Thomas Tuchel will surely agree with the inclusion of Romelu Lukaku in the weekend’s worst Premier League XI…
As usual, the worst XI from the Premier League weekend is based on WhoScored’s ratings.
GK: Robert Sanchez – 5.86
A warm welcome to all of you who came here to see Emiliano Martinez between the sticks. But no, the Villa keeper scored a marginally higher rating (5.94) than Sanchez and Ben Foster despite chucking Bruno Fernandes’ shot into his own net. Sanchez and Foster earned the same low rating despite having very little to do. Foster was solid for Watford at Newcastle where he had no chance with Allan Saint-Maximin’s opener. Likewise, Sanchez was a relative spectator. But, algorithms. So, a coin toss sees the Spaniard take the mitts.
CB: Joachim Andersen – 5.32
Similarly, Andersen was a generally solid presence for Crystal Palace at Brighton on Friday night, but an unfortunate late own goal earns the Danish centre-back a spot in the back three.
CB: Michael Keane – 5.83
Either someone swapped Keane’s Nikes for lead slippers during the first half at Norwich, or the Everton centre-back is simply incapable of shifting his feet. Keane turned Josh Sargent’s cross beyond his own keeper despite having an age to adjust to the ball, before failing to cut out a through ball for Adam Idah to score Norwich’s second. One of the first jobs on a lengthy to-do list for the new Everton boss is to source a new centre-back.
CB: Jan Bednarek – 5.59
Lyanco was arguably the least settled presence in the heart of Southampton’s defence, but Bednarek suffers for giving away a first-half penalty, which initially the Poland centre-back escaped with, but was eventually punished after a lengthy VAR review.
Premier League winners and losers (incl. Premier League)
LWB: Nathan Tella – 5.95
Tella played on the right for Saints at Wolves but having done a job on the left for Southampton at times this season, he fills in here in the absence of any left-backs having a ‘mare at the weekend. Tella was also culpable for Wolves’ penalty, giving the ball away needlessly when he mis-controlled, just as Saints were poised to counter-attack.
RWB: Max Aarons – 5.76
The Norwich full-back scored 8/10 with NorfolkLive but WhoScored were rather less impressed with Aarons’ input. And the stats don’t look great. No key passes; five crosses, none of which found a yellow shirt; one accurate long ball out of seven; no tackles, interceptions, clearances or blocks.
MF: Morgan Sanson – 5.69
Gave away possession to Fred in the build-up to Manchester United’s second at Villa Park, and the midfielder was clearly still fuming with himself when he was immediately hooked by Steven Gerrard for Philippe Coutinho. Which worked out pretty well for Villa.
Congratulations to the team for the excellent reaction Sorry for the second goal I cost but especially big apologizes for the bad reaction I had with the bottle that landed in the crowd of course it wasn’t voluntary… 1/2 pic.twitter.com/77xs2jX0l7
— Morgan Sanson (@Morgan_Sanson8) January 15, 2022
MF: Will Hughes – 5.71
The Palace midfielder was thankful to Jack Butland for saving Pascal Gross’s penalty which he had given away with an over-eager grapple when defending a corner. That and being booked were Hughes’ only contributions of note.
AM: Nikola Vlasic – 5.93
The West Ham attacking midfielder, playing off the left, struggled against Leeds, managing one fewer touch than his replacement Arthur Masuaku, despite playing twice the minutes. Vlasic’s last act before being hooked on the hour was to give the ball away in midfield, allowing Leeds to break and score their decisive third.
CF: Romelu Lukaku – 5.73
Thomas Tuchel might think Lukaku’s rating at Man City is generous. “He had many ball losses without any pressure, many ball losses in very promising circumstances, without any pressure. He had a huge chance so he is included in this,” said the Chelsea boss. And he wasn’t done. “We want to serve him but he is part of the team and the performance up front. Especially in the first half we can do much, much better and we need to do much, much better.”
CF: Armando Broja – 5.93
The Chelsea loanee struggled to lead Southampton’s line at Wolves, managing one shot on target but not much else. Broja had 24 touches and lost possession 11 times before being replaced by Adam Armstrong when Saints were chasing an equaliser.
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