After a disappointing week of watching England bore us in the Nations’ League, football fans around the country and indeed the rest of the world were surely glad to see the Premier League return to our screens in the past few days. Whilst the Premier League certainly hasn’t had the best week on and off the pitch with the controversies of VAR and a new pay-per-view system, at least the football itself continues to maintain a high quality, with another 28 goals being scored in Matchweek 5. Who stood out this week in England’s top flight?
Stars in Premier League – Round 5
1. Goalkeeper: Nick Pope (Burnley)
After a poor performance at Newcastle two weeks ago, it was never going to take long for a goalkeeper of Nick Pope’s calibre to recover. Burnley’s number one was in fine form against West Brom on Monday night, pulling off several fine saves and helping his side earn their first Premier League clean sheet of the season. If not for the wasteful finishing of his teammates, Pope’s performance would have deservedly brought the Clarets three important points.
2. Defender: Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
Manchester City were another side to earn their first clean sheet of the season this weekend, and it looks like the Citizens are steadily recovering from their thumping by Leicester. New defender Ruben Dias was the star man in City’s narrow win over Arsenal, showing leadership and composure far beyond his years. It’s early days for Dias at the Etihad, but he really did look the part against the Gunners.
3. Midfielder: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
A late but great win against Newcastle on Saturday has surely given Manchester United some hope of kick-starting their season, and unsurprisingly Bruno Fernandes was at the heart of it. After missing a penalty for the first time in a red shirt, the Portugal international showed great strength of character to bag a late goal and assist to help his side see off the Magpies at St James’ Park.
4. Forward: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
The unpredictability of Tottenham Hotspur in the early weeks of 2020/21 must be equally frustrating for the Spurs faithful and for manager Jose Mourinho, but one of the few consistencies has been the sensational form of Harry Kane. The striker bagged another two goals and an assist against West Ham, taking his respective tallies to five and seven this season already. After a performance like that, he’ll rightly be feeling aggrieved that his teammates were unable to close out the result.
Manager: Dean Smith (Aston Villa)
After their astonishing result against Liverpool two weeks ago, Leicester City presented a different but equally difficult test for Aston Villa. Once again, Dean Smith masterminded a rock-solid performance for the Villans, whose patience was rewarded with a late winning goal to keep their 100% record so far this season intact. The revival rolls on.
