Following the draw with Inter, Napoli still remain top as Dave Taylor selects his best XI from Week 9’s action.
Samir Handanovic [Inter]
The big Slovenian pulled off a series of great saves, allowing the visitors to come away with a hard-earned point. His fabulous double save to first deny Jose Callejon saw him immediately whip back up to block Dries Mertens from converting the rebound with a strong right hand block. Excellent.
Raul Albiol [Napoli]
Following the draw with Inter, Napoli still remain top as Dave Taylor selects his best XI from Week 9’s action.
Samir Handanovic [Inter]
The big Slovenian pulled off a series of great saves, allowing the visitors to come away with a hard-earned point. His fabulous double save to first deny Jose Callejon saw him immediately whip back up to block Dries Mertens from converting the rebound with a strong right hand block. Excellent.
Raul Albiol [Napoli]
If for nothing else the Spaniard deserves a place in the team after he managed to stop an almost certain goal from Mathai Vecino’s dynamic header with his off the line clearance. Played a couple of good through balls, especially when finding Elseid Hysaj and also kept Mauro Icardi quiet. Comprehensive.
Paolo Cannavaro [Sassuolo]
The experienced veteran doesn’t get in many teams of the week, but deserved a shot at this one by keeping Marco Borriello quiet throughout. Making several excellent clearances, blocked shots and interceptions, he was the pick of the defenders. Complete.
Gianmarco Ferrari [Sampdoria]
The 25-year-old 6ft 2in former Crotone defender hit his old club after just three minutes with a towering header following Luca Torreira’s set piece from the edge of the 18 yard box. Solid throughout the game the goal turned out to be rightly warranted. Concrete.
Juan Cuadrado [Juventus]
The tricky little ace pushed forward at every opportunity and made several dangerous crosses throughout the game, worrying the hosts’ defence whenever he could. Also produced a clever assist for Khedira.
Sami Khedira [Juventus]
A richly deserved hat trick from the German ace whose first goal on 20 minutes came after a deft header from Juan Cuadrado’s cross. His second came from a volley as he cleverly latched onto Daniele Rugani’s knock down while his final strike came from a powerful angled drive. Matchless.
Luis Alberto [Lazio]
Always looking to blitz the visitors, the Spanish midfielder is integral to Lazio’s progress and looked to back Ciro Immobile whenever the opportunity arose. Narrowly missed scoring with a header but was always there looking to exploit any defensive weaknesses and produced an assist. Magnificent.
Matteo Politano [Sassuolo]
Scored the only goal of the game within a minute of kick off. Exploiting a defensive mistake he ran onto the ball and right-footed it home from the centre from 18 yards. Alert.
Aleksandar Kolarov [Roma]
The former Manchester City defender was king of the left flank and pushed up regularly becoming a wing back at times. Although he had a few clashes with Lorenzo Silvestri, he conquered the rest on his side. Then there was his goal from a free kick as he fired home with a perfect left foot shot. Overwhelming.
Ciro Immobile [Lazio]
One more game one more brace, copying last week’s work the Italian striker worked hard and opened the scoring on seven minutes when he won and converted a penalty. Not long after he blasted the ball over the bar while he headed home his second just before half-time. Irreplaceable.
Roberto Inglese [Chievo]
A top performance that saw him always ready to show for his team mates and while his pace saw him score the first of his brace of goals he converted a well taken penalty for his second. Innovative.
Special Mentions: Duvan Zapata [Sampdoria], Luca Torreira [Sampdoria], Daniele Rugani [Juventus], Gianluigi Buffon [Juventus], Marco Benassi [Fiorentina], Tomas Strakosha [Lazio] Karol Linetty [Sampdoria]