After each round of Premier League fixtures, ESPN FC brings you its Team of the Weekend. Our panel of experts carefully selects 11 star performers, along with a manager.
Do you agree or disagree? You can have your say on those picked or overlooked in the comments section at the foot of the article or on Twitter using the hashtag #TOTW. Plus, tune in to ESPN FC TV for further reaction.
Goalkeeper: Over the last few weeks Crystal Palace have been nervously looking over their shoulder, a run of terrible form having seen them slip towards the relegation zone. However, their victory over fellow strugglers Norwich City will have calmed a few nerves, and a big part of that was the performance of Wayne Hennessey between the sticks. "Two big saves to secure their first win in 2016," said Steve Nicol about Hennessey, while Paul Mariner was also full of praise.
Right-back: As well as the title race, the rest of this season will prove to be a competition for places in Roy Hodgson's England squad for Euro 2016 and one of the spots up for grabs is at right-back. If Kyle Walker plays like he did against Manchester United, he'll be a shoo-in. He provided everything that you'd want from a modern full-back with Mariner accurately commenting that the Tottenham man was "defensively very sound and got forward at every opportunity."
Centre-back: Something of a journeyman before he arrived at Bournemouth, Steve Cook has been with the club since 2012 and is one of a number of their players who have seamlessly made the transition into Premier League life. The gap between the Cherries and rock-bottom Aston Villa was made clear on Saturday, as Eddie Howe's men ran out 2-1 winners and Cook produced a delightfully cheeky finish to open the scoring and win the approval of our panel, including this week's guest judge Shaka Hislop.
Centre-back: Player of the year votes are typically dominated by attacking players but if this year's awards are to go to a defender, then Toby Alderweireld must be among the top candidates. The Belgian had his countryman Jan Vertonghen back alongside him on Sunday and the two kept out Manchester United without much fuss. Alderweireld even capped things off rather nicely with a goal, beautifully directing a header home to help secure a convincing win for Tottenham.
Left-back: Buying players from the Championship is always a tricky business but some transfers from the second tier come off very nicely and one of those purchases has been ex-Ipswich man Aaron Cresswell, who has established himself as one of the better left-backs in the Premier League. He showed why on Saturday against Arsenal, providing plenty of crosses for Andy Carroll. Nicol praised Cresswell's "silky left peg" while Mariner gave a nod to his defensive work too, noting that he "saved a certain goal off the line from a set piece."
Right midfield: Arsenal's season might be meekly shuffling out of the door in an all-too familiar manner but there have been some positives, not least the emergence of Alex Iwobi. The youngster was enormously impressive again in the 3-3 draw with West Ham and setting up the Gunners' first two goals for Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. "Magical run of form from the youngster," said Mariner, who added that Iwobi "looks really comfortable in the side."
Central midfield: Leicester are closing in on an utterly extraordinary Premier League title win and, while there may have been better players in the division this season, there can surely not have been a better newcomer than N'Golo Kante. He has been an absolute revelation, covering ground and winning the ball so brilliantly that it's easy to miss it, so standard have his exploits become. Mariner called him the best holding midfielder in the Premier League and it's tough to argue with that assessment.
Central midfield: They haven't exactly missed him but it was something of a shame that things didn't work out for Gylfi Sigurdsson at Spurs, the way they have at Swansea. Player and club seem to fit together perfectly and the Icelander showed that again on Saturday, scoring the only goal in a win over Chelsea that has surely secured top-flight football for next season. Hislop was certainly impressed with the contribution of Sigurdsson, whose volley was his 11th goal of the season -- a hugely impressive tally in a team that has struggled for much of the campaign.
Left midfield: Samir Nasri has become something of a forgotten man at Manchester City, having spent most of the season on the sidelines with injury while the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling take his place in the side. However he was back on Saturday -- sporting a spicy new hair-do -- and helped City to a 2-1 win over West Brom by scoring the clinching goal in the second half and generally showing that he might yet have something to offer at Eastlands.
Centre forward: There had been a slight concern that his form was dipping at exactly the time Leicester needed it most but a couple of goals for England during the international break seems to have done the trick for Jamie Vardy, who sealed a win for the champions-elect at Sunderland. The first was a terrific finish from Danny Drinkwater's pass but the second was all Vardy, who created the goal himself through sheer hard work. The forward was a unanimous selection by our panel, with Hislop, Nicol and Mariner all giving him the thumbs up.
Centre forward: "Old-fashioned is still in fashion," said Nicol of Andy Carroll, who bagged a hat trick against Arsenal that included a couple of the muscular headers with which he is associated. Carroll's return to fitness and scoring will inevitably raise questions as to whether he should travel to the European Championship with England and, while it's a little tough to see who might be left out in his favour barring injury, he certainly offers something different and potentially very effective. Just ask the Arsenal defence, if you don't believe us.
Manager: A managerial appointment ridiculed by most at the start of the season is probably going to result in one of the most remarkable title wins. Claudio Ranieri shed a tear or two of joy after Leicester beat Sunderland, so one can only imagine how he'll react if/when they actually win the title. "How does he get his team to play seemingly without feeling the pressure?" said Mariner and that's the key: Having got to the top it would have been very easy for Leicester to collapse under the weight of expectation, but Ranieri has managed to avoid that. What a man, what a story.
