Premier League Top Five, Round 16: Liverpool and Spurs lead the way
Keita was given a rare start for Liverpool at the weekend as the league leaders defeated Bournemouth 3-0, with him involved in two of the goals. He scored the second goal of the game with an unconventional stabbed finish into the right corner after a mesmerising backheeled assist from Mohamed Salah. The favour was then returned to the Egyptian for the third as Keita threaded a perfectly-weighted pass into the box with his left foot for his team-mate to score. He also completed 89 out of out of 94 attempted passes and made 13 ball recoveries.
The Liverpool captain absolutely dominated the midfield in the match against Bournemouth, completing an incredible 139/150 attempted passes and having 160 touches throughout the course of the game, which was, by far, the highest of any player in the Premier League this weekend. He was effective further forward, too, as he set up the opening goal for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with a precision lofted pass high over the Cherries defence into the box.
Kane was at his devastating best in Tottenham's comprehensive 5-0 victory against Burnley on Saturday, scoring two and setting up another. His finishing was typically emphatic as his first goal was lashed into the left corner from 25 yards, while his second was drilled into the roof of the net in opportunistic fashion as he squeezed his attempt through a small alley. The Spurs talisman then assisted the fifth and final goal after a lovely one-two with Moussa Sissoko to run through and score.
Burnley never really got any momentum going in their big loss, and part of the reason for this was the performance at the back from Jan Vertonghen. The big Belgian was excellent defensively, winning 9/10 duels, 4/5 tackles, 6/10 aerial duels, as well as making nine ball recoveries, two interceptions, and three clearances. He also recorded an assist for Son Heung-min, but to be fair it was just a simple pass out of defence for the South Korean, who ran the length of the pitch to score.
Stephens helped Brighton come back from behind with his inspiring midfield outing against Wolves. He won every single tackle that he attempted, and made the third-most interceptions of any player in the league this weekend with 13. It was important for the hosts to keep things ticking over in midfield, which he did with his 100 touches, and it was from this area he set-up Brighton's equaliser for Neal Maupay with a long ball over the opposition defence.
HONOURABLE MENTION
Everton impressed this weekend with a 3-1 victory against Chelsea, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin (8.8) the star of the show with his double in the second period.
ROUND TO FORGET
It was bad day at the office for Burnley. Nick Pope (5) conceded five goals between the sticks, while Matthew Lowton (4.2) lost the majority of his attempted tackles and failed to make a single interception.