Harry Kane is the best penalty taker in the Premier League, according to Son Heung-Min, after the Tottenham Hotspur striker buried his fourth spot-kick in five games last weekend.

The North Londoners dispatched Swansea City 5-0 at White Hart Lane, with Kane bagging two in a comfortable victory.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men have struggled to find the net in comparison to their top four rivals, with their 24 Premier League goals six less than the team with the next fewest – Manchester City.

Kane’s return from injury is key to their ambitions this season, with the Englishman one of just two players, with Sergio Aguero, to score at least 20 Premier League goals in the last two campaigns.

Phhoto by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

And Son, who also netted against Swansea, admits there is an extra air of confidence around the squad whenever Kane gets a sight of goal.

“It was the same against West Ham in the last home game – I thought for sure he would score. I’m very confident whenever he shoots from a penalty,” he said.

“I think that he’s the safest Premier League player to take a penalty. I didn’t see him missing and I’m very comfortable whenever I watch him shoot like that.

“I’m very happy for him as well because he had a long time out injured, he’s come back, everyone has helped him and he’s scoring a lot for the team so I’m really happy about that.”

Idrissa Gana Gueye had £89m man Paul Pogba under lock and key for the most part on Sunday but the Everton man says it took a team performance to shackle Manchester United to a draw at the death.

Midfielder Gueye harried the Red Devils all day, but it was only after Marouane Fellaini’s needless foul on the Senegalese international that Leighton Baines fired the penalty that secured a draw.

Everton will undoubtedly miss the 27-year-old when he departs with Senegal for the Africa Cup of Nations in January but Gueye is confident of making a similar kind of impact over Christmas.

(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

“I really enjoyed it,” he said. “Paul Pogba is a good player and he gave me problems, but Gareth Barry – and the rest of the team – helped me out.

“No matter if it’s against Pogba or another player, I always enjoy playing with my team.

“Manchester United are a difficult team to play against, but we played well in the second half and that’s why we scored the goal and got one point from the game.

“We liked the intensity of our game in the second half. Looking ahead, that is what we need to do for the whole game.

“We need to keep working hard on the training ground and that will help us to play well on the weekend.”

The spotlight on Loris Karius has only intensified after Bournemouth centre-back Steve Cook admitted his team deliberately targeted the under-fire goalkeeper in Sunday’s spellbinding 4-3 comeback at the Vitality Stadium.

The Cherries looked ready to wave the white flag at 3-1 down with 15 minutes to go before super sub Ryan Fraser inspired one of the great comebacks in Premier League history.

Fraser scored and then set up Cook to level the scores – but what came next was the stuff of nightmares for Karius.

 (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

The 23-year-old, who was plucked from Bundesliga club Mainz at the summer, spilled Cook’s shot in the third minute of injury time and Nathan Ake was at hand to poke in the winner.

It was a plan that came together – albeit in dramatic circumstances – according to Cook.

“We did [target him], we thought that he was under a lot of pressure,” he said. “Obviously playing for Liverpool you’ve got to have a strong character.

“We did target him, we tried to pressurise him and get as many shots of possible. We did target him as a weakness in the Liverpool side.

“It was a very emotional (win). I think I’m an emotional guy anyway. I was just delighted to score, but when I had scored and was running back I was just hoping we were going to nick the draw.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d win it. So I’d say the fourth goal meant a lot more to me than my goal.”

Manchester City stopper Claudio Bravo has been hailed as the world’s best goalkeeper by former City boss Manuel Pellegrini.

The Chilean has defended his fellow countryman after City’s 3-1 defeat to Chelsea in Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off at the Etihad Stadium.

A Gary Cahill own goal gave Pep Guardiola’s side a 1-0 half-time lead, before strikes from Diego Costa, Willian and Eden Hazard saw Chelsea consolidate their place at the top of the table and make it eight league wins in a row.

