Premier League news: Lisandro Martinez, Ross Barkley, Erling Haaland star in team of the week

It was a topsy-turvy weekend in the Premier League as leaders Liverpool were held by struggling Manchester United, second-placed Arsenal failed to close the gap, and surprise package Nottingham Forest remained third despite not playing.

Elsewhere, Brentford got an emphatic first away victory of the season at lowly Southampton and Manchester City returned to winning ways at home to West Ham.

In terms of player performances, defenders stood out individually in spite of some high-scoring games while Erling Haaland and Savinho made sure no Hammers would feature in this article.

Sports News Blitz guest writer Charlie Elliott picks his Premier League team of the week.

Jordan Pickford – Everton

Pickford is England’s number one for a reason and was crucial in holding Bournemouth to only one goal in Everton’s 1-0 defeat at the Vitality Stadium.

A few huge saves were eventually undone by a moment of magic from David Brooks that was simply unsavable.

Going forward, the Toffees did not even manage a shot on target all game, and the scoreline would have been much worse if not for some heroic goalkeeping by Pickford.

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Pedro Porro – Tottenham Hotspur

Porro was dealt a difficult hand on Saturday, having to play over half of the game as part of a makeshift defence that would eventually be Spurs’ undoing in their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United.

The Spaniard at least managed to grab an assist courtesy of a brilliant cross to Dominic Solanke and held his own defensively throughout, with five tackles completed.

It was a big shame that such a good individual performance was still not enough for the win.

Dean Huijsen – Bournemouth

As mentioned, Bournemouth did not allow a single shot on goal in their win against Everton and, as a result, the Cherries' defensive unit as a whole needs to be credited.

Spanish centre-back Huijsen, signed from Juventus in the summer, looks mature beyond his years and, at 19, is definitely one to watch for the future.

In the win over Everton, he was there when called upon and formed a strong partnership with Illia Zabarnyi, who is only 22 years old himself.

After a cracking season so far, a European tour could be on the cards for the Cherries, and Huijsen has been key in that respect.

Lisandro Martinez – Manchester United

‘The Butcher’ scored his first Premier League goal of the season against rivals Liverpool with a no-nonsense strike past Alisson after good play by Bruno Fernandes.

Overall, the Argentine was good at the back – making some huge tackles to let the Liverpool attackers know he was there – and could not be faulted for either of the goals.

Martinez, Harry Maguire, and Matthijs de Ligt look to be a good partnership, and that bodes well for Ruben Amorim.

Keane Lewis-Potter – Brentford

Southampton were stunned 5-0 at home by Brentford on Saturday and the victors could have had most of their team in this team of the week, to be fair.

Attacking left-back Lewis-Potter proved once again why he was signed for big money from Hull City a few years ago.

A neat finish in stoppage time capped off an excellent display in which he managed to play the full 90 minutes without misplacing a single pass.

Now above both Spurs and United, Brentford are daring to dream about European football.

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Lewis Cook – Bournemouth

Against Everton, the defensive strength of Bournemouth extended to their midfield, where club captain and legend Cook dominated at both ends of the pitch.

A one-time England international, he created the most chances and completed the most tackles, with one of those chances being a lovely through ball to Evanilson that really should have been finished off.

While the whole team deserves credit for the position that they find themselves in, having a captain with the quality of Cook is a big factor in Bournemouth’s push for continental football next season.

Ross Barkley – Aston Villa

Villa scraped past Leicester City this weekend with midfielder Ross Barkley rolling back the years as the standout player.

On the ball, Barkley was consistent and displayed numerous moments of quality to get past defenders, but he really stood out when it came to his goal.

Barkley lashed home a half volley from the edge of the box to open the scoring, which provided a valuable foundation from which Villa could take the three points.

His quality is there for all to see, and he will be hoping that this game signals a return to his pre-Chelsea form.

Bruno Fernandes – Manchester United

A passionate leader on the pitch for the Red Devils, Fernandes showed the best of himself in their 2-2 draw at Anfield.

He deftly dictated the play, made all the right decisions on the ball, and was key to United maintaining a foothold in the game across the 90 minutes.

This effort was personified best in his assist for Martinez, where the Portuguese waited an extra second in order to play a perfect through ball that was then finished off.

In hindsight, Fernandes was involved in everything and did the right thing every time.

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Bryan Mbeumo – Brentford

The most underrated player in the Premier League right now has to be Mbuemo.

A brace against Southampton took his goal tally up to 13 for the season, enough for joint-third in the Golden Boot race.

His first goal at St Mary’s was smashed into the roof of the net while his second was a composed penalty that his clever cross had played a hand in winning.

Those two goals were not enough for the Cameroonian and he subsequently laid on an inch-perfect pass for Lewis-Potter to finish off.

Erling Haaland – Manchester City

It might be a case of crisis averted for City, who have now managed back-to-back wins for the first time since October after a convincing 4-1 win at home to West Ham.

Haaland bagged a brace of tidy finishes to reclaim his place atop the scoring charts in an otherwise testing campaign for the goalscoring machine.

The fact that such a poor start to the season has still resulted in 16 goals in 20 games shows just how high the Norwegian has set the bar for himself.

Although the title race looks to be over, neither City nor their star striker will go down without a fight.

Savinho – Manchester City

Another player back to showing his best for City is winger Savinho, who had a part to play in three of their goals against West Ham.

First, his cross was deflected in to open the scoring, with the Brazilian celebrating wildly despite it being counted as an own goal.

Savinho then grabbed two assists via Haaland thanks to an inch-perfect cross and a brilliantly weighted through ball.

He has not shown much end product so far this season, but Savinho may finally have turned a corner and could yet help City save their campaign.

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