Garth Crooks selects Newcastle United star in Premier League team of the week

Garth Crooks has picked his best 11 performers from the weekend’s action.

The Premier League team of the weekend that has most impressed him.

Included in his top 11 is one player from the game at the Amex Stadium.

Garth Crooks reflecting after Saturday’s match on the south coast ‘This was a good result for Newcastle who, like Brighton, are making steady progress under a very good manager in Eddie Howe.’

An excellent point for Newcastle, especially on a day when maybe they weren’t at their best but Brighton were.

No surprises that the one NUFC player who makes this Garth Crooks Premier League team of the week is Nick Pope.

The BBC Sport man pointing to the excellent saves that the Newcastle United goalkeeper made and even when the ball did get past him, on two occasions defenders Trippier and Schar were there to clear off the line.

This is no one-off though and Eddie Howe has put together a really good disciplined committed defensive set-up, Saturday was the fifth clean sheet in the last eight Premier League matches.

I thought Fabian Schar was the pick of Newcastle’s outfield players on Saturday and wouldn’t have been out of place either, in this Garth Crooks PL eleven of the week.

Garth Crooks explains why he picked Fabian Schar in his Premier League team of the week and then the full eleven are listed below:

Nick Pope (Newcastle United)

“Solly March should have had two goals and would have done had it not been for Pope.

“Adam Lallana then had a header saved when Pope had no right to be anywhere near it, while a deflection off Dan Burn seemed to wrong-foot the Newcastle goalkeeper, but Pope and Fabian Schar still managed to keep Brighton out.

“This was a good result for Newcastle who, like Brighton, are making steady progress under a very good manager in Eddie Howe.”

Nick Pope (Newcastle United)

Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea)

Pontus Jansson (Brentford)

Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa)

Reece James (Chelsea)

Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)

Granit Xhaka (Arsenal)

Mathias Jensen (Brentford)

Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)

Rodrigo Moreno (Leeds United)

Luis Diaz (Liverpool)

Stats from BBC Sport:

Brighton 0 Newcastle 0 – Saturday 13 August 3pm

Goals:

Newcastle:

Brighton:

(Half-time stats in brackets)

Possession was Brighton 55% (48%) Newcastle 45% (52%)

Total shots were Brighton 13 (6) Newcastle 4 (3)

Shots on target were Brighton 7 (4) Newcastle 1 (1)

Corners were Brighton 7 (3) Newcastle 3 (0)

Referee: Graham Scott

Attendance:  31,552 (NUFC 3,100)

Newcastle United:

Pope, Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn, Willock (Sean Longstaff 76), Bruno, Joelinton, Almiron, Wilson (Wood

87), Saint-Maximin (Murphy 76)

Unused Subs:

Dubravka, Lascelles, Dummett, Ritchie, Manquillo, Anderson

(3 Positives and 3 Negatives from Brighton 0 Newcastle 0 match – Read HERE)

(Honest Eddie Howe reflects on Brighton result and performance – Spirit, unity and potential signings – Read HERE)

(Brighton 0 Newcastle 0 – Instant NUFC fan / writer reaction to Saturday’s battling draw – Read HERE)

(Match Report : Brighton 0 Newcastle 0 – Eddie Howe and his players emerge from south coast heat with battling point – Read HERE)

(Graham Potter ‘loved’ what he saw – Reacts to Brighton 0 Newcastle 0 performance and result – Read HERE)