Premier League Team of the Week: Pogba, Ozil and Salah feature

Premier League best XI for Week 18, featuring Paul Pogba, Mesut Ozil and Mohamed Salah.

Oft-criticised, languid playmakers hit back with a vengeance in Week 18 of the Premier League season. Paul Pogba showed what a difference a new manager can make when he inspired Manchester United to a 5-1 win in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s debut following Jose Mourinho’s dismissal.

Pogba dominated Cardiff, but he wasn’t the only mercurial creator to thrive. Mesut Ozil’s detractors were left hanging their heads in shame after the strolling schemer returned to Arsenal’s XI.

He was typically astute and stylish as the Gunners beat Burnley 3-1 on Saturday.

Both Pogba and Ozil made those around them better. Jesse Lingard proffered two goals from Pogba’s vision, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice with Ozil conducting the play.

Arsenal and United returned to winning ways but remain a long way off Liverpool. The leaders beat Wolves comfortably on Friday night thanks to inspired performances at both ends of the pitch from Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

Liverpool’s win looked an even better result when Manchester City were shocked at home by Crystal Palace on Saturday. Andros Townsend hit a wonder goal to help the Eagles build a lead they never surrendered.

Find out who else makes the team of week:

Goalkeeper: Ben Foster, Watford

Watford produced one of the better results of the weekend with a 2-0 triumph away to West Ham. The Hornets had goalkeeper Ben Foster to thank for keeping the previously free-scoring Hammers at bay.

Foster was called on to make key saves during the early exchanges. The 35-year-old answered the call emphatically to deny Michail Antonio and Declan Rice.

Watford needed Foster again, this time to preserve a lead, after Troy Deeney had put the visitors in front from the penalty spot. Neither in-form Javier Hernandez nor the lively Antonio could find a way past the former Manchester United stopper.

Fortunately for the Hornets, Foster saved his best moment for the game’s crucial period. The veteran reacted superbly to claw away a deflected header from Robert Snodrgrass, just two minutes before Gerard Deulofeu added the decisive second for the away side.

Watford are knocking on the door of the top six for many reasons. There’s ample power and craft in midfield, while Deulofeu’s pace has added a new dimension up top.

Yet Foster’s ability to consistently keep the door closed at the back shouldn’t be easily overlooked.

Defender: Ben Chilwell, Leicester

Leicester’s 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge added to the theme of shocks on Saturday. While keeping a clean sheet was commendable, this was no rearguard action from the Foxes.

Instead, the visitors were smart and swift going forward. They offered a considerable threat on the counter thanks largely to raiding left-back Ben Chilwell.

The 22-year-old broke regularly from the back. His pace, engine and willingness to be direct caught Chelsea cold an alarming number of times.

Chilwell’s menace reduced the attacking potency of Chelsea right-back Cesar Azpilicueta. The Spaniard has become an invaluable creative outlet for the Blues in recent seasons but struggled to impose himself.

Chilwell didn’t shirk his responsibilities defensively. He was disciplined and timed his tackles well against a fluid Chelsea forward line designed to exploit pace and movement between the lines.

It says a lot about Chilwell’s potential he is managing to keep a player as capable as Christian Fuchs out of the lineup.

Defender: Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool

Virgil van Dijk delivered as close to a complete performance as a center-back can get against Wolves. The Netherlands international is playing so well he’s beginning to make the £75 million Liverpool paid Southampton look like a bargain.

Forcing Wolves to draw a blank at Molineux is no mean feat. The hosts have been among the goals thanks to an enviable mix of guile and pace.

Both qualities were on display against the Reds as in-form Raul Jimenez and livewire Adama Traore started up front. They were supported by cultured playmaker Joao Moutinho.

No member of this gifted trio managed to breach the defense Van Dijk held together. Traore couldn’t beat him for pace, even though he usually leaves most markers trailing.

Jimenez had no chance of besting Van Dijk in the air. Nor could the intelligent Benfica loanee find the time and space to supply assists that have become his trademark. Most of those passes were intercepted by Van Dijk.

