Andy Robertson makes the cut despite red card: Premier League team of the week

Six games fell to Covid but there was still some thrilling action

Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool) – Culpable for Heung-Min Son’s equaliser but only after making outstanding saves to deny Dele Alli and Harry Kane in a thriller. Getty

Right-back: Joao Cancelo (Manchester City) – The Portuguese had delivered everything except a goal this season. He rectified that in spectacular style with a long-range special at Newcastle. Getty

Centre-back: Conor Coady (Wolves) – The rock at the heart of Wolves’ frugal rearguard. Coady made a couple of perfectly-judged challenges as Chelsea drew a blank at Molineux. Getty

Centre-back: Thiago Silva (Chelsea) – The 37-year-old belied his age to help earn Chelsea a first clean sheet in seven games as they limited Wolves to one shot on target. EPA

Referee Paul Tierney, right, shows a red card to Liverpool's Andrew Robertson during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021. (AP Photo / Frank Augstein)

Right midfield: Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City) – A well-taken goal, courtesy of a fine cross from Oleksandr Zinchenko, in the rout of Newcastle to make City top at Christmas. EPA

Centre midfield: Harry Winks (Tottenham) – Back in the team, he made a case to stay there with some classy passing to set up counter-attacks in the draw with Liverpool. EPA

Centre midfield: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) – A player in a rich vein of form helped City dominate the midfield as they had 72 percent of possession at St James’ Park. Reuters

Left midfield: Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal) – Two brilliantly clinical finishes set Arsenal on their way to victory at Leeds. The Brazilian showed he can get goals in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s absence. Getty

Centre forward: Heung-Min Son (Tottenham) – Deserved his equaliser against Liverpool. Combined well with Harry Kane and troubled Liverpool with his pace and incision. EPA

Centre forward: Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal) – Led Leeds a merry dance, dragging Robin Koch out of position to create room for Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka. Reuters

Tottenham and Liverpool served up a festive classic but visiting manager Jurgen Klopp was infuriated by several decisions that went against his side in a 2-2 draw.

Spurs striker Harry Kane was only booked for a dangerous tackle on Andy Robertson with VAR deciding not to upgrade it to a sending off. Yet Robertson's equally rash tackle on Emerson Royal later was changed from yellow to red.

Manchester City were not even at their best, according to manager Pep Guardiola, after a 4-0 win at Newcastle made it eight Premier League victories in a row.

It means the champions will be top of the table at Christmas for the first time since 2017 and have won 34 league games in the calendar year - a top-flight record.

Arsenal's Brazilian youngster Gabriel Martinelli is making up for the absence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, producing two clinical finishes in a 4-1 win at Leeds United.

Chelsea had no cutting edge for the second match in a row as they drew 0-0 at Wolves and slipped six points behind Manchester City.

To see which 11 players make the team of the weekend, check out the photo gallery above.