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- Romelu Lukaku (West Bromwich Albion): West Brom had a pair of fixtures this week, losing to Liverpool in the Capital One Cup midweek before drawing Aston Villa on Sunday. Lukaku started the cup tie and played 70 minutes for West Brom, he'd come on with about 20 minutes to go in the league game. He was solid in both, and looked particularly dangerous on Sunday against Villa. He didn't score in either fixture, and looks like he'll continue to rotate with Shane Long for the foreseeable future.
- Yossi Benayoun (West Ham United): Yossi began West Ham's game on Monday on the bench. He finished the game in the same spot. He was not involved in the League Cup loss to Wigan.
- Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid): Courtois missed a few games with a minor injury, but he was back in the net for Atletico on Sunday. He was exceptional in the 1-0 win that saw Atletico remain second in the table.
- Michael Essien (Real Madrid): Real Madrid only played a single fixture since our last roundup, and Essien did not take part.
- Kevin De Bruyne (Werder Bremen): The young Belgian had another exceptional week on loan. De Bruyne played the full 90 minutes in a pair of games, a win against Freiburg and a loss against Bayern Munich. He was very good in both contests, tidy on the ball, fairly solid in his passing, and showing vast improvement in the defensive side of his game. He had an assist angainst Freiburg which can be seen here:
- Jeffrey Bruma (Hamburger SV): Bruma was still suffering from a knee injury and did not play for HSV since out last roundup.
- Milan Lalkovic (Vitoria SC): Lalkovic played the final 25 minutes of a 2-0 loss to Braga over the weekend, and looked pretty good in the process. I don't know if he'll force his way into their first choice lineup this season, but he's proving to be a useful bench part.
- Matej Delac (Vitoria SC): Delac was again the backup for Vitoria and did not play. I'll give you the highlights for the Vitoria game here though, that way he feels included.
- Tomas Kalas (Vitesse Arnhem): Kalas seems to be staking a claim to the right fullback position at Vitesse. He played the full 90 minutes in both the cup-tie midweek and the Eredivisie game over the weekend. He was typically excellent in both contests. Vitesse would win both games, vaulting them into second place in the table.
- Patrick van Aanholt (Vitesse Arnhem): Like Kalas, PvA played 180 minutes this week for Vitesse. Also like Kalas, he was excellent in his time on the pitch. Vitesse currently have the best defensive record in the league, having allowed just four goals on the season.
- Gael Kakuta (Vitesse Arnhem): Kakuta made his Vitesse debut when he started on Wednesday in a cup tie for the Eredivisie club. He'd play the entire first half before being withdrawn, a move that was largely due to a lack of match fitness at this point of the season. Kakuta made the bench three days later, but went unused in that contest. I'd expect to see more minutes from Gael as he starts to regain fitness and spends some time on the training pitch with his teammates.
- Kenneth Omeruo (ADO Den Haag): Omeruo had another excellent week in the Netherlands. He played 87 minutes in a mid-week cup tie (a 2-0 victory) before playing the full 90 in ADO Den Haag's 3-3 draw over the weekend. As usual, Omeruo was very good in both contests.
- Amin Affane (Roda JC): Affane has been impressive since joining Roda, and he managed to find the back of the net this week for the Dutch side. He played 45 minutes midweek in Roda's cup loss against PEC Zwolle, and came on in the 70th minute over the weekend with his side a goal down. He'd score in that one, and the goal can be seen below:
- Thorgan Hazard (Zulte-Waregem): Not too many people will see much of the younger Hazard due to the league he is playing in, but he has been very impressive thus far. He's now a regular starter, and one of the key components in the Zulte attack. He had an assist on their final goal over the weekend.
- Josh McEachran (Middlesbrough): McEachran was rested in Boro's League Cup victory midweek, but he played the full 90 in a loss over the weekend. As usual, Boro fans had nothing but good things to say about our youngster.
- Sam Hutchinson (Nottingham Forest): Hutch was not in action this week as he was dealing with a minor knee injury.
- Ben Gordon (Birmingham City): Gordon did not make the bench for Birmingham this week despite being healthy.
- Nathaniel Chalobah (Watford): Chalobah was again starting in the Watford midfield over the weekend, and was excellent for his 81 minutes on the pitch. He seems like he's cemented himself into Zola's starting lineup at this point.
- Ulises Davila (CE Sabadell): Davila has been excellent since joining Sabadell on loan, and this week was no exception. Davila only came on with seven minutes to go against Guadalajara, but that was plenty of time for him to score the game winning goal.
- Jhon Pirez (Leganes): Pirez is still yet to make his debut in Spain, as he's suffering from yet another injury.
