Top 5: Premier League players of the weekend including Arsenal and Chelsea stars
Matchweek 7 of the 2020/21 Premier League season once again produced plenty of drama.
Champions Liverpool took their place at the top of the table after their late win over West Ham was followed by Everton’s second successive defeat at Newcastle United.
Elsewhere, Arsenal won the headline match of the weekend as they defeated Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford, while, at the bottom, Burnley and Sheffield United are still searching for their first wins.
But – across the eight matches on Friday, Saturday and Sunday – who have been the standout individuals?
Here we’ve selected our five standout stars…
Thomas Partey (Arsenal)
Thomas Partey proved why Arsenal paid Atletico Madrid £45million to land him on Deadline Day with his performance in the win at Manchester United. The Ghana star was top for the Gunners when it came to touches, possession won, tackles, interceptions and dribbles completed. Struck up a great partnership with Mohamed Elneny in the middle of the park which proved too much for the Red Devils to handle.
Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea)
On his first Premier League start for Chelsea since his switch from Ajax, Hakim Ziyech was superb. The Morocco international linked up well with his teammates all afternoon and opened the scoring for the Blues in the 3-0 win at Burnley. Then – in the second half – the attacking midfielder grabbed himself an assist when he set up Timo Werner. A great full debut in the top-flight and one that will have Chelsea fans very excited.
Rayan Ait-Nouri (Wolves)
Wolves defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 in the Friday night fixture in a result which not only took the club up to fifth, but also had a fantastic sub story. On his debut, 19-year-old, Rayan Ait-Nouri, scored the opening goal with a fantastic left-foot finish. As well as that, the Frenchman also kept Andros Townsend relatively quiet going the other way. Nuno Espirito Santo looks to have another top player on his hands.
Callum Wilson (Newcastle United)
After two games without a win, Newcastle recorded an eye-catching 2-1 win over second-placed Everton to move up to 11th. Callum Wilson was once again the main man for the Magpies as he scored both goals. The striker – signed from Bournemouth in September – notched his first on 58 minutes before converting a penalty he had won six minutes from time to take his tally to six to the season.
James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Southampton sit fourth in the Premier League after an impressive 4-3 win at Aston Villa. Saints were 4-0 up after 58 minutes with captain James Ward-Prowse once again impressing. The midfielder scored twice and set up Jannik Vestergaard’s opener on a perfect 26th birthday. After a poor opening couple of games, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side now look a real force.