Premier League Team of the Week: West Ham players star after pivotal victory

[p]Manchester City closed the gap on Arsenal, at least momentarily, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/burnley-z3dmTMMO/manchester-city-Wtn9Stg0/?mid=6mtC9buh"]with a 1-0 win away at Burnley[/a], and at the other end of the table, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/everton-KluSTr9s/west-ham-Cxq57r8g/?mid=h44gMyPc"]West Ham took another step towards survival with a last-gasp 2-1 victory over Everton.[/a][/p][p]Elsewhere, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/aston-villa-W00wmLO0/fulham-69ZiU2Om/?mid=CpqK7xA4"]Fulham put a dampener on Aston Villa's Champions League push with a 1-0 triumph[/a], while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/brighton-2XrRecc3/chelsea-4fGZN2oK/?mid=jubPoemo"]Brighton's 3-0 win against Chelsea[/a] sealed Liam Rosenior's fate as Blues manager.[/p][p]Here, [i][b]Flashscore[/b][/i] selects its Premier League Team of the Week, based on our player ratings system.[/p][image alt="Premier League Team of the Week" id="3bb3f38c-6b7f-4c20-b4da-f8a5ae64692a" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="7723c5da-0503-43cd-972b-e3d093fbc932" original-width="1080" original-height="1350" /][h2]Goalkeeper[/h2][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dubravka-martin/dp3dkdsI/"]Martin Dubravka[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/burnley/z3dmTMMO/"]Burnley[/a]) - 8.9[/b][/p][p]Goalkeeper Dubravka particularly impressed despite Burnley having their relegation confirmed after a 1-0 loss to Manchester City.[/p][p]The Slovenian shot-stopper made eight saves and ended the match with a goals prevented stat of 2.16, earning an 8.9 Flashscore rating in the process.[/p][h2]Defenders[/h2][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/porro-pedro/nTebDzHC/"]Pedro Porro[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tottenham/UDg08Ohm/"]Tottenham[/a]) - 8.3[/b][/p][p]Spurs defender Porro was at his creative best on Saturday afternoon and played a vital role in his side earning their first Premier League win of 2026, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/tottenham-UDg08Ohm/wolves-j3Azpf5d/?mid=bHZgKFgA"]beating Wolves 1-0.[/a][/p][p]The full-back produced a mammoth 100 touches, 18 passes into the final third, nine passes into the box and two key passes.[/p][p]Porro also played his part defensively when called upon with four tackles, six recoveries, five clearances and two interceptions.[/p][image alt="Porro v Wolves" id="f589417b-76a0-45fc-8334-8aa40f77759e" credit-line="Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff / Opta by StatsPerform" guid="d7409382-d9a9-4d23-a58e-b038917b343a" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/andersen-joachim/AmMLTTJU/"]Joachim Andersen[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fulham/69ZiU2Om/"]Fulham[/a]) - 8.9[/b][/p][p]Andersen excelled in Fulham's victory against Aston Villa, with the defender playing a starring role in the Cottagers keeping an eighth clean sheet of the season.[/p][p]The Dane contributed a match-high four tackles, seven clearances and four interceptions as well as completing one key pass and winning eight duels.[/p][p]His standout showing earned an 8.9 rating - the joint-second highest across the latest round of fixtures.[/p][image alt="Andersen v Aston Villa" id="a988d178-f510-4740-8e4e-a3df0924364c" credit-line="MI News/NurPhoto / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia / Opta by StatsPerform" guid="ffcd2fd5-53a7-4c29-a7e1-5d4dd4d76a15" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kadioglu-ferdi/CtCaHRd7/"]Ferdi Kadioglu[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brighton/2XrRecc3/"]Brighton[/a]) - 8.2[/b][/p][p]Kadioglu opened the scoring in Brighton's 3-0 win against Chelsea with his first goal of the season, seeing his low strike deflected into the goal after just three minutes.[/p][p]His performance didn't let up after that - the Turkish international had a match-high three shots from left-back, won five duels and made three interceptions to cap off an excellent showing.[/p][h2]Midfielders[/h2][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fernandes-bruno/GYvAMDm2/"]Bruno Fernandes[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/manchester-united/ppjDR086/"]Manchester United[/a]) - 8.2[/b][/p][p]Another week has gone by and, yet again, Fernandes features in our side after another impressive showing in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/brentford-xYe7DwID/manchester-utd-ppjDR086/?mid=tQzy4f9T"]Manchester United's 2-1 win against Brentford.