Premier League Team of the Week: Aubameyang, Barkley and Stones feature

Premier League best XI for matchweek 8, featuring Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ross Barkley and John Stones.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang didn’t start Arsenal’s game against Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday. But he did come off the bench to score two goals and assist another in a 5-1 win good enough to move the Gunners up to fourth.

Arsenal are just two points off the top after champions Manchester City held Liverpool to a goalless draw at Anfield. Oft-criticised center-back John Stones was one of the standout performers for the Citizens.

Chelsea are level on points with City and Liverpool after putting three past Southampton on their travels. Ross Barkley almost upstaged star man Eden Hazard with a goal and an assist.

Find out who else makes the latest team of the week:

Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker, Liverpool

The Reds were lucky to take even a point off City. They had Alisson to thank for the clean sheet.

While Liverpool weren’t allowed to get going in attack, City did manage to click in the final third. It was only the numerous interventions of Alisson that kept City from scoring. Well, it was Alisson’s efforts and Riyad Mahrez aiming a late penalty somewhere into the clouds.

Alisson was quick off his line, assured with his feet and alive to the danger of crosses and pull-backs.

Some are content to still moan about the eye-watering £67 million Liverpool paid for him this summer. Yet performances like this one prove even goalkeepers are worth obscene fees.

Defender: Hector Bellerin, Arsenal

Arsenal’s defenders rightly don’t earn a lot of love in these articles, but there’s no mistaking the improvement in Hector Bellerin’s game. The right-back is beginning to become a more stable defender, while he still retains impressive pace going forward.

Both sides of Bellerin’s game were evident against the Cottagers. He handled the runs of Andre Schurrle well, only losing him briefly when the German netted Fulham’s only goal just before halftime.

Schurrle didn’t get a look in after the break, though. Bellerin kept him in front and never risked a footrace with the swift World Cup winner.

Going forward, Arsenal rarely put an attack together without Bellerin as a key member of it. There’s never been a question about his pace, but Bellerin is improving the variety and quality of his deliveries from wide areas.

The Spaniard’s deft chip into Aubameyang created the Gunners’ fourth goal.

Few players have responded to head coach Unai Emery’s methods as well as Bellerin.

Defender: John Stones, Manchester City

Stones is more ball-player than defender. At least that’s how the story goes. Slowly but surely though, the 24-year-old is starting to prove his doubters wrong.

He put his destructive instincts first at Anfield. The result was a stellar display where Stones was usually the man who wrecked a Liverpool move before true danger emerged.

For a player known more for what he does to help his team going forward, Stones didn’t shirk the ugly stuff against City’s main rivals:

Stones will soon make the £47.5 million City paid in 2016 look like a bargain with more games like this.

Defender: Matt Doherty, Wolves

If Bellerin’s the best attacking right-back in England’s top flight, Matt Doherty is a close second. The player dubbed the ‘Irish Cafu’ by many has become integral to Wolves’ tactics.

Manager Nuno Espirito Santo has built his team on the strength of wing-backs and a three-man defense. Doherty has already tallied a pair of assists to go with the winning goal he netted to beat Crystal Palace on Saturday.

His runs on the overlap are the core of how Wolves attack. Doherty’s runs let Santo’s team sit deep and defend in numbers, while retaining the confidence and capability to break suddenly.

Midfielders Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho, as well as goalkeeper Rui Patricio, get the plaudits. But it’s Doherty who is the unsung hero of Wolves’ impressive start.

Midfielder: Eden Hazard, Chelsea

Eden Hazard has always had the potential for greatness. The mercurial No. 10 is finally realizing it this season.

Hazard opened the scoring with typical coolness and aplomb against the Saints. He’d met Barkley’s pass after a clever run through the middle.

A pair of assists should have been added to Hazard’s stat sheet after he played in Alvaro Morata in the second half. The former Real Madrid and Juventus striker fluffed his lines but was unerring when Hazard set him free again.

Hazard’s numbers are now the envy of every other attacker in the Premier League:

A special talent playing with this much motivation and inspiration can carry his team to the title.

