Premier League Team of the Week: Igor Thiago and Declan Rice star in winter fixtures

Thiago celebrates his hat-trick
Thiago celebrates his hat-trickAlan Martin / Colorsport / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

The fixtures are still coming thick and fast as the new year rolls round, with the latest set of Premier League games bringing plenty of top individual performances.

Brentford moved to seventh in the table after beating Everton 4-2, while Wolves recorded their first win of the season with a 3-0 victory over West Ham.

Elsewhere, there were standout performers in Arsenal's 3-2 win at Bournemouth as well as Newcastle's 2-0 triumph against Crystal Palace.

Flashscore has taken a look at the best individual showings from the latest matches and produced a Premier League Team of the Week based on the highest player ratings.

Premier League Team of the Week
Premier League Team of the WeekFlashscore

Goalkeeper

Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa) - 7.5

Martinez was on top form as Aston Villa returned to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

The Argentine made four saves to ensure his side bounced back from a disappointing loss to Arsenal and came away with three points this time.

Defenders

Pedro Porro (Tottenham) - 8.3

Spurs' woeful home form continued with a 1-1 draw against Sunderland last weekend, although one shining light was the impressive performance of Porro.

The defender was superb at both ends of the pitch and completed 11 passes in the final third while also creating one big chance.

His defensive work equally stood out, with Porro winning 11 duels and four tackles.

Porro heat map v Sunderland
Porro heat map v SunderlandOpta by StatsPerform / Harvey Murphy/News Images / Avalon / Profimedia

Nathan Collins (Brentford) - 8.8

Collings grabbed a goal and an assist in Brentford's 4-2 win against Everton, heading home from a corner before playing a delightful pass to set up Igor Thiago later in the match.

The Irishman was also typically reliable in defence with seven duels won, two tackles, four clearances and one interception.

Malick Thiaw (Newcastle) - 9.3

Our Premier League Player of the Week, Thiaw, was pivotal to Newcastle's 2-0 triumph over Crystal Palace.

He once again got on the scoresheet to wrap up all the points for his side, but was impressive with his strong defensive work, making five tackles, winning eight duels and providing 10 clearances. 

Thiaw's 9.3 rating was the highest of the latest set of fixtures, which makes him our Player of the Week.

Thiaw v Crystal Palace
Thiaw v Crystal PalaceOpta by StatsPerfom / Lee Keuneke/Every Second Media / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

Midfielders

Lewis Miley (Newcastle) - 8.3

Another standout performer for Newcastle was Miley, who has quietly impressed over the last few weeks whilst playing as a right-back.

The youngster was central to the Magpies' success and played his role to perfection at both ends of the pitch.

Miley provided an assist, completed all 18 of his attempted passes in the final third and made five dribbles, all while contributing to a clean sheet with nine duels won, three clearances and one interception.

Vitaly Janelt (Brentford) - 8.5

The second of three Brentford players to feature in our Team of the Week, Janelt grabbed two assists in the Bees' win at Everton.

His creative influence came as part of a top all-around performance that featured 41 completed passes, two accurate crosses, one tackle, three interceptions and three clearances.

Janelt v Everton
Janelt v EvertonOpta by StatsPerform / Henning von Jagow / Actionplus / Profimedia

Declan Rice (Arsenal) - 8.4

Arsenal once again turned to Rice in their time of need during a narrow 3-2 win over Bournemouth.

The Englishman scored a brace on the south coast to ensure the Gunners came away with all three points despite going a goal down early in the match.

Rice's double ensured Arsenal maintained their winning run, which now sits at seven games in all competitions.

John McGinn (Aston Villa) - 8.3

McGinn netted twice in Villa's win over Forest, first firing home inside the area before taking advantage of some poor goalkeeping to sweep the ball home late in the second half.

The midfielder also put in a shift defensively with seven duels and one interception.

Ferdi Kadioglu (Brighton) - 8.3

Kadioglu was the top performer as Brighton got back to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over strugglers Burnley.

His influence was felt throughout the encounter, and the defender particularly shone through with 18 passes in the final third and three accurate crosses - all while ensuring there was little opposition threat down his flank after winning five duels and making two interceptions.

Forwards

Igor Thiago (Brenford) - 9.1

Thiago bagged a hat-trick in Brentford's win at Everton to take his overall Premier League tally to 14 for the season.

The striker was a handful all afternoon and could have netted more from his six total shots, even missing one big chance, in what turned out to be a superb performance from the 24-year-old.

He is now just two goals away from breaking the record for most goals scored by a Brazilian in a single Premier League campaign.

Premier League top scorers
Premier League top scorersOpta by StatsPerform / Alan Martin/Colorsport / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

Hwang Hee-Chan (Wolves) - 8.5

Hwang was instrumental in Wolves picking up their first league win of the season, registering a goal and an assist in the 3-0 thrashing of West Ham.

He first set up the opening goal after putting a great ball across the box for Jhon Arias to convert, before firing home a penalty just 25 minutes later.

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