WhoScored rating as he scored the only goal of the game. That goal came from Firpo’s only shot, while he also registered one key pass. No player managed to dribble past him as he made two tackles and three interceptions.
Phil Foden (Manchester City) – 8.98
With an 8.98 WhoScored rating, Phil Foden is the player of the week. Foden contributed to two of Manchester City's four goals as he provided the assist for Erling Haaland's goal on the half hour mark, that coming from one of seven key passes altogether, more than any other player this weekend. He then netted City's third on the stroke of half time. In addition, he also completed two dribbles and maintained an 88.7% pass success rate.
After three league games without a win, West Ham climbed out of the relegation zone with an impressive 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest. It had been a while since Declan Rice had scored for the Hammers, but he bagged his first goal since October at the London Stadium. Rice was his usual reliable self in the middle, winning possession in the midfield third seven times, which no Premier League player could better across the weekend, while only one of his 60 passes failed to find its mark. Rice was unfortunate not to register an assist having created four goalscoring chances, while three of four aerial duels contested won saw him return a WhoScored rating of 8.76.
Oliver Skipp (Tottenham) – 8.03
Tottenham won consecutive home London Derbies as they followed up their victory over West Ham last week with another 2-0 win, this time over Graham Potter’s Chelsea. There wasn’t much to split the two teams in the first half, only for Oliver Skipp to fire Spurs ahead with a superb strike from outside the box shortly after the restart, marking his first goal for the north London side of his career. The youngster made three tackles and completed three interceptions, the joint most in the game, as Skipp earned a WhoScored rating of 8.03.
Said Benrahma (West Ham) – 8.16
On the left-hand side of the midfield with a WhoScored rating of 8.16 is West Ham’s second representative in the XI, Said Benrahma. While Benrahma is yet to score a league goal in 2023, he did manage to take his assists total for the season in the league to three as he turned provider for Danny Ings and Declan Rice on Saturday. He also completed the second most dribbles (3) and made the second most key passes (3) at the London Stadium, while the Algerian was key defensively, too, making the second most tackles (3).
Kicking off the frontline is West Ham hitman Danny Ings. The January arrival hit the back of the net with two of three shots in the space of two second half minutes. In addition to his brace, Ings was well worth his 8.10 WhoScored rating in the match, winning three aerial duels and finding a teammate 12 of 18 attempted passes.
Julian Alvarez (Manchester City) – 8.09
Completing the XI is Manchester City star Julian Alvarez, who returned a WhoScored rating of 8.09 for his efforts on Saturday. Alvarez opened the scoring in the 15th minute on the south coast, beating Neto with one of four shots. He also created one key pass and completed two dribbles, and was solid off the ball, too, as he made two tackles and one clearance.
