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Premier League hotlist: Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Diego Costa, Jamie Vardy

Jamie Vardy takes his place on Premier League hotlist this week
Image: Jamie Vardy takes his place on Premier League hotlist this week

Who were the best Premier League players from the weekend games? We take a look at the man-of-the-match performances in our hotlist.

Chelsea kept their lead at the top of the Premier League thanks to another clean sheet and another Diego Costa goal against Tony Pulis' resilient West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, while Liverpool lost further ground on the top-flight leaders when mistakes from Loris Karius and Joel Matip saw them slip to a 2-2 draw with West Ham. 

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Manchester United are closing in on the top four after beating Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford, with Spurs just three points ahead of Jose Mourinho's side, while fourth-placed Pep Guardiola's Manchester City have now suffered back-to-back defeats after losing 4-2 to champions Leicester.

But which players starred in particular? Read on to remind yourself of the standout displays - and let us know who you think deserves the plaudits by leaving a comment or tweeting us @SkyFootball...

Michail Antonio (Liverpool 2-2 WEST HAM)

Just when West Ham United and Slaven Bilic needed someone to step up and show a determination for the cause, Antonio delivered with an all-action display for his club in a hard-fought draw.

Starting the game as a makeshift centre-forward, Antonio's pace caused Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip problems despite West Ham having to defend for long periods. His presence in attack caused the mistake by Matip, which presented Antonio with his only chance. He took it expertly before dropping deeper in the second period to help his defence snuff out wave after wave of Liverpool attacks.

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Henrik Mkhitaryan (MANCHESTER UNITED 1-0 Tottenham)

After struggling to make the squad let alone the first team, Mkhitaryan has come storming onto the United scene and was the star of the show on Sunday afternoon, running a usually solid Spurs defence ragged.

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Highlights from Man Utd's 1-0 win over Tottenham

He was constantly winning the ball, linking up team-mates and getting his hands dirty with the niggly jobs, as well as scoring a superb goal to seal United's first win since 24 September.

Unfortunately, it looks like we may have to wait until after Christmas Day to see him in action again after he was stretchered off late on with an ankle injury, and will be a miss for Jose Mourinho during his expected absence.

Diego Costa (CHELSEA 1-0 West Brom)

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Bereft of ideas as they toiled for a way through West Brom's stubborn rearguard, Chelsea's eight-game winning streak in the Premier League was in jeopardy of coming to an end.

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Highlights from Chelsea's 1-0 win over West Brom

That, however, was until Costa had his say. At second glance, Gareth McAuley stood little chance of containing the tenaciously determined Chelsea striker as he forced the Baggies defender into an error before ruthlessly punishing it. Ominously for Chelsea's title rivals it proved to be Costa's only shot on target, evidence the Spaniard is back to his unplayable best.

Stefano Okaka (WATFORD 3-2 Everton)

Walter Mazzarri claims to have closely followed Okaka's career since he rose through the youth ranks at Roma, but most Premier League observers will be forgiven for knowing little about the Italian.

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Stefano Okaka scored his first two Watford goals to help them to a 3-2 win over Everton in the Premier League

Even Watford fans had seen little of their summer signing after injuries plagued his first months at Vicarage Road. However, after shaking off those early-season niggles, the 27-year-old's long-awaited first goals for the club made up for lost time, with his sublime back-heel providing the perfect platform for the Hornets' first win in three.

Sofiane Boufal (SOUTHAMPTON 1-0 Middlesbrough)

Southampton's record signing produced the standout moment in what was ultimately a drab affair as the Saints recorded a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough.

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Claude Puel hails record-signing Sofiane Boufal after Southampton's win over Middlesbrough

Boufal's stunner from 25-yards out capped off a fine display and he showed signs of why Southampton forked out £16m for him in the summer.

And having missed out earlier in the season with a knee injury, Saints fans will be hopeful they can climb further up the table if the 23-year-old remains fit.

Jamie Vardy (LEICESTER 4-2 Man City)

Having not scored in 16 games, Vardy was back to his best for the champions.

His first goal, a ruthless finish having got in between two Man City defenders, was like the Vardy of old, scarily alike to his record-breaking goal against Man Utd last season.

Jamie Vardy celebrates after scoring against Leicester
Image: Jamie Vardy scored a hat-trick in Leicester's 4-2 win over Manchester City

It seemed Pep Guardiola worried more about how his side were setting up in an attacking sense - going from a back four to a back three and then back again to four - than he did about Vardy and Islam Slimani, who used Leicester's rare attacks to their maximum potential.

His third, an impossible finish from the most acute of angles, wrapped it up for Leicester, who had just 22 per cent possession. Déjà vu all around.

Jeff Hendrick (BURNLEY 3-2 Bournemouth)

Midfielder Jeff Hendrick turned in an impressive display as Burnley beat Bournemouth 3-2 at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon, with the Republic of Ireland international capping his performance off with a sensational goal to open the scoring.

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Here's our pick of the best goals from matchday 15 in the Premier League - featuring, Wilfried Zaha, Mesut Ozil and Jeff Hendrick

Hendrick, who became the Clarets' record signing after joining from Derby County last summer, produced a typically hardworking game to help the home team end a recent run of three straight league defeats.

However, the 24-year-old's crowning moment came after just 13 minutes when he broke the deadlock with a breath-taking volley that flew over Cherries No 1 Artur Boruc and into the back of the net.

Hector Bellerin (ARSENAL 3-1 Stoke)

Bellerin did not even start Arsenal's 3-1 win over Stoke, but he provided a spark the Gunners needed after making his return from injury as a substitute midway through the first half in place of Shkodran Mustafi.

While Gabriel had looked unsure about venturing forward down the right flank, Bellerin immediately gave Arsenal more width and pushed up into the Stoke box.

Hector Bellerin applauds the fans at the Emirates Stadium
Image: Hector Bellerin assisted Theo Walcott's goal for Arsenal

Having seen a shot deflected over, he provided the cross for Theo Walcott's equaliser before half-time, then set up Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for a good chance in injury-time.

The full-back continued to pose the visitors problems in the second half and was key in Arsenal coming from behind and securing all three points.

Wilfried Zaha (Hull City 3-3 CRYSTAL PALACE)

There were no difficulties selecting a man of the match from this encounter as Wilfried Zaha produced a sensational display to make sure Crystal Palace left with a point.

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WATCH: Zaha’s sensational strike

The winger was particularly dominant in the second half, winning a penalty, scoring a wonderful goal, and then setting up Fraizer Campbell to score a dramatic late equaliser.

On this form, Zaha would be an absolutely huge loss to the England set-up.

Leon Britton (SWANSEA 3-0 Sunderland)

The Swansea skipper was at the heart of all his side's good play as they produced a potentially season changing performance over fellow relegation struggles Sunderland.

Leon Britton has committed himself to Swansea for another two years
Image: Leon Britton's midfield performance helped secure a vital 3-0 win over Sunderland

His energy without the ball added to his creativity, where he linked up with Gylfi Sigurdsson to great effect, played a pivotal role in the Swans' convincing victory.

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