This article is part of our FPL Best XI series.
With only three weekends left in the Premier League season, a champion has already been crowned, as Chelsea clinched their fifth league title in club history last weekend, capping off a rather comfortable climb to the summit.
As a result, the remaining action in England's top-flight will mostly center on the race for European qualification places or the battle to avoid relegation for teams near the bottom of the standings.
Although they've lost just one of their last four outings, 18th-place Sunderland remains in danger of the drop, making Saturday's opening match at Everton of increased importance.
Just ahead of the Black Cats, 17th Hull City can boost their survival effort further by securing a result at home versus last-place Burnley later Saturday.
Unlike the Clarets, who have a lone win since early January, 16th Leicester City is riding a streak of five wins from six into their home match against Southampton.
In fact, the Foxes' fine form has them just one point behind Newcastle, who approach Saturday's game versus West Brom is absolute shambles internally and externally, having lost eight consecutive Premiership matches.
Level on points with the Magpies is Aston Villa, who on Saturday host ninth-place West Ham, who are tied in points with Stoke City, who welcome seventh Tottenham in the mid-day time slot as well.
To close Saturday's action, a pair of teams coming off three straight losses, Manchester United and Crystal Palace, will meet at Selhurst Park with similar rebound aspirations.
From there, two matches of contrasting levels of competition occupy the Sunday schedule, as 19th-place Queens Park Rangers travel to second-positioned Manchester City hours before Champions Chelsea do the rounds at Stamford Bridge versus fifth-place Liverpool.
Then, to finish Gameweek 36, Arsenal is handed a second straight Monday match, as the Gunners host top-10 side Swansea City with a game still in hand.
With the latest fixtures unpacked, it's time to explore the Best XI for this weekend's Premier League slate.
Goalkeeper
David Ospina
Since taking over Arsenal's goalkeeper position in January, Ospina has gone on to post seven clean sheets in 14 matches. Over that span, the Gunners have lost just once, which was the only time Ospina has allowed more than one goal in the Premier League this season. With that consistency, the Colombian awaits a matchup versus Swansea City on Monday at the Emirates Stadium, where Arsenal have been particularly stout defensively of late. To that point, the Gunners have clinched a clean sheet in five of their last seven home efforts in league play, which dates back to when Ospina took the reigns in goal.
Defenders
Branislav Ivanovic
Upon winning the league last weekend, Ivanovic tallied his 17th clean sheet of the campaign and also helped Chelsea prevail with the best defensive record in England's top-flight. Like most good teams, the Blues are especially hard to break down at home, as they've conceded just seven goals in 17 league games at Stamford Bridge this season. Although Ivanovic will go against Liverpool this weekend, the Reds failed to score in their two most recent away matches, which came at weaker sides West Brom and Hull City. Ivanovic and Chelsea are also undefeated in their past seven matches against Liverpool, with the Serbian scoring the teams' latest meeting as well.
Leighton Baines
Another attack-minded defender, Baines and Everton's defense have secured four straight clean sheets at Goodison Park, where they'll host Sunderland on Saturday. Baines leads all Premier League defenders with a fantastic total of nine assists on the campaign and has also scored a pair of goals as well. One of those goals came from the penalty spot at Sunderland earlier this season. Additionally, no team has scored fewer away goals than the Black Cats this term, making Baines a well-rounded selection in Gameweek 36.
Aleksandar Kolarov
Speaking of defenders that like to bomb forward, Kolarov has made Man City's left back position his own in recent weeks by notching one goal, one assist and two clean sheets over the Citizens' last three games. This weekend, Kolarov figures to start for a City side looking for their fifth clean sheet in their last six outings at the Etihad Stadium, as 19th-place Queens Park Rangers come to town. Along with haing painstakingly won just twice from their last 22 tries on the road, the Rs have been held scoreless in two of their last three appearances, putting Kolarov in decent defensive standing to go with his noted offensive ability.
Midfielders
Eden Hazard
This season's Player of the Year, Hazard propelled Chelsea to the championship by scoring the Blues' lone goal last weekend against Crystal Palace. That goal matched Hazard's total in the league from last season, but with a matchup against Liverpool's defense this time around, the Belgian could set a new personal Premier League-high. That's because Hazard has found the back of the net in three of Chelsea's past six games against the Reds. Moreover, Hazard has scored in three straight league matches at Stamford Bridge, painting a bright picture ahead of Sunday's post-title tussle.
Mesut Ozil
Last Monday at Hull, Ozil put together one of his most skillful performances in an Arsenal shirt, showing off his immaculate touch while creating plenty of dangerous opportunities going forward. Since he's returned to the fold, no team has outscored the Gunners over their past six home games, with Ozil personally responsible for two goals and five assists over that span. With Arsenal purring from having lost just one of 14 Premiership games since Ozil came back from injury, the German's confidence should be buzzing ahead of this Monday's home match against Swansea City, who have allowed two goals in three of their last four games versus Arsenal.
David Silva
Continuing a brilliant campaign, Silva assisted Manchester City's only goal in last weekend's win at Tottenham. Overall, the Spaniard now boasts 11 goals and eight assists. Seven of Silva's league goals this season have come at the Etihad Stadium, where the Citizens will welcome relegation threats Queens Park Rangers this Sunday. No team has allowed more goals than QPR thus far, while no team has scored more than Man City either. That contrast figures to result in plenty of goals for City this weekend, putting Silva in a great position to take advantage of this mouthwatering matchup.
Kevin Mirallas
A player that has experienced a turbulent 2014-15 campaign, Mirallas has been back in Everton manager Roberto Martinez's good graces in recent weeks. That's largely due to the fact that Mirallas has scored in two of the Toffees' last three games, bringing his season account to seven goals in 17 Premier League starts. The Belgian should be back in action this Saturday at Goodison Park, where both of Mirallas' aforementioned recent goals came, and Everton have gone six matches unbeaten. Conversely, their opponents, Sunderland, have gone winless in eight consecutive road league matches, setting up nicely for Mirallas this weekend.
Forwards
Harry Kane
In case you haven't noticed, since bursting onto the scene, Kane has tended to not go three straight league games without a goal. The last time he did that was during a three-game stretch following his second goal of the campaign back in November. So while the Spurs sensation has gone consecutive weeks without scoring, Saturday's match at Stoke seems primed for putting Kane on the scoresheet. As it stands, the Englishman has 20 goals in 25 Premier League starts this term, and now is opportunely pitted against a Stoke side with one win from their past six league outings.
Christian Benteke
As Villa has inched toward safety under new manager Tim Sherwood, the revived goal-scoring form of Benteke has been hugely instrumental. To that point, the Villa Park hero Benteke has accumulated 10 of his 12 goals on the season over the course of the Villains' past eight Premiership matches. After slowly beginning this season coming off last year's Achilles injury, the big man has rediscovered his lethal ability in front of goal, which should put West Ham on red alert this weekend. Unfortunately for the Hammers, they've failed to win in a remarkable 10 straight road games, which could help Benteke keep the goals coming this Saturday.
Sergio Aguero (C)
While Benteke may be the league's hottest goal scorer, and Kane might be the breakout player in front of goal on the season, still no player has found the back of the net more than Aguero's 22 times on the campaign. That leading total includes a four-match scoring streak, which could reach a full handful this weekend against the league's worst defense, Queens Park Rangers. Aguero bagged a brace at Loftus Road earlier this season and now gets to play them again whilst the London side ranks as the Premiership's worst away team. All in all, the league's top scorer on the league's best offense going against the league's worst defense makes Aguero a no-brainer for the Gameweek 36 Best XI captain selection.