[/a][/p][p]The midfielder is rapidly closing in on the Premier League assist record for a single season after registering his 19th of the campaign - also creating two big chances and completing five key passes.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/soucek-tomas/8zWzYFRF/"]Tomas Soucek[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/west-ham/Cxq57r8g/"]West Ham[/a]) - 8.4[/b][/p][p]West Ham earned a valuable three points in their fight for Premier League survival after beating Everton 2-1.[/p][p]Soucek was on the scoresheet for the Hammers but also contributed at the other end of the pitch with six duels won, two tackles, one block, one clearance and three recoveries.[/p][embed guid="acd3d2c3-8ec3-40ab-85d4-910fa5372072" url="https://x.com/WestHam/status/2048356422195257411" social-type="twitter" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/casemiro/Ukeq3c0b/"]Casemiro[/a] (Manchester United) - 9.1[/b][/p][p]Casemiro is our Premier League Player of the Week after netting in Manchester United's win over Brentford, his ninth league goal of the season.[/p][p]The Brazilian also played his part defensively with 15 duels won, four successful tackles, nine clearances, three recoveries, two interceptions and one block.[/p][p]His 9.1 rating was the highest of anyone over the last round of fixtures.[/p][image alt="Casemiro v Brentford" id="7a1002d1-f859-4e78-af20-563b83edf330" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform / REUTERS/Phil Noble" guid="3aa2bfb8-33a6-4347-a165-2300c8396881" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/malick-diouf/n1SNJhEe/"]El Hadji Malick Diouf[/a] (West Ham) - 8.2[/b][/p][p]The second of three West Ham stars to feature in our Team of the Week, Diouf enjoyed a productive afternoon against Everton in both attack and defence.[/p][p]The wing-back won a match-high 10 duels, made three tackles, seven recoveries and three clearances while also adding four key passes, two accurate crosses and three successful dribbles in a superb all-round display.[/p][image alt="Diouf heat map v Everton" id="daf1bf80-4031-4fcb-ba6b-11dbe57b55c1" credit-line="Dylan Hepworth/Every Second Media / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia / Opta by StatsPerform" guid="9395b40a-efa1-4793-a11c-7c2986613de1" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][h2]Forwards[/h2][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bowen-jarrod/pW170H9K/"]Jarrod Bowen[/a] (West Ham) - 8.4[/b][/p][p]Capping off our West Ham contingency is captain Bowen. The Englishman was a nuisance for the Toffees' defence throughout the match and created two big chances for his teammates.[/p][p]Bowen even registered eight touches in the opposition box and got two shots off in a positive attacking display, helping the Hammers to a much-needed three points.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/haaland-erling/UmV9iQmE/"]Erling Haaland[/a] (Manchester City) - 8.2[/b][/p][p]Haaland netted the only goal of the game in Manchester City's win over Burnley, taking his tally to 24 in the Premier League this season.[/p][p]The Norwegian superstar was unlucky not to have more after five shots in total, but still bagged the decisive goal to send his side top of the league, if only for a few days.[/p][image alt="Premier League top goalscorers" id="6a635036-6fd6-4b90-8a79-30261ff5ab67" credit-line="Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff / Opta by StatsPerform" guid="f6d16de5-0d42-457e-9889-066f49ec2ff0" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cherki-mathis/vm0eu2V3/"]Rayan Cherki[/a] (Manchester City) - 8.2[/b][/p][p]Despite Haaland proving the vital difference maker, Cherki once again impressed as well for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/guardiola-pep/hxNijWrJ/"]Pep Guardiola[/a]'s side.[/p][p]The Frenchman was City's main attacking outlet and managed eight shots, 17 touches in the Burnley box, two successful dribbles, eight key passes, one big chance created and a staggering 40 accurate passes in the final third.[/p][p]Cherki has taken well to English football and is proving to be a pivotal force in Manchester City's title challenge.[/p]