The Premier League is slowly but surely reaching its crescendo as a number of clubs continue to battle for their respective targets.
The title race took another dramatic turn as current leaders Arsenal let another two-goal lead slip against West Ham and are now nervously glancing over their shoulder at Manchester City. Elsewhere, the race for a Champions League looks set to go down to the wire with Aston Villa and Manchester United keeping themselves in contention with dominant victories.
The relegation scrap also continues to catch the eye, with Southampton, Leicester and Nottingham Forest looking the most likely to fall into the Championship at this stage. Following another weekend of interesting and intriguing results, take a look at Mirror Football ’s team of the weekend:
Keylor Navas
Despite finding himself on the end of a 2-0 defeat to Man Utd - goals from Antony and Diogo Dalot securing three points - on-loan PSG stopper Navas still produced a stand-out performance. The veteran Costa Rican produced five saves throughout the 90 minutes and in particular left Portuguese playmaker Bruno Fernandes frustrated.
One save in particular caught the eye as he somehow managed to push a powerful effort onto the crossbar. Given Forest’s porous defence this season, Navas’ form for the remainder of the campaign could be key to helping them stay up in their first season back in the Premier League.
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Alex Moreno
Starting at left-back for Aston Villa, the Spanish defender was key to his side’s impressive 3-0 success against Newcastle. He was particularly useful going forwards as his overlapping runs regularly caused problems for Kieran Trippier and Fabian Schar.
He managed to tee up teammate Ollie Watkins for his first goal of the game with an inch-perfect centre. In what was an impressive outing for the whole of the Villa back four, Moreno was probably the standout as Unai Emery continues to push the Midlands side to a place in Europe.
John Stones
Despite only playing 45 minutes for City in their 3-1 success over relegation strugglers Leicester, the England man still had enough time to produce a standout performance. He got Pep Guardiola 's side off to the perfect start as he volleyed home the opener after just five minutes - his first Premier League goal of the season.
Whilst he didn’t get too much of a defensive test from an insipid Leicester attack before his half-time withdrawal, everything he did was still with the utmost composure and class. Stones’ substitution potentially hints that he is set to start in Munich and underlines his current importance to Guardiola.
Max Kilman
Not many have been able to keep Brentford forward Ivan Toney quiet this season. After scoring 18 goals throughout the campaign, the 27-year-old will have been confident coming up against relegation-threatened Wolves.
However, he barely had a sniff against Max Kilman who battled with his physical presence expertly. The Wolves man produced two tackles, three clearances and a further two blocks.
His performance helped guide Wolves to what could be a vital victory as they attempt to escape the clutches of the relegation battle.
Diogo Dalot
Having started the season as Erik ten Hag ’s first-choice right-back, an injury kept him to the sidelines earlier this year. The Portuguese finally appears to have regained his top form though - something that was evident in a mature performance against Forest at the City Ground.
He was actually stationed on the opposite flank in the East-Midlands but that did not appear to affect him all too much. In the meantime, his run into the box was perfect to latch onto Antony’s through-ball and slot underneath Navas for what was his first-ever Premier League goal.
Moises Caicedo
Following his failed move to Arsenal at the end of the January transfer window, it would have been very easy for the Ecuadorian to take his eye off of the ball. Someone didn’t bother telling Caicedo though, who turned in another brilliant performance as Brighton kept up their European challenge against Chelsea.
He dominated the centre of the park at Stamford Bridge with an eye-watering nine tackles throughout the game - no player producing more. Only Brighton ’s defensive pairing Adam Webster and Lewis Dunk also completed more passes than Caicedo’s 65 as the Seagulls dismantled their expensively assembled hosts.
Harrison Reed
After losing their last four Premier League matches, Fulham were under threat of seeing their season fall flat. A 3-1 win against Everton at Goodison Park has seemingly breathed new life into their campaign though.
Key to that victory was midfielder Reed. He was a steady presence in midfield both going forwards and defensively. The 28-year-old also opened the scoring with a well-taken strike - his first goal in the Premier League since October.
Kevin De Bruyne
Having both Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland in the same team really should be something restricted to video games, as Leicester found out at the Etihad Stadium. The Belgian’s pass to the striker for City’s third goal was simply ridiculous.
He now has an astounding 25 assists to his name in all competitions. It was certainly no surprise to see City struggle to create once he was taken off of the pitch at half-time by Guardiola.
Eberechi Eze
Arguably one of the most in-form players in the Premier League right now, the former QPR man has three goals in as many games since Roy Hodgson’s return to Selhurst Park. His two goals at St Mary’s were key to the Eagles this time downing relegation-threatened Southampton.
His first was a poacher’s effort after capitalising on a mistake from Gavin Bazunu. His second was terrific as his low shot from outside of the area fizzed into the bottom corner.
Eze continued to be a threat throughout the afternoon and might feel disappointed that he wasn’t able to secure the matchball.
Erling Haaland
On the topic of trebles, one man who knows how to bag a hat-trick is Man City’s goalscoring sensation Erling Haaland. The Norwegian was among the clutch of players taken off at half-time but only after he had matched Mo Salah ’s record for the most goals in a 38-game Premier League season.
His first was a clinical penalty, whilst his second was an impudent finish over Leicester stopper Daniel Iversen. It now seems a matter of how many he will break Alan Shearer’s season record by rather than if he will get there.
Ollie Watkins
Whilst Eze and Haaland have found some sparkling form since the World Cup, there is arguably not a man in England who is more in form than Villa’s Ollie Watkins. Two more goals against Newcastle made it 11 goals in his last 12 Premier League appearances.
He gave Newcastle a torrid afternoon and could even have had more goals after hitting the post early on and also being denied by VAR. Watkins’ acrobatic header for Jacob Ramsey’s opening strike was also a highlight of what was a brilliant display.
