Skipper among three Chelsea stars joining Toffees trio in Premier League’s worst XI
Three of Chelsea’s back five at Newcastle feature in the Premier League weekend’s worst XI, joined by an Everton trio and a pair from Nottingham Forest.
Here is the worst XI, according to WhoScored ratings, from the weekend’s Premier League action…
GK: Robert Sanchez – 5.50
It wasn’t a great weekend for England’s goalkeepers, with Jordan Pickford scoring 5.61 and Aaron Ramsdale looking jittery back in Arsenal’s net. But Bob Sanchez takes the gloves after conceding four goals at Newcastle from four shots on target.
RWB: Reece James – 5.53
The Chelsea captain was part of a back four picked apart by Newcastle, at least for three of their four goals. James was back in the dressing room by the fourth following a second booking for a foul on Anthony Gordon. His first came for kicking the ball away after a whistle. Chelsea need better leadership.
CB: Thiago Silva – 5.18
That often comes from the Brazil veteran but not at St James’ Park. Thiago was culpable for Newcastle’s third goal after changing his mind mid-pass and Gordon had him on toast for the fourth.
CB: Moussa Niakhate – 5.89
Niakhate wasn’t the worst defender at the City Ground – that honour goes to Lewis Dunk for getting himself sent off for no good reason – but the Forest centre-back allowed Evan Ferguson too much space for Brighton’s leveller. Niakhate was booked and finished the game with an injury.
CB: Joachim Andersen – 5.82
Andersen’s most obvious aberration was to allow a low cross to reach Jacob Brown for Luton’s winner. When the Palace defender was on the ball, he was little better. Twenty times he gave the Hatters possession, a dozen times from failed long balls.
LWB: Vitaliy Myolenko – 5.89
The Everton left-back was similarly wasteful. Mykolenko gave Manchester United the ball 15 times and four goal kicks from shots off target, even if one went as close as you can go. Defensively, the Ukrainian was generally sound but he was exposed by Marcus Rashford and Diogo Dalot in the build up to Alejandro Garnacho’s madness.
CM: Danilo – 5.78
Playing centrally, Danilo gave the ball away in the build-up to Brighton’s leveller and the game generally passed him by for 62 minutes before he was hooked by Steve Cooper. That was still enough time to give the ball away eight times from 26 touches.
CM: Abdoulaye Doucoure – 5.87
Everton struggled in the midfield battle without the control Amadou Onana usually offers. Doucoure lost the ball with a third of his 33 touches and came out second best in three-quarters of his dozen duels while struggling to connect with Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
RF: Jack Harrison – 5.86
The Everton winger saw enough of the ball and served his purpose by floating plenty of crosses into the United box. But none of seven found a blue bonce. When Harrison found himself in the middle, he wasted his one big chance.
LF: James McAtee – 5.66
The Sheffield United attacking midfielder lost possession more often than he found a team-mate with a pass against Bournemouth. Nothing McAtee attempted came off. Two dribble attempts failed; attempted crosses and long-balls were giveaways; one shot was off target.
CF: Danny Ings – 5.95
The West Ham striker was shackled by Burnley, who looked set for a huge win before they caved in late on. By that time, Ings had long since been replaced after 62 shot-less minutes against the rock-bottom Clarets.
Read more: Manchester United 12th, Everton level with Arsenal in only Premier League table that matters