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Who are the most impotant players in the premeir league
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In the aftermath of Tottenham's 1-0 defeat at Manchester United last Saturday, manager Mauricio Pochettino refused the obvious excuse.
"It
is not fair to talk about Harry Kane," he said, though there was little
doubt that Spurs missed the injured Kane's cutting edge in an even
contest at Old Trafford.
Not that Jose Mourinho had much sympathy for Kane's absence.
"We
have no Zlatan Ibrahimovic, no Paul Pogba, no Marouane Fellaini, no
Marcos Rojo, no Michael Carrick, so don't speak to me about Harry Kane,"
he said on Friday.
As United struggle for fluency, it is Pogba's continued absence from midfield with a hamstring injury that is widely blamed.
Each
of the Premier League's 20 clubs have someone they probably cannot lose
if objectives for the season are to be met. Here's a look at them ...
MAN CITY: Ederson
Pep
Guardiola can call on such attacking riches that even the absence of
Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne can be catered for but at the other
end, the signing of goalkeeper Ederson has made a huge difference. Where
Claudio Bravo made weekly errors last season, Ederson has been both
solid and brave.
MAN UNITED: Nemanja Matic
While
Pogba's absence has led to a gradual slowdown in United's
effectiveness, and Saturday's reliance on the long ball, their defence
-- save for a 2-1 loss at Huddersfield -- has remained largely as safe
as before. That owes plenty to the shield Matic provides and when Pogba
is available, the Serb's positional discipline allows the Frenchman
freedom to roam.
TOTTENHAM: Harry Kane
There
are those who suggest Mousa Dembele, Toby Alderweireld and Christian
Eriksen are Spurs' key men, but that is often ignorant of the impact
Kane has had on Tottenham since his breakthrough in the winter of 2014.
He is both his club's leading goalscorer and spiritual guide.
CHELSEA: N'Golo Kante
The
key man of the last two Premier League title winners has been missing
through injury this month and there has been a noticeable drop in
Chelsea's command of matches. Only against hapless Bournemouth on
Saturday did Chelsea keep a clean sheet in the four games Kante has
missed. Tiemoue Bakayoko has struggled to replicate his countryman's
influence.
ARSENAL: Alexis Sanchez
There
are mere weeks until the January transfer window opens for him to be
linked with departure, but the decision of Arsene Wenger to hold Sanchez
to his contract is paying off so far as Arsenal sit level on points
with fourth-place Chelsea. The only game lost with Sanchez in his team
came in his first appearance of the season, a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool
played while he hoped to sign for Manchester City.
LIVERPOOL: Sadio Mane
In
the absence of a key defender to soothe Liverpool's ruinous concession
of goals and a midfield that struggles to protect that back four, one of
Liverpool's attackers must be pinpointed. They are without Mane at the
moment, and he has lately supplanted Philippe Coutinho as the team's
attacking fulcrum. To underline his importance, Liverpool were knocked
out of the FA Cup and League Cup as well as losing at home to Swansea in
the Premier League last January when Mane was at the African Nations
Cup with Senegal.
BURNLEY: Ben Mee
Mee is joint-leader in blocks in the Premier League
with 18, while defensive partner James Tarkowski has made just one
fewer. Sean Dyche's team are the blocking champions of England, with
midfielder Jack Cork also having made 12. Burnley concede more shots per
game than anyone else in the Premier League (an average of 18.2),
almost double their attacking shots per game average of 9.9, but are in
seventh in the table. Mee leads that effort.
WATFORD: Tom Cleverley
When
Watford flopped 1-0 at home to Stoke last Saturday, it was noticeable
their surprising slump coincided with an off-day for Cleverley, who
after struggling to live up to the promise of his younger days at
Manchester United, Everton or Aston Villa, has been ever-present in
midfield for Marco Silva's team.
NEWCASTLE: Jamaal Lascelles
Rafa
Benitez is another manager hoping to achieve stability with a limited
hand of personnel and Lascelles, his 23-year-old captain, leads a
defence that has conceded only nine times in 10 matches to symbolise the
spirit Newcastle require to survive.
SOUTHAMPTON: Virgil van Dijk
Keeping
hold of the Dutchman was a statement of intent from Southampton's
owners, even if the player was desperate to be allowed to leave for
Liverpool. In a team that scores few goals, a top-level defender is
required and performances have improved since his return.
LEICESTER: Jamie Vardy
Leicester
are on their third manager in eight months, and Claude Puel will
definitely need Vardy to continue in the vein of Sunday's victory over
Everton, in which he grabbed a first goal in five matches. Vardy at full
pelt is the embodiment of what has made Leicester difficult opponents.
BRIGHTON: Pascal Gross
Brighton
are a no-frills team built on manager Chris Hughton's belief in
defensive organisation, but Gross, a bargain buy from Ingolstadt, is a
player to open up opposing defences. He has supplied five assists this
season, and only Manchester City duo David Silva and De Bruyne have
created more goals than that.
HUDDERSFIELD: Aaron Mooy
Mooy
is the creative force in David Wagner's hardworking team, supplying the
attacking vision and allowed freedom to find opportunities. He has
struggled a little more in the Premier League as opposed to the
Championship, but scored in that stunning 2-1 defeat of Manchester
United.
STOKE: Joe Allen
This
looks like being a tough season for Mark Hughes' team and one in which a
combination of determination and craft will be required to haul them
back up the table. Allen personifies those qualities and is Stoke's
leading man in midfield.
WEST BROM: Jonny Evans
These
are tough times at West Brom, whose bright start to the season has
badly faded, with fans not happy with manager Tony Pulis. Evans was
close to a move to Manchester City in the summer but must now help
restore the defensive quality his club and manager were previously known
for. Alone among his colleagues, he remains a class act.
WEST HAM: Manuel Lanzini
There
have been very few bright sparks in West Ham's season and Lanzini's
absence until the end of September was viewed as one mitigating factor.
He has struggled to replace Dimitri Payet as the club's star playmaker
but his skills bring something different to an otherwise leaden squad.
SWANSEA: Tammy Abraham
With
Wilfried Bony failing to emulate his first spell at Swansea, a huge
amount of pressure is being placed on 20-year-old Chelsea loanee
Abraham, who has scored four of their seven goals so far. Without him,
Paul Clement's team would be in desperate difficulty.
EVERTON: Jordan Pickford
The
season could hardly have gone much worse for Everton, where there have
been malfunctions in defence, midfield and attack, though at least
goalkeeper Pickford has justified something close to his £25 million fee
from Sunderland with a series of fine saves.
BOURNEMOUTH: Jermain Defoe
Eddie
Howe's team are in deep trouble, with him admitting at the weekend
after a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea that Bournemouth are struggling to create
chances like they did in their previous two Premier League seasons.
Defoe is receiving poor service and has scored just once, but to survive
his club need him to rediscover his shooting boots.
CRYSTAL PALACE: Wilfried Zaha
The
evidence of Zaha's return from injury is that probably no other club is
as reliant on their star as Palace on the Ivorian winger. Since coming
back, he has scored two of their total of four goals, and in doing so
has been responsible for each of their four points so far. Saturday's
97th minute equaliser against West Ham underlined that importance.
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