Crystal Palace are represented in the latest Premier League team of the week that has been selected by BBC pundit Garth Crooks.
Actually Garth is now down as a ‘Football Analyst’ these days, a posh term for a pundit then!
The performance by Christian Benteke in the two one victory over Liverpool at the weekend at Anfield was enough to earn them a place in the side alongside the other, in the opinion of the former Spurs striker anyway, most impressive performers in the topflight over the latest weekend.
I think we’ll already know ourselves, and not just based on the latest performance, why Crooks, we’ll also not argue with it, selected Benteke as part of his team but explaining his choice he told the BBC.
‘They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Well, Christian Benteke’s two goals against Liverpool must have made former manager Jurgen Klopp shudder. It was Klopp, of course, who showed Benteke the door at Anfield and it’s taken the striker some time to find himself again. Under Sam Allardyce, who likes centre forwards who lead the line and don’t chase shadows, Benteke is looking like the striker who took the Premier League by storm at Aston Villa. The Belgium international was also very respectful when he elected to keep his goal celebrations against Liverpool so muted, which was a nice touch. However, he had to work incredibly hard to conceal the smile. What satisfaction for the lad to go back to the club where he would desperately have wanted to be successful and show them what he can do. And well done Allardyce for bringing Benteke off moments before the end of the game so the Liverpool fans could show their respect and appreciation for the way Benteke had conducted himself throughout the match. That was also a nice touch.’
It’s always good to see the club represented in this way, and well played to Benteke for his recognition, but the most important thing about the weekend was of course the points.
Full Team:
Eldin Jakupovic (Hull City), Victor Moses (Chelsea), David Luiz (Chelsea), Nacho Monreal (Arsenal), Gabriel (Arsenal), Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Willian (Chelsea), Kamil Grosicki (Hull City), Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace).