Bravo’s performances between the City sticks have been subject to intense scrutiny since his high-profile move from Barcelona.

Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images

England number one Joe Hart moved from City on a season-long loan to Italian outfit Torino after the former Real Sociedad keeper’s move to Manchester in August.

Bravo, along with City defenders John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi and Aleksandar Kolorov, were singled out for criticism after the defeat to Antonio Conte’s Blues.

However, Pellegrini, now head coach at Chinese Super League side Hebei Fortune, says the Chile captain’s glittering club career proves he is the best stopper on the planet.

“He is criticised a lot but Claudio Bravo is the best goalkeeper in the world,” Pellegrini said.

“The English press are very hard on him, as they are with the entire world.

“And if Bravo has gone from Real Sociedad to Barcelona and Barcelona to Man City it is because he is the best goalkeeper in the world.”

Southampton’s Oriol Romeu has defended teammate Fraser Forster, after the goalkeeper’s costly blunder gifted Crystal Palace their first goal in the Saints’ 3-0 defeat to the Eagles on Saturday.

The 28-year-old, watched on by England manager Gareth Southgate, attempted a routine clearance, but a mix-up with his feet led to the ball falling for Christian Benteke to tap home.

Palace doubled their lead three minutes later when an unmarked James Tomkins prodded the ball home from three yards.

And Benteke added his second of the game late on to wrap up maximum points at Selhurst Park, ending a run of six straight Premier League defeats.

(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

But Romeu insists Forster doesn’t deserve to be slated, given how vital he is to the Saints team.

“It’s not easy to take, but he’s clever,” he said. “He’s done a lot for us and, of course, he had credit on making a mistake one day. He saved us so many times and we cannot say anything to him.

“Sometimes we are relying on him playing out from the back and he needs to play a lot of balls under pressure.

“Just one simple mistake comes into that and that’s what happened today. Unluckily it happened to him.

“Fraser has proved that he can still play perfectly. He’s an amazing goalkeeper and I’m sure it won’t affect him.”

Arsene Wenger was effusive in his praise of winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain following Arsenal’s 5-1 demolition of West Ham United on Saturday.

While Alexis Sanchez stole the headlines for his second-half hat-trick, Oxlade-Chamberlain’s was one of a number of stellar Arsenal performances at the London Stadium.

The 23-year-old netted a crisp fourth to close the door on the home side’s fleeting hopes of a revival, after Andy Carroll had nodded in with seven minutes to go.

Mesut Ozil had opened the scoring for Arsenal midway through the first half.

The win lifted the Gunners to second in the Premier League, three points behind Antonio Conte’s Chelsea, who have won eight league games on the spin.

Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

The Hammers, meanwhile, are hovering above the relegation zone with 12 points from 14 games, just one above Sunderland in 18^th place.

Wenger singled out Oxlade-Chamberlain for his “freedom and power”, and feels the youngster has improved during this campaign.

Oxlade-Chamberlain has scored six goals in all competitions this term – a tally that already represents his best haul for a single season.

“He has made a lot of progress this season,” Wenger said.

“He plays with freedom and power. When he wins the ball in your half he has the power to get you out.

“I hope that continues for him.”

Watford head coach Walter Mazzarri believes his side played the best football on their travels this season, despite losing at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

The Hornets went down 3-1 at the Hawthorns, with defender Christian Kabasele grabbing the only goal for Watford.

Goals from Jonny Evans and Chris Brunt gave West Brom a 2-0 half-time lead, before Kabasele gave the visitors hope after 60 minutes.

However, Mazzarri’s men suffered a blow when Roberto Pereyra was sent off after 84 minutes after reacting angrily to a James McClean challenge, before Mattt Phillips sealed the win for Tony Pulis’ side in injury time.

Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images

But with Watford still 11th in the league with 18 points from 14 matches, Mazzarri was left content with his players’ display against a West Brom side flying high in seventh.

