Team of the Week: Ruthless Ronaldo bags hat-trick, Sterling steps up

Here's our third Team of the Week of the 2023/24 campaign.

Goalkeeper:

Jose Sa (Wolves) 9

Wolves got their first win of the season against Everton, and nobody played a bigger part in it than Sa. The Portuguese goalkeeper made seven saves, keeping out six close-range efforts, to secure his first clean sheet of the campaign and ensure his team went home with three points.

Defence:

Matty Cash (Aston Villa) 8.7

Playing as a marauding wing-back, Poland international Cash was on fire for Aston Villa against Burnley, getting two of their three goals in a comfortable 3-1 win. He wasn't bad defensively either, winning three tackles and seven out of 10 duels. All in all, a complete performance. 

Joachim Anderson (Crystal Palace) 9.3

Crystal Palace secured a hard-fought point at Brentford, and Anderson was key at both ends. The Dane spent most of the match defending and did it well, making seven clearances and winning 11 out of 15 duels with opponents. Then, with his team 1-0 down and needing a goal, he moved forward with the ball, played a neat one-two and slid home the equaliser. 

Alex Suarez (Las Palmas) 8.3

LaLiga newcomers Las Palmas picked up an excellent point against Real Sociedad, holding their opponents to a 0-0 draw, and they may well not have done so without the efforts of Suarez. The 30-year-old was a rock at the back, making seven tackles, three interceptions, two clearances and winning 87% of his duels to help the team keep their first clean sheet in Spain's top flight since February 2018.

Robin Gosens (Union Berlin) 8.9

Union Berlin spent €15 million to bring Gosens over from Inter this summer and he lived up to the price tag against Darmstadt, scoring twice on his full Bundesliga debut in the team's second straight 4-1 win. Playing in the wing-back role in which he excelled for Atalanta, he's on to watch this season.

Midfield:

Quinten Timber (Feyenoord) 9.2

Feyenoord and Timber both made slow starts to the season, but the twin brother of Arsenal defender Jurrien and his team came alive at the weekend. The midfielder made seven key passes, set up the opening goal in style when he beat his man, charged towards the box from deep and played a perfect through ball for Santiago Gimenez, and scored his side's sixth himself. 

Laurent Abergel (Lorient) 8.9

Lorient continued their excellent start to the season with a stunning 4-1 win over Lille, and captain Laurent Abergel led by example. The holding midfielder protected his backline well and played a part in two goals, seizing on a goalkeeping error to open the scoring and playing a glorious through ball that Romain Favre raced on to to make it 3-1.

Teddy Teuma (Reims) 9.4

Reims were another Ligue 1 side to impress at the weekend, winning 3-1 at Montpellier, and summer signing Teddy Teuma was key to all their of their goals. He got an assist early on with a pinpoint corner and then scored with two stunning efforts, the first being a peach of a free-kick and the second a rocket of a half-volley from the edge of the box. You'll do well to see a better brace this season.

Attack:

Raheem Sterling (Chelsea) 8.8

Chelsea needed to beat Luton on Friday to avoid making a disastrous start to the season and Sterling made sure that they did, dancing through the opposition backline to open the scoring and cooly stroking home a low cross to make it 2-0. The 28-year-old looks set to be Mauricio Pochettino's star forward this season.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr) 10

With Lionel Messi setting the world alight over in America, Ronaldo would've been keen to steal back some of the spotlight at the weekend and he did just that. The Al Nassr man was unstoppable against Al Fateh, scoring three and setting up one of his team's five goals to open his account for the league season in style. 

Thiago Almada (Atlanta) 10

Messi isn't the only Argentine making waves in the MLS, with Almada being the stand-out performer from the last round of games. On a weekend in which it emerged that Dutch giants Ajax were interested in him, the 22-year-old got one goal and two assists against Nashville. He usually doesn't play on the right wing, but we just had to squeeze him in somewhere.