The 35th game week of the Premier League proved to be one of the most eventful of the 2023/24 season so far.
Sheffield United were finally put out of their Premier League misery by Newcastle, losing 5-1 at St James’ Park and being mathematically relegated, while Liverpool at the other end of the table fell off the pace in a thrilling title race thanks to a defeat and draw against West Ham United.
After all the fun, here are our picks for the best players of the game week.
Finally.
After 27 Premier League appearances, Antony scored his first league goal of the 2023/24 season on Saturday.
The Brazilian showed a rare level of ruthlessness in the recent draw against Burnley at Old Trafford, parrying a bad pass before deftly finding the bottom corner with a left-footed shot.
Antony not only scored a goal, but also performed damn well off the ball, winning an impressive ten duels in the 90 minutes.
Chelsea needed one of their leaders to step up after their miserable defeat to Arsenal last Tuesday and that’s exactly what Conor Gallagher did against Aston Villa.
The captain brought a real change to Chelsea’s midfield on Saturday evening, winning 100% of his tackles, completing 95% of his passes and, most importantly, contributing with a crucial late goal to secure his team a point .
After a surprising drop in form, Bukayo Saka returned to top form last week.
Arsenal’s ‘Starboy’ was instrumental in his side’s stunning victory over London rivals Chelsea last Monday and produced an equally decisive performance against fellow London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
His goal in the 3-2 win was his 15th in the Premier League this season, making him the first English Arsenal player to achieve that tally since Ian Wright in 1997. Impressive performance.
Enes Unal made quite an impression in his first ever Premier League start at the weekend.
Unal was called up from the bench into the starting eleven after 12 appearances and more than made the most of his chance against Brighton, scoring one goal and assisting another in the 3-0 win.
Expect Bournemouth to make his Getafe loan permanent very, very soon.
Kevin De Bruyne wasn’t at the peak of his powers yet but was still good enough to pick up two assists and an 8/10 rating against Nottingham Forest.
There is no other player in the Premier League who can do that without noticeably slipping out of second gear.
Against a team that had reportedly shown interest in his services last summer, Jarrod Bowen delivered a storming performance at the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The England international scored his 20th goal of the season with a header before adding his tenth assist of the season shortly afterwards in the second half, setting up Michail Antonio.
A first-class performance from West Ham’s star player.
Having scored 19 goals in just 26 Premier League games this season, it’s hard to argue that Alexander Isak isn’t one of the Premier League’s most skilled strikers.
The Swedish striker was once again in top form at the weekend, scoring his second brace in three games, this time against a weak Sheffield United side.
It wasn’t too long ago that Kai Havertz was described as the worst signing of the 2023 summer transfer window.
Now we come to the business end of the 2023/24 Premier League season and there is now an argument that he is the best.
After enduring an unsuccessful spell in Arsenal’s midfield, Havertz has recently been moved back into his preferred false nine role and his performances have increased tenfold as a result.
His appearance against Tottenham, in which he scored one goal and assisted another, was probably his best performance in an Arsenal shirt to date.