There was plenty of excitement over the weekend in the Premier League.
Chelsea edged Arsenal in a 3-2 thriller, while Brighton caused the upset of the round by beating Manchester United 3-2 at the AMEX Stadium.
Manchester City continued in ominous form with a 6-1 thrashing of Huddersfield, while Liverpool also saw off Crystal Palace 2-0 in what was a thrilling encounter at Selhurst Park.
Tottenham, Bournemouth and Watford also continued their 100% starts to the campaign with victories over Fulham, West Ham and Burnley.
But who were the star players from an exciting three days of Premier League goodness?
GK: Alisson – Liverpool
Liverpool needed an upgrade on both Loris Karius and Simon Mignolet if they were going to challenge for the title this season. In Alisson, they have that, and so much more. The Brazilian number one pulled off a string of excellent saves versus Palace last night, and his distribution from the back was quite literally unbelievable. Alisson completed 21 of his 23 passes, which was more than Andros Townsend (19), Wilfried Zaha (14) and Mo Salah (12) on the night.
RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka – Crystal Palace
It may seem odd to include a player in a ’team of the week’ that was sent-off with a straight red, however besides that slight mishap (and to be honest, there wasn’t much else he could do other than bring Mo Salah, who was through on-goal down), the 20-year-old was excellent. Not only did the youngster do a terrific job of quelling the threat of Sadio Mane on the left-flank, but was also his side’s most potent attacking threat.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – Liverpool
Christian Benteke isn’t the threat he was once, but Virgil Van Dijk dealt with him last night like he was a Sunday League centre forward. The Dutchman won every header, made every tackle and played the ball out from defence with calmness and authority – the likes of which hasn’t been seen at Liverpool in a very long time. “Virgil’s performance was really, really good,” Jurgen Klopp said after last night’s win, “Quality costs a specific price.” £75 million looks a bargain right now.
LB: Benjamin Mendy – Manchester City
Benjamin Mendy was credited with just one assist in City’s 6-1 demolition of Huddersfield on Sunday, but bar technicalities, it could have been three. The Frenchman, ablate fortunately, provided the pass for Gabriel Jesus’ goal which made it 2-0; supplied the cross, which was spilled by Ben Hamer, for Sergio Aguero’s second of the afternoon to make it 3-0; and again teed up the Argentine to complete his hat-trick to make it 5-1. He also got two assists last week. Not a bad start to the season, then.
CM: Jorginho – Chelsea
The Italian already looks a revelation at Stamford Bridge. As a deep lying playmaker with a license to push on, Jorginho is not only orchestrating the heart of the Blues midfield, but he’s also allowing those around him to thrive. N’Golo Kante’s now been given more freedom to get forward, while Ross Barkley has rediscovered himself alongside the 26-year-old. The former Napoli man made 99 passes against Arsenal – more than anybody else.
CM: David Silva – Manchester City
City fans would have been worried with the news that Kevin De Bruyne would be out for as long as three months with a knee injury. Given David Silva’s display on Sunday, those worries are unnecessary. On his 250th Premier League appearance, Silva created six chances, boasted a 95% pass success rate, and hit a superb free-kick for his side’s fourth goal. His son, who spent five months in hospital after being born prematurely earlier in the year, was on hand to watch his father from the sidelines for the first ever time. A good day all round for El Mago.
CM: James Maddison – Leicester City
Maddison showed glimpses of his talent against Manchester United last week, but took things to another level against Wolves. The Foxes summer signing – who joined in a £24 million deal from Norwich in June, was at the heart of everything good Claude Puel’s side did on Saturday, and was on-hand to score his first goal for his new club. Riyad Mahrez left big boots to fill, and while Maddison may not have the exact right shoe size, he may just be able to provide a different style of trainer this season for Leicester.
RW: Mohamed Salah – Liverpool
“He’s lost his powers”, some Liverpool fans were saying after Mohamed Salah’s performance against Crystal Palace last night. No, his finishing wasn’t at his usual best, but the Egyptian was still the key man for his side on the night. Salah won the penalty for James Milner to open the scoring, and then made the run through on goal which saw him brought down by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who was subsequently sent-off. To cap it off, he set up Sadio Mane with an unselfish pass late on the seal the game for the Reds. It could have been a different story without him.
ST: Sergio Aguero – Manchester City
The best striker the Premier League has ever seen? Many would argue so. The Argentine’s hat-trick on Sunday took his Premier League tally to 146, and saw him surpass Robin Van Persie’s 144 and draw level with Teddy Sheringham. If he keeps up his average of 20 goals a season in the top flight (and at this rate, he almost certainly will), he will surpass Les Ferdinand, Michael Owen, Jermaine Defoe and Robbie Fowler before the end of campaign, and have Thierry Henry firmly in his sights.
LW: Callum Wilson – Bournemouth
Two goals in two games now for the Cherries forward, whose fine solo effort over West Ham on Sunday helped ensure Bournemouth continued their 100% start to the new season. Wilson dribbled past no less than four West Ham players before slotting the ball cooly past Lukasz Fabianski to level the score at the London Stadium, and he could have had two more if it wasn’t for a couple of fine saves from the Hammers keeper. Always a strong starter, the Englishman will be hoping he can keep it up without picking up an injury as he so often does.