When Moutinho broke from midfield he was denied the room to shoot by Van Dijk’s imposing presence.

Van Dijk even found time to ice the game when he deftly tucked away Salah’s chipped cross.

The goal added to some already stunning numbers:

Van Dijk becoming the linchpin Liverpool hoped they’d paid for can be the catalyst for a title win.

Defender: Alfie Mawson, Fulham

Fulham keeping a clean sheet in the league is enough to make you think the apocalypse is coming. Credit where it’s due, though, the Cottagers merited the 0-0 draw they got away to Newcastle United, thanks largely to a durable performance from Alfie Mawson.

The gifted young center-back survived being knocked for a 10 count by his own goalkeeper, Sergio Rico. Once revived, Mawson set about thwarting any hint of danger the Magpies managed to muster.

Mawson stood up well to the aerial threat posed by the aggressive Salomon Rondon. He also tracked the runs from out to in of Ayoze Perez, and never let Kenedy’s pace stretch Fulham’s defense beyond breaking point.

This was a display defined by a level of composure that belies Mawson’s tender 24 years and relative inexperience in the top flight.

Claudio Ranieri is rightly making fixing Fulham’s woeful defending his priority. Mawson is the key to the plan’s success and a potential escape from relegation.

Defender: Simon Francis, Bournemouth

Like Fulham, Bournemouth don’t exactly make a habit of keeping clean sheets. It’s why a solid defensive effort led by Simon Francis was timely for manager Eddie Howe.

He’d seen the Cherries lose six of their seven league matches before Saturday’s visit of Brighton. A return to winning ways hinged on Francis and his ability to cover the flank without much support.

Francis ploughed a lone furrow because two-goal hero David Brooks was naturally more focused on getting forward. His attacking instincts left Francis to deal with the Seagulls’ considerable threat from wide areas.

The 33-year-old managed it well against Jurgen Locadia, Solly March and substitute Anthony Knockaert. He tracked movement astutely and dropped off intelligently to keep pace in front of him.

Francis gave Brooks the freedom to punish Brighton in the final third.

Midfielder: Paul Pogba, Manchester United

If you still think Mourinho’s presence didn’t stifle Pogba, just look at how the Frenchman played in his first game after the Portuguese was sacked.

Pogba was at his brash and artful best against the Bluebirds. His touches were deft, his movement perceptive and his first-time passes cute and thoughtful.

Unlike many of his previous performances, there was ample substance to go with the style. Pogba helped create three of United’s five goals.

He won the free-kick for the first, then dummied for Marcus Rashford to strike the set-piece into the net. Pogba also swept a pass into the path of Ander Herrera for the second.

Yet his best pass came for the Red Devils’ final goal. It was a pinpoint, perfectly weighted through ball to send Lingard clear, allowing the latter to round the goalkeeper and complete his brace.

Pogba was at the heart of everything good United did. He took the free role Solskjaer allowed him and ran with it, ghosting in and out of the inside left channel at will.

This was Pogba in peak form and, more importantly, peak interest. He wanted the ball and never shied away from the chance to dictate the game:

If this performance becomes a regular occurrence, there’ll be no more debate about who was at fault for United’s struggles.

Midfielder: Mesut Ozil, Arsenal

Lately there’s been too much talk about what Mesut Ozil can’t do. He can’t tackle, track back or press high the way head coach Unai Emery wants.

None of those things were breaking news before Emery succeeded Arsene Wenger in the summer. Yet they’ve been put into sharper focus by the new man’s willingness to drop Arsenal’s highest-earner.

Ozil was left out of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat at home to Tottenham. Emery gave “tactical reasons” as a rather unconvincing reason for the omission of his most creative player.

Ozil was back for the visit of Burnley, with Emery even adorning him with the captain’s armband. What followed was an emphatic reminder of the things Ozil can do, things too often overlooked.

His distributed the ball neatly, efficiently and with intelligence. Likewise, Ozil’s movement was equally subtle and purposeful.

Of all the passes he played, Ozil’s best was the physics-defying angled ball to pick out raiding left wing-back Sead Kolasinac. He helped create Arsenal’s opening goal as Kolasinac pulled back for Aubameyang to prod in.

