Premier League: Team of the Week XXII feat. Arsenal and Swansea stars

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Goalkeeper: Petr Cech (Arsenal)

It looked for all the world like a home banker for Arsenal as they took on Burnley at the Emirates, but it was anything but a simple afternoon and the Gunners really had to grind out a result, with Petr Cech, so often a custodian, called into action on several occasions. His six saves were more than any other goalkeeper that ended up on the winning side over the weekend, and it took Andre Gray’s penalty to finally get the better of him.

Right Centre-Back: Seamus Coleman (Everton)

As is so often the case with Seamus Coleman, his forward-running from full-back tormented Crystal Palace all afternoon, and he proved himself as opportunist as well as hard-worker at Selhurst Park, taking advantage of the referee’s hesitation to stop play following Jeffrey Schlupp’s injury to crash the ball home and send the Eagles into the relegation zone.

Aside from his goal-scoring contributions from getting into forward positions, Coleman is also quite the creator of chances. Two key passes in the final third were a second-best in the team, behind only the three that Gareth Barry created. Not bad at all for a full-back.

Centre-Back: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)

It was an intense and rather heated occasion for Mustafi to net his first goal for Arsenal. As they grew increasingly frustrated against a dogged and determined Burnley, some simply lost their heads, in particular, Granit Xhaka, who received his marching orders for a reckless challenge on Steven Defour.

Mustafi was the calming presence at the back that helped keep Arsenal organised and hold on even after Xhaka’s dismissal, and even when Burnley got their goal from the spot it had very little to do with the German, another moment of madness from Francis Coquelin saw to that.

Left Centre-Back: Gary Cahill (Chelsea)

Gary Cahill was another centre-back in amongst the goals in a gritty victory over the weekend. The game was marred when Ryan Mason was sent to hospital following a clash of heads with the centre-half. Mason continues to recover well but more crucially for the Blues, Cahill remained on the pitch and proceeded to net Chelsea’s second which put the game decisively out of the Tigers’ reach.

Cahill’s strike also ensured he became the sixth defender to net ten Premier League goals for the Blues, joining an elite club at Stamford Bridge, the only other still at the club being skipper John Terry.