With Man City playing the League Cup final, Liverpool missed the chance to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League as they played out a goalless draw away to Man United. Despite United losing three players to injury in the first half, the Kops failed to get going for the entire 90 minutes, registering only one shot on target in the game.
The draw also means that United slip out of the Champions League places following Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Southampton. The Gunners who are now 4th had Alexander Lacazatte and Henrik Mkhitaryan to thank for scoring the two first half goals that won the game.
Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspurs’s chances of winning a first Premier League title were dented a huge blow as they lost 2-1 away to Burnely. After a goalless first half, Chris Wood put the hosts ahead on 57 minutes but the returning Harry Kane equalized 8 minutes later. With 7 minutes to the end, Ashley Barnes poked home the winner to inflict a 7th loss of the season on Spurs.
Watford, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Newcastle also won their respective fixtures. Watford were the big winners on the weekend as they defeated Cardiff City 5-1 away from home, Palace were 4-1 winners against Leicester City, West Ham overcame Fulham 3-1 while Newcastle scrapped to a 2-0 win at home to Huddersfield.
Here are the IX players that stood out in game week 25 according to PML Daily Sports Editor, Shaban Lubega, in a 3:4:3 formation.
GK: Allison Backer (Liverpool).
What a signing the big Brazilian has been for Liverpool. Allison keeps bailing the Kops out and on Sunday, he was at it again, making a miraculous save to deny Jesse Lingard.
CB: Victor Lindelof (Man United).
Victor Lindelof made more clearances than any of his Man United teammates and completely shut-out the opposition in their 0-0 draw against Liverpool at Old Trafford.
CB: James Tarkowski (Burnley).
As far as competitors go, they don’t come much better than James Tarkowski. The England defender’s heroics at the back caused Tottenham a great deal of pain on Saturday.
CB: James Tomkins (Crystal Palace).
I always give credit where it is due and on Saturday, Tomkins produced one of his best displays as Palace defeated Leicester City 4-1.
MF: Ashley Young (Man United).
No Man Unitedplayer had more touches (63) or made more passes (44) than Ashley Young in their 0-0 draw at home to table leaders Liverpool.
MF: Sead Kolasinac (Arsenal)
Sead Kolasinac gained possession on 10 occasions and made two blocks as he helped Arsenal to a 2-0 victory over Southampton.
MF: Luka Milivojevic (Crystal Palace).
Milivojevic continues to provide cool leadership on the field for Palace, which perfectly reflects that provided by Roy Hodgson in the dugout. Excellent in the win over Leicester and scoring one of the four goals.
MF: Miguel Almiron (Newcastle United).
No Newcastle player had more shots on target (3) or created more chances (6) than Miguel Almiron against Huddersfield.
FW: Gerard Deulofeu (Watford).
Gerard Deulofeu became the first Watford player to score a top-flight hat-trick since Mark Falco in October 1986. He did so on Friday as his side defeated Cardiff City 5-1 in Wales.
FW: Troy Deeney (Watford).
Denney was at his absolute best again this past week. The Englishman scored twice and made one assist in the 5-1 win over Cardiff.
FW: Wilfred Zaha (Crystal Palace).
The two goals against Leicester just had to put Zaha in my team of the week.