Cristiano Ronaldo threw a tantrum but he can’t argue that he didn’t deserve the hook. Joao Cancelo is also included in the worst XI after being left for dead by Mo Salah.
Here is the weekend’s worst XI according to Whoscored ratings...
GK: Robert Sanchez – 5.50
It wasn’t a great weekend for non-Spanish Premier League stoppers. Kepa Arrizabalaga and David Raya were in brilliant form for Chelsea and Brentford respectively, while David De Gea kept a clean sheet on his 500th appearance for Man Utd. Elsewhere, four keepers were given sub-six scores, with Sanchez seemingly punished for his inactivity. Aside from being beaten twice by Ivan Toney, the Brighton keeper made no saves, claimed no crosses and did little else.
RB: Joao Cancelo – 5.84
The Manchester City right-back, or whatever he was on Sunday, had a ‘mare against Liverpool, with his most notable contribution being suckered in by Mo Salah before the only goal. Cancelo gave the ball away 16 times, which include all three attempted long passes.
CB: Manuel Akanji – 5.95
There were no major errors from the City defender, who played both at full-back and on the right of a back three. But Akajni won only two of his nine duels as he continues to get to grips with the Premier League.
CB: Tyrone Mings – 5.26
The Villa defender is having a poor season, having started it on the bench after being stripped of the captaincy. His woes continued against Chelsea, who benefitted from an inexplicable defensive header, under no pressure, which span off the centre-back’s bonce into the path of Mason Mount. Villa weren’t bad overall but Mings’ howler heaps further pressure on Steven Gerrard.
LB: Harry Toffolo – 5.52
A rough afternoon at Molineux for the Forest left-back, who gave away the decisive penalty, though Toffolo was trying to get his arm out of the way of Adama Traore’s shot. The summer signing from Huddersfield lost possession 17 times – he made only 12 accurate passes – with all of his crosses and long balls (three of each) finding a gold shirt. Both of his dribble attempts resulted in a turnover.
CM: Matheus Nunes – 5.96
The Wolves midfielder made the same number of accurate passes as Toffolo with a slightly worse passing accuracy rate of 54.5%. With almost half of his 31 touches, he lost possession 15 times. Like Toffolo, Nunes also gave away a penalty, but Jose Sa got him out of the mire with a fine save from Brennan Johnson.
CM: Alex Iwobi – 6.03
Iwobi has been superb for Everton this season but Saturday was a rare off-day for the Nigeria international, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentacur winning the midfield battle even before Yves Bissouma came on to boss the engine room. After going one down, thanks to a penalty that came in part due to Iwobi’s inability to close down a cross, Lampard shifted the 26-year-old to wing-back, where he was ineffective as Everton posed no threat to Spurs’ goal.
RW: Daniel James – 5.92
James was hooked at half-time by Marco Silva after losing possession eight times in 23 touches. The Fulham new boy was dribbled past once while failing to embark upon a successful dribble of his own. That’s now 13 games without a Premier League goal or assist for the Wales international.
LW: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 5.92
Despite Mings having one of his days, Aubameyang did not capitalise, with the Chelsea forward failing to offer a single shot while teeing up Villa for one on Kepa’s goal. Aubameyang gave the ball way with almost half of his 14 touches before being pulled off before the hour mark.
FWD: Cristiano Ronaldo – 5.87
The Man Utd superstar had a tantrum upon being replaced but Ronaldo would struggle to make a convincing argument for why he ought to have stayed on. He managed only a single shot which failed to trouble Nick Pope in Newcastle’s goal while losing the ball with eight of 22 touches before being replaced on 72 minutes.
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FWD: Brennan Johnson – 5.75
Steve Cooper backed the young forward after his late penalty miss cost Forest a point at Wolves but Johnson’s struggles could lead to him being dropped for Sam Surridge or Taiwo Awoniyi sooner rather than later. The Forest academy graduate lost more than half of his nine duels while losing possession 11 times with 24 touches.
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