Premier League Top Five, Round Nine: Grealish steps up while Silva is City's star
There were some suggestions that Jack Grealish may suffer from being far too good for the Championship, but not quite able to make the step up, but he is dispelling those fears and was inspirational in Villa's VAR-riddled win over Brighton. Grealish got beyond the forwards to poke home an equaliser on half-time, and with the game heading into injury time it was his well-timed pass that allowed Matt Targett to slam home the winner. Five completed dribbles, 11 duels won, nine ball recoveries and - crucially, 87 touches, more than any other player on the pitch. He makes things happen for this Villa team.
Newcastle may not have put up much of a threat to Chelsea but Kurt Zouma ensured that any attacking prowess they did have was quickly snuffed out. 78/84 passes (94%) completed helped his team recirculate possession from defence, while he recorded good numbers across all defensive disciplines, including nine duels and six aerials won, as well as two interceptions and two clearances.
Targett joins his Villa team-mate Grealish in producing an important display as his team picked up all three points against Brighton. Despite playing against 10 men for the entirety of the second half, the match was reasonably even and Targett's link-up with Grealish provided the winning goal. As well as creating another big chance for his team-mates, defensively he achieved an impressive eight recoveries, five interceptions and four clearances.
Jorginho is a world-class player who is finally being utilised correctly by Chelsea, and once again he dominated proceedings for Chelsea from the centre. Not only was his passing exemplary as usual, completing 94 of 102 attempts including a round-best 40 into the final third, he showed the other side of his game which is rarely commented on; nine duels won, three tackles won and three aerials won plus 10 recoveries.
When David Silva departs English football at the end of the season, anything other than a heroic send-off will fail to do justice to the influence the little Spaniard has had on the English game. But he's not done yet, as shown against Crystal Palace. His brilliant volley from Raheem Sterling's pass sealed the contest and he made every pass count, always looking to be incisive and and create in the final third.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Ilkay Gundogan had as many touches (114) as Crystal Palace's midfield three of James McArthur, Cheikhou Kouyate and Luka Milivojevic managed as a collective in City's win at Selhurst Park.
ROUND TO FORGET
Ben Foster (4.5) is not having a great time of things at the moment, and his decision to come for the ball and not get there allowed Dele Alli to convert the equaliser for Spurs. Aaron Mooy (5.0) also picked up two silly bookings within the space of five minutes to leave his team up against it at Villa.