The many plaudits that came Ozil’s way were all deserved:

Picking out a pass not many players would even see, let alone play, speaks to Arsenal’s dilemma with Ozil. He has the creative qualities Emery can’t ignore, even though his languid style doesn’t fit the Spaniard’s demands about pressing and shape.

Ultimately, the player’s talent should win out, leaving Emery to balance his team to support Ozil’s particular skills.

Midfielder: Andros Townsend, Crystal Palace

Palace had many heroes at the Etihad Stadium, but none impacted the game as much as Townsend. The relentless winger routinely tied City defenders in knots, while also picking out a range of smart passes and posing a considerable scoring threat of his own.

It was Townsend who rolled in Jeffrey Schlupp for Palace’s first goal. Schlupp’s finish made it 1-1 and provided the cue for the provider to score a cracking second:

The pearler of a strike wasn’t even Townsend’s last significant contribution. He got free again seven minutes after the restart to crash a header against the post.

Max Meyer would have tucked away the rebound had Kyle Walker not hacked him down in the box. Luka Milivojevic scored the resulting penalty to put the Eagles out of sight at the home of the champions.

Townsend’s epic display was just reward for a player who has had a thankless task trying to mask Palace’s lack of a gifted center-forward this season.

Midfielder: Jesse Lingard, Manchester United

It wasn’t easy choosing between Lingard and Anthony Martial after both impressed against Cardiff. Ultimately, Lingard got the nod because it’s hard to ignore two goals and an assist.

Lingard’s contributions in the final third were the result of his seemingly endless range of movement. The 26-year-old ostensibly began on the right of United’s front three but rarely stayed there for long.

Instead, Lingard popped up everywhere, switching flanks at will and drifting in and out of central areas. Cardiff couldn’t track his runs, and Lingard took full advantage to open up spaces for Pogba, Martial and Rashford to thrive in.

He often found team-mates in those spaces at the best moments. It was Lingard who teed up Martial to score when he rounded off a slick exchange of passes involving both the goalscorer and Pogba.

Not content to simply supply goals, Lingard kept his own recent scoring run going by taking a penalty off Pogba to net his first. Pogba was a little more generous when he slid in Lingard to wrap up a brace.

United want to play a more expansive game under Solskjaer than they did under Mourinho. A player as perceptive off the ball and decisive on it as Lingard will be key to the transition.

Striker: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool

Liverpool will take some stopping in the title race now Salah is back on form in front of goal. The Reds’ main man got things rolling against Wolves by reacting quickest to Sadio Mane’s low cross to turn in a nifty finish with the outside of his foot.

Salah’s improvised piece of finishing gave him an 11th league goal of the campaign. It’s a more than respectable number for a forward supposedly suffering from so-called second-season syndrome.

There’s more to Salah’s game than being Liverpool’s chief source of goals, though. He proved as much by teeing up Van Dijk to make the points safe with just over 20 minutes left.

Salah’s free-scoring brilliance took Liverpool all the way to the UEFA Champions League final last season. He’s now a complete forward, one whose more refined game is making the Reds’ favorites to win a first domestic title since 1990.

Striker: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal

No striker in the division is as instinctive and ruthless as Aubameyang when chances come his way. He took two of them against Burley to maintain his status as the most prolific frontman in the competition.

Aubameyang’s 11th and 12th league goals of what’s shaping up to be a special season also continued his dominant run on home soil:

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1076719049323700224

Whether he’s at the Emirates Stadium or away from it, the 29-year-old has no wasted motion in front of goal. He’s deadly in the box, making a habit of getting the kind of tap-ins and scrappy goals Arsenal rarely scored under Wenger.

Aubameyang’s penchant for scoring from close in is almost equalled by his shooting power. Few strikers can match his technique when shaping to bend one in from distance.

Not having the former Dortmund man before February hampered the Gunners both domestically and in the UEFA Europa League last season. Aubameyang is firmly in the fold now, though, and his presence will make Emery’s first campaign a success.