GK – Jamie Young

Jamie Young nudges in this week ahead of Wellington’s Filip Kurto, whose failure to keep a clean sheet against Adelaide means he misses out to the Englishman for keeping Melbourne City goalless. Young made crucial saves off Florin Berenguer and Ritchie De Laet when scores were locked at 0 – 0, once again coming up trumps in the big moments for John Aloisi’s team.

RCB – Kye Rowles

Youngster Kye Rowles has probably been one of the most underrated players of the season so far. In the opening weeks of the season he was sensational, but on Sunday against Glory, he completely nullified one the league’s form strikers in Andy Keogh. The Irishman persistently tried to isolate Rowles in one-on-one situations, but not once did he get the better of the former Roar defender.

CB – Nikolai Topor-Stanley

The Jets veteran was back to his solid best on Friday night against Wanderers, helping to keep a clean sheet against Markus Babbel’s tricky attacking quartet of Majok, Baumjohann, Kamau and Riera. The 33-year-old even managed to register an assist down the other end, showing fantastic awareness inside the area to calmly roll the ball across for a Jason Hoffman tap-in.

LCB – Bart Schenkeveld

The City defender picks up his first team of the week entry of the season, even although he failed to keep a clean sheet. Despite Adam Taggart’s double (to be discussed in further detail later), Schenkeveld once again showed his excellent turn of pace and aerial prowess to repel any dangerous crosses and balls in behind him.

RM – Josh Risdon

What a difference a World Cup can make! The Socceroos starting right-back has looked a completely transformed player since his performances in Russia. After a very good display in the friendly with South Korea, Risdon backed it up with another excellent display against the Jets. Now showing far more confidence to take the ball inside and take on the opposite fullback, Risdon will be a key cog for Markus Babbel in the A-League and Graham Arnold at the Asian Cup.

RCM – Neil Kilkenny

If the Socceroos didn’t have so much depth in the central midfield areas, Kilkenny would otherwise be a good shout for a call-up. The former Melbourne City man has been one of many standouts for Perth under Tony Popovic so far, but on Sunday he put on his best display of the season. Being involved in all three of Perth’s goals, Kilkenny’s lofted through ball was eventually played across by Joel Chianese for the opener, before he teed up Shane Lowry and Christopher Ikonomidis with delightful crosses that proved decisive in the final outcome.

LCM – Alex Lopez

Adelaide’s Isaias has some competition as the best Spanish central midfielder in the competition, with Roar signing Alex Lopez bursting onto the A-League scene at the moment. After being instrumental in Roar’s comeback against the Wanderers, Lopez dominated the middle third along with Thomas Kristensen as Brisbane cruised past Melbourne City. With Kristensen sitting a bit deeper and breaking up play, the Spaniard is allowed to be more involved in an attacking sense and show off his excellent range of passing and creativity.

LM – Connor O’Toole

Another Brisbane Roar star from the weekend but this one is a bit less predictable. Connor O’Toole has quietly become one of the most improved A-League players over the last couple of seasons, with his performance on Saturday night the best evidence yet of that. Always comfortable in possession and constantly looking to get forward, the outlet that O’Toole provides is key to the way Aloisi has set up his team.

RW – Christopher Ikonomidis

A-League fans are starting to understand why Ikonomidis was involved at Italian giants Lazio for so long now, with another two goals against the Mariners handing Perth a four point lead at the summit. Although both strikes were virtually tap-ins, it was the winger’s positioning and poacher’s instinct inside the box that really stood out. At the moment, Popovic may start to fear losing him to another European club soon.

ST – Adam Taggart

Leading the line and leading the best players for this week is Adam Taggart, whose brace against Melbourne City took his tally for the season up to five goals in as many games. The 25-year-old made a darting run to the near post to nod in his first, before showing quick feet in the box to rifle home a second into the far corner past a helpless Eugene Galekovic. With both Jamie Maclaren and Tomi Juric struggling for form at club level, is Taggart the answer to Australia’s issues up front?

LW – Dimitri Petratos

It felt like Dimi Petratos needed a big performance on Friday after not hitting the ground running so far in 2018/19, and he turned up just when Ernie Merrick needed his star man. After effectively creating the Jets’ opener with a stunning through ball which split the Wanderers’ defence, Petratos helped seal the points by showing composure to assist Ronald Vargas for the second following a quick counter-attack. They do say the best players still show up even on the worst pitches.