The Team of the Week for the fourth round of Premier League matches is upon us!
The star performer of the weekend was Southampton attacking midfielder Dusan Tadic who scored twice in their 3-0 win over Norwich City, landing a spot in our four-man midfield.
Scott Sinclair grabbed an unlikely place up forward following his two-goal showing for Aston Villa alongside Bafetimbi Gomis who is relishing the scoring pressure at Swansea City.
Without further ado, the Week 4 XI!
TRIBAL TEAM OF THE WEEK - 4
Goalkeeper
The Everton custodian produced a string of spectacular saves in the Toffees' 0-0 draw with Spurs at the weekend, in a performance reminiscent of his showings for the USA at the 2014 World Cup. One in particular, off Spurs striker Harry Kane (remember him?) would surely have won him Tribal Football's Miraculous Save of the Week, if such an award existed.
Defenders
You'd have gotten good odds on Joel Ward scoring against Arsenal and Chelsea this season, but that's what the Crystal Palace full-back has done after coming up with a dramatic late winner at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Ward was solid defensively before diverting home the winner with ten minutes to go from a position you would expect to see Michael Owen in, to give the improving Palace another unlikely victory.
Angelo Ogbonna (West Ham United)
The burly Hammers centre-back had a nightmare on the south-coast last week, and was sensationally subbed out at half-time by Slaven Bilic in their 4-3 loss at Bournemouth. The £8m arrival from Juventus, who could well double as a bouncer on Saturday nights in East London, bounced back tremendously against Liverpool, shutting down Christian Benteke and clearing everything that came within a 10 meter radius of his area. Plenty to like at West Ham this season it seems, even for their shortcomings against the Cherries and Leicester.
Ashley Williams (Swansea City)
It was Wales' biggest club against England's biggest club on Sunday, and Welsh skipper Williams went head to head with England captain Wayne Rooney in an old fashioned ding-dong battle. Williams took the points, as did Swansea, as a sensational last ditch tackle on Rooney prevented a United equaliser late in the game to secure a third straight 2-1 win for the Swans over the Red Devils.
Aaron Cresswell (West Ham United)
Cresswell had a shocker against Bournemouth a fortnight ago, but fought back to play a key role in West Ham's surprise 3-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday. The left-back's overlapping and crossing has never been questioned, but his defending has occasionally been suspect at Premier League level. On Saturday, it was superb. Cresswell was one of two West Ham defenders to fight back after the Bournemouth game, the other being Ogbonna.
Midfielders
This guy can really play. A week after putting on a clinic on debut against Aston Villa, Sako gave Chelsea the run around and scored his second goal in as many games for his new club. It wasn't just the fact that Crystal Palace beat the champions on Saturday, but the manner with which they did so. No-one could say they didn't deserve the three points and Sako was a major part of this. How this guy spent years playing at lower divisions is beyond me.
Fernandinho (Manchester City)
The Brazilian scored his second of the season to sink Watford at the weekend as City's perfect start to the season continued. Not always heralded as a star in a team of mega stars, this guy could be more important than many think for the now-title favourites.
Manuel Lanzini (West Ham United)
Manuel Lanzini (not to be confused with Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini, who also features in this column, nor former Fawlty Towers waiter Manuel Manuel) was signed on-loan from UAE outfit Al Jazira Club early last week. After an inconspicuous debut against Leicester, the Argentinian gave Liverpool's defence plenty of grief, scoring after three minutes and assisting Mark Noble for another in the Hammers' historic victory. 'The Jewel' has a jockey-like stature but punched above his weight at Anfield.
Southampton has endured a rocky start to the campaign, but their star Serbian made sure there were no slip-ups against newly promoted Norwich at the weekend. Tadic scored two goals in five minutes to give the Saints their first win of the season, and looked worth every penny Ronald Koeman shelled out for him last year.
Forwards
Since debuting for Bristol Rovers in 2004, Scott Sinclair has played for virtually all of the professional clubs in England at one point or another. It appears he might have finally found his calling at Villa Park, whom he signed for permanently for £2.5m in May. The speedster scored twice against Sunderland, following a hat-trick mid-week in the League Cup, making it five goals in five days.
Bafetimbi Gomis (Swansea City)
Without a doubt the owner of the scariest celebration in Premier League history, Bafetimbi's form is also pretty scary for Premier League defenders. The Frenchman now has four goals for the season to be joint leading scorer in the league. Netted the winner on Sunday as Swansea edged out United in a classic contest, and is leading the line with aplomb in South Wales.
Manager
Slaven Bilic (West Ham United)
The Hammers' win at Anfield was their first in 52 years, and also marks the first time they have won at both Arsenal and Liverpool in the same season, ever. Sandwiched in between those historic wins were losses to the might of Leicester and Bournemouth. The Hammers look a dangerous team on the break, and will spell trouble for all of the top sides this season. They have City at the Etihad in two weeks; Manuel Pellegrini would be shaking in his boots at Slaven's men coming to town.
Honourable Mentions
Manuel Pellegrini (Manchester City)
City's manager gets an honourable mention on the basis that he has led his team to the perfect start this season. Four games, four wins, 12 goals, zero conceded. Only just edged out by Super Slaven.
The Dutch keeper was at his best to continually deny Arsenal and was only beaten by a deflection from his skipper Coloccini in their 1-0 home loss.
Bacary Sagna (Manchester City)
The French right-back hardly put a foot wrong all day against Watford. Tested Gomes with a powerful angled shot in the first half, provided the assist for Sterling's opener and got back to block Anya late.
The man has a head so round you could forgive opponents for believing it is actually the ball at times. Used the roundness to his advantage in heading home the equaliser against Manchester United at the weekend, to go with goals against Newcastle and Chelsea. Also set up Gomis for the winner with a magical outside-of-the-boot pass.
A fine performance from the Italian striker who opened the scoring for the Saints before providing the header that was saved by Ruddy, leading to Tadic's second.
