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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Stephen Killen & Tom Victor

Premier League pundits' weekend XI as Ian Wright, Paul Merson and Peter Crouch speak out

Another eventful weekend in the Premier League has ended with Arsenal still at the summit, while Liverpool kick-started their season in style.

Jurgen Klopp's team put nine goals past Bournemouth to gain their first win of the campaign, but the gap to champions Manchester City remained the same after an Erling Haaland-inspired comeback against Crystal Palace.

Elsewhere, there were narrow wins for 10-man Chelsea and resurgent Manchester United, while West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur earned away wins on Sunday. Here's who stood out for the pundits over the weekend as some new signings and more familiar faces made their mark.

Dean Henderson

Dean Henderson has played just two Premier League games at the City Ground, but Nottingham Forest's on-loan goalkeeper has saved a penalty in both. After keeping out Declan Rice's effort in the win over West Ham United, Henderson denied another England colleague on Sunday when he dived to his right to push away Harry Kane's effort for Spurs.

"The fans loved him, and obviously he's a top quality goalkeeper," Ashley Williams said on Match of the Day 2. "To save that Harry Kane penalty is something."

Nelson Semedo

Keeping Allan Saint-Maximin quiet is a tough task for any player. Manchester City struggled to do it last weekend, but Wolves ' Nelson Semedo gave a good account of himself - only for the Frenchman to still find the net late on despite having a slower afternoon than usual.

Who makes your team of the week? Have your say in the comments section

Nelson Semedo was given the tough task of dealing with Allan Saint-Maximin (Getty Images)

"Semedo was excellent from the first minute," former Wales defender Williams said. "He got right up tight with him, gave him no space at all, and you can see Saint-Maximin getting frustrated there early in the game."

Thiago Silva

Chelsea needed all their players to pull through against Leicester, with Conor Gallagher's early dismissal making things tough. Gallagher picked up his second yellow card in the first half, leaving Thomas Tuchel's side a man down for an hour, but centre-back Silva helped them keep their opponents at bay.

"At times they looked like the team with an extra man," pundit Danny Murphy wrote for The Mail. "And when they really had to dig in at the end, Thiago Silva epitomised the spirit Chelsea had to get over the line.

Lisandro Martinez

After impressing alongside Raphael Varane against Liverpool, Martinez was given a tough test at Southampton. Che Adams made the former Ajax man worked hard, but in the end the Manchester United man was named man of the match on BT Sport's coverage.

Lisandro Martinez was put to the test by Che Adams (Getty Images)

"Martinez and the left-back [Tyrell Malacia], we were worried before the game but they did well," Paul Scholes said after the 1-0 win. "Martinez looks a very aggressive player, which he’ll need to be, to get through the game after such a bad run away, after Monday night it was important as well to back that up with a win and they managed to do that."

Ivan Perisic

Perisic has been eased into the Tottenham first team by Antonio Conte, but is starting to show why the manager was so keen to bring him to north London. It was the Croatian's cross which forced Steve Cook into a mindless handball for Spurs' penalty, and it was another solid all-around display.

"He’s always been a great player, he plays that left hand side, the manager knows him extremely well. He loves a stepover, beat people one-on-one," Jamie Redknapp said on Sky Sports. "A good signing, they’ve made good signings this summer Tottenham, a free transfer but adds so much to the team, his experience, great player."

Martin Odegaard

Arsenal came from behind to beat Fulham on Saturday, with Gabriel scoring the late winner. However, it was captain Martin Odegaard - scorer of the equaliser - who caught the eye.

Martin Odegaard was on target for Arsenal again (REUTERS)

“One player that stood out, he’s so much like Kevin De Bruyne, is [Martin] Odegaard,” Tony Cascarino said on talkSPORT. “His ability to pass the ball, move it and you have to give a lot of credit to [Mikel] Arteta because he had been on loan and he didn’t send him back. He made him one of his primary recruitment, the one he wanted to bring through the door and he’s so gifted.”

Bruno Fernandes

Manchester United secured back-to-back wins thanks to Bruno Fernandes ' tidy finish. The Portugal international has found a second wind since taking the captain's armband with Harry Maguire benched, and this was plain to see at St Mary's.

"I thought he played well, I thought he’d be pleased with what he did," Peter Crouch said on BT Sport. "You can’t control games every single game, he did his job well and I think his was the winning goal and it’s a captain’s performance.”

Luis Diaz

Luis Diaz was a threat throughout for Liverpool (PA)

A number of Liverpool players could have made the cut after their 9-0 win, but Diaz certainly deserves a mention. The Colombian has been one of the brighter sparks for the Reds this season, and notched a goal in each half against Bournemouth.

"He is all over the place, absolutely all over the place," Paul Merson said. "Sometimes he is unplayable. You don’t know what to do. You don’t know whether to follow him up the pitch, do you stick, do you stay.”

Raheem Sterling

Chelsea have changed a lot this summer, with more new arrivals yet to come. However, with Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku gone, the onus is on Raheem Sterling to deliver match-winning performances like against Leicester.

"Raheem Sterling is going to be a big player for them," Murphy said of the former Manchester City man. "When you lose a man early, leaders step and make a difference, and he did with his goals."

Harry Kane

Harry Kane impressed despite missing from the penalty spot (Getty Images)

Despite seeing a penalty saved by Henderson, Kane was Spurs' match-winner with two goals. The England captain moved level with Andrew Cole in the all-time Premier League rankings with the brace, and can go higher.

"Look at that record, I’m convinced he’s going to be top of the tree when his career comes to an end for club and country," Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports. "We’re looking there at some of the great Premier League goalscorers, he’s an absolute legend of the Premier League not just Tottenham.”

Erling Haaland

For a while, it looked as though Manchester City could be set for a first defeat of the season, with Crystal Palace opening up a two-goal lead. That advantage didn't last long, though, and Erling Haaland's second-half hat-trick reminded us what the striker brings to the Premier League champions.

"He's a monster - he's a goalscoring monster," Ian Wright said on Match of the Day. "For somebody that we were so excited to see, in a team like City he's going to score loads of goals."

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