Team of the Week: Murphy magical for Newcastle, Griezmann gets a hat-trick
Here's our latest Team of the Week of the 2023/24 campaign.
Goalkeeper:
Etrit Berisha (Empoli) 9
One of the shocks of the last round of Serie A matches came in Florence, where Empoli beat Fiorentina 2-0. They did so despite having seven shots to their opponents' 19, thanks in large part to the efforts of Berisha, who made seven super saves.
Defenders:
Griffin Dorsey (Houston Dynamo) 9.3
In Houston Dynamo's final match of the MLS season before the playoffs, Dorsey bagged a brace from right-back to fire them to a 3-1 victory against Portland Timbers. The second of his goals was a real beauty, too.
Craig Dawson (Wolves) 8.4
Dawson was instrumental in Wolves' 2-1 win at Bournemouth, making six clearances, five tackles and three interceptions at the heart of the defence.
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) 8.1
Van Dijk has so often stepped up for Liverpool in the biggest games and he did so again in the Merseyside Derby, winning 10 out of 15 aerial duels to prevent Everton's direct approach from causing problems.
Aihen Munoz (Real Sociedad) 8.5
Munoz played his part at both ends of the pitch in Real Sociedad's 1-0 win over Mallorca, making two key passes and one crucial goal-line clearance in the 88th minute that ensured his side took all three points.
Midfielders:
Aleix Garcia (Girona) 9
Girona's remarkable start to the season looked to be at an end when they went 2-0 down to Almeria at the weekend, but they turned things around to win 5-2, and Garcia set up two of the goals with two stunning through balls to move above Barcelona and into second.
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) 8.7
Atletico stayed within three points of Girona and Real Madrid thanks to the efforts of Griezmann, who scored his first hat-trick of the season against Celta. One was a penalty, one was a tap-in and one was one of the luckiest goals you'll see this season, so lucky that he couldn't stop laughing after scoring it, but it doesn't matter how they go in.
Luis Alberto (Lazio) 8.9
Not only did Luis Alberto score his 50th goal in Lazio colours against Sassuolo, but he ran the show for his team too, making four key passes and creating two clear-cut chances.
Forwards:
Jacob Murphy (Newcastle) 9.3
Murphy was given his first league start of the season against Crystal Palace and it's fair to say he took his chance, with the Englishman scoring one of Newcastle's four goals and setting up two of the others. Expect to see him in the starting XI more often in the weeks to come.
Vangelis Pavlidis (AZ) 8.7
Pavlidis was being heavily linked with a move to West Ham shortly after his performance against Heerenveen, which tells you just how good he was. The Greek striker got all three of his side's goals and is now the joint-top scorer in the Eredivisie with 13 to his name.
Aleksandr Golovin (Monaco) 9.1
Monaco and Golovin continued their excellent starts to the season against Metz, with the Russian getting both goals in their 2-1 win. He has now has five goal contributions in five games and his team is sitting pretty at the top of Ligue 1.