“From the game we played probably the best football away from home since I arrived here,” said Mazzarri.

“For sure we didn’t deserve to lose. Actually if we deserved something it was the victory for the way we played.

“Also I would like to view again the occasion where there was a penalty [claim] against Stefano Okaka and I would have liked to see my men 11 against 11 in our best moment where we were probably going to draw.

“Anyway I told my players I am very happy with their performance.”

Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic claims he would have swapped his fine goal for three points against Everton on Sunday.

The Swede put United in front with a sumptuous lobbed effort, but Leighton Baines equalised from the spot late on for the hosts after former Toffee Marouane Fellaini fouled Idrissa Gueye.

Jose Mourinho’s side are sixth in the Premier League, with 21 points from 14 games, nine behind fourth-placed local rivals Manchester City and 13 behind leaders Chelsea.

And Ibrahimovic believes that, in spite of netting six goals in his last five games, his confidence is suffering due to his team’s stuttering form.

Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Ibrahimovic said after the match: “I scored but in the end it only got me and the team one point.

“I would prefer not to score but win the game, that’s my way of thinking. We have to fight more and do more to get the three points we need.”

“I would be more confident if we were higher up in the table because that’s what we play for.”

The 35-year-old could also face retribution from the FA for an incident with Seamus Coleman, though he insists the lack of intention will mean no punishment will come his way.

“It was a fifty-fifty duel. He pulled me down and I tried to avoid touching him,” he continued.

“Trust me, if I want to kick someone in the head, I know how to kick someone in the head and make him fall asleep. That is the only thing I have to say.”

Stoke City forward Xherdan Shaqiri has heaped praise on strike partner Jonathan Walters’ after the latter’s exquisite lob in the Potters’ 2-0 win over Burnley on Saturday.

Walters deftly guided Mame Biram Diouf’s whipped cross over Paul Robinson as Mark Hughes’ side sealed three points.

Swiss international Shaqiri waxed lyrical about Republic of Ireland international Walters, who he said “does everything” for the team.

“It was a beautiful goal,” said Shaqiri. “And how we created the goal was very good. I played a one-two with Mame, who crossed directly to Jon for a very beautiful goal.”

“Jonny is a hard worker and you can see that whether he comes on or plays from the beginning.

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

“He runs and does everything. That’s important for us.”

Stoke are ninth in the league, having won five of their last seven games following a poor start to the season.

Shaqiri added manager Hughes has had a difficult dilemma when picking his Potters starting eleven in recent weeks due to the team’s form.

“At the moment it’s difficult for the coach to decide who to play because everyone is playing very well,” he said.

“We have a lot of players challenging for places. It’s important for a team to have quality players who can play in any game.

“We have that quality and you can see that. The gaffer didn’t change anything and confidence makes the players better.

“Everyone wants to play and you can see that every day in training. Everyone is giving everything and wants to play. That’s a very positive thing for us.”

West Ham defender Winston Reid has called for fans to stop blaming the Hammers’ poor form this season on their new stadium, insisting they should start reflecting on the positives of their new home.

Saturday’s 5-1 defeat to Arsenal at the London Stadium has left the Hammers staring a relegation fight in the face as the Christmas fixtures approach, having won only three top flight fixtures this season on home soil.

They moved into the former London 2012 Olympic Stadium in the summer following the end of their 112-year history at the Boleyn Ground.

But New Zealand captain Reid insists the players are fully settled in their new home, and believes the move will mark the start of great things for the club.

(Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

“I think it feels like home now,” he said. “It is different to what I was used to playing at for the last six years, where everything was tight at Upton Park, and even when things weren’t going for you in games, if you made a tackle you could feel the crowd get behind you.

“The atmosphere is a bit different at this stadium. Because it is so big it has just taken time to get used to.

“Now we definitely need to address our home form. It’s an amazing venue, it’s a massive stadium and I’m sure it will bring us success in years to come.”