Midfielder: Ross Barkley, Chelsea

Injuries and inconsistency disrupted Barkley’s development at Everton. Neither look like holding him back at Chelsea.

Maurizio Sarri has trusted the playmaker since he succeeded Antonio Conte this summer. His faith is being rewarded after Barkley got in on the act against Southampton.

He played in Hazard for the opener before touching the ball over the line for Chelsea’s second. Barkley reacted quickest to Olivier Giroud’s volley across the front of goal.

Matching a club legend wasn’t a bad day’s work for Barkley:

At this rate, the 24-year-old is going to be a regular feature in Sarri’s best XI.

Midfielder: Paul Pogba, Manchester United

Paul Pogba and Jose Mourinho’s soap opera took an unexpected turn on Saturday. It became  the one where Pogba saves the job of the manager he doesn’t get along with by playing in an unexpected position.

Trailing goal-shy Newcastle United 2-0 at Old Trafford, a desperate Mourinho dropped Pogba and holding midfielder Nemanja Matic alongside center-back Chris Smalling.

The London Evening Standard‘s James Robson summed up what the change meant for both Pogba and United: “Pogba looked every bit the world record-signing he once was. In fact, he looked like the ball-playing centre back Mourinho was so desperate to sign in the summer.”

United roared back into the game with Pogba running the show from deep. He got forward far enough to assist Anthony Martial’s goal, the Red Devils’ equaliser.

In the end United had won 3-2 to save Mourinho from the sack and remind everyone Pogba’s quite a player when he’s in the mood.

Midfielder: Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal

Arsenal should reconsider the decision to pull a contract offer to Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman remains one of the most underrated yet important members of Emery’s squad.

Ramsey came off the bench against Fulham and needed just 23 minutes to score a goal and create another. His goal was as artful as any from the Arsene Wenger era, one involving several deft touches from the midfielder, none cuter than the flick to beat Fulham Keeper Marcus Bettinelli.

It was a ‘Hollywood’ moment typical of the flair and bravado in Ramsey’s game. So was the angled, slide-rule pass to set up Aubameyang to score his second and Arsenal’s fifth.

Ramsey is a midfield schemer gifted enough to improve any team at the highest level. The Gunners would be crazy to let him go for nothing.

Striker: Joshua King, Bournemouth

Bournemouth more than merit a place in the top six thanks to a brilliant front three. Joshua King is a key member of the trio who found the net twice during Saturday’s 4-0 win away to Watford.

King was unerring from the penalty spot to convert a spot-kick his pace and power had helped win. A close-range header completed King’s brace and also put him in select company among his countryman in the annals of the division:

King’s ability to operate on either flank or from central areas makes him key to the Cherries’ commendably expansive and free-flowing game.

Striker: Callum Wilson, Bournemouth

As important as King is, no player has made a more positive impact for Bournemouth than Callum Wilson. His deft cross for King to head in was the 26-year-old’s fourth assist already this season.

Wilson has also chalked up a trio of league goals after adding the Cherries’ fourth two minutes after the break against the Hornets.

Having a center-forward who brings a complete game to bear is vital for the way Bournemouth construct moves in the final third. Wilson’s varied range of movement, quality technique, eye for a pass and appetite for goal have added extra dimensions to manager Eddie Howe’s attack.

The Cherries can keep winning and stay among the goals as long as Wilson is leading the line.

Striker: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal

Aubameyang is the best finisher at Emery’s disposal, a fact he underlined with a stunning 28-minute cameo at Craven Cottage.

The former Borussia Dortmund star was presented with two clear-cut chances and took them both with the minimum of fuss. He’d also found time to tee up Ramsey to cap perhaps the slickest move of the season so far.

Those contributions spoke volumes about a 29-year-old who comes alive in the final third:

Aubameyang’s career is defined by goals, both from wide areas and through the middle. Wherever he plays, the Gabon international is the attacking talisman who will ultimately determine what level of success Emery can achieve.