Midfielders:
James Milner
Okay, so he might not have done the exciting things that some other midfielders did this weekend, but the England international continues to show that he is the sort of determined midfielder, who is perfect for matches like this. Manchester City should play Milner more often in the away matches like these as he will always get stuck in against the lesser sides, who have one or two physical midfielders. He was solid at the weekend when defending, while he also produced a few nice moments in attack, this follows his excellent performance against Chelsea last weekend. Milner could finally be securing a place in Manchester City’s starting eleven, which is deserved based on his last couple of seasons.
Steven Gerrard
The Liverpool captain continues to perform in the big matches and produce the game changing moments as he did on Saturday with an excellent free kick. He remained calm in the middle of the park in possession as you would expect, while he continues to give Liverpool leadership and direction, which will be crucial in the next couple of weeks as they attempt to start winning again in the Premier League. He will have to be cleverly managed this season with the extra games as his influence will be missed if he contracts any serious injuries.
Mile Jedinak
Since Crystal Palace were promoted, big things have been produced by the Australian captain and he continued to show his class on Saturday, with a dominating performance in the middle of the park. He is one of the best defensive midfielders in the league as he showed against Leicester, with his reading of the game, his tackling and his aerial ability, which led to his goal as he climbed well to head in. Palace would be a lot worse off without Jedinak in the side.
Graham Dorrans
Graham Dorrans is a player who has had ups and downs in recent seasons, without becoming the consistent Premier League midfielder he had promised to be in his youth, but he was excellent this weekend, causing Burnley all sorts of problems. Although it was only Burnley, he showed his creative side, cutting open the bottom placed team on several occasions claiming two assists, before scoring the final goal himself with a great finish.
Forwards:
Saido Berahino
In the past 12 months, Saido Berahino has emerged as one of the best young talents in the league, showing great composure when he gets chances in front of goal. Many expected West Brom to struggle this season, but the goals of Berahino has ensured they have started well accumulating eight points already. He scored twice against Burnley, both well taken strikes and his pace and movement proved too much for the defence to deal with. If he keeps this form up, it wouldn’t be surprising if he passed the 15 goal mark in the Premier League which would inevitably attract interest from bigger clubs.
Peter Crouch
In an age when all sides are searching high and low for strikers who score on a consistent basis, the abilities of Peter Crouch can’t be underestimated, he is always worth a goal. He may not play the most attractive style of football, but he holds the ball up well, is good with his feet and excellent when good crosses are delivered into the area, as he showed on Monday as he easily beat Fabricio Coloccini to head in the winning goal. It’s alright signing the next big thing from Italy or Spain or wherever, but the British centre forward is effective and teams should look for more in the ilk of Crouch from the lower leagues. Although he is foreign, Leonardo Ulloa is a similar sort of player, and he has shown himself to have the tools to be effective in the top flight, there are others out there as well just like him.
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