The EPL Weekend-Round 6

Rooney's seemingly buried ghosts re-appeared, two closely contested derbies, the Chelsea juggernaut continuing with its march.. another weekend of exciting footballing action.

The Mersey-side derby kicked off the weekend action with both sides desperately in need of good performances. Liverpool have been poor so far this season and this match presented the perfect setting for them to begin their recovery. Everton were surprisingly very poor in the first half even going by their low standards this season. The Toffees have struggled to recapture the level of performance and standards they attained last season. Having held on to their key players in Barkley, Baines and Lukaku, and with reinforcements arriving, top four looked a real prospect this year. On current evidence, that now looks a tall order. Liverpool should have been ahead by halftime but they struggled to create chances despite enjoying majority of possession. In the second half, Gerard, as he has done on numerous occasions, provided the spark for the Reds when he scored with a free-kick after Balotelli had been fouled just outside the area. Tim Howard should have done better though as his shaky start to the season continued. Soon after Balotelli had a decent chance to make the game safe but hit the crossbar when he really should have scored. That miss proved costly as Jagielka scored a screamer right at the death. Overall a draw was a fair result as both teams failed to show inventiveness and hunger for all three points. What was clear though was that both teams need to start producing results. For Liverpool once again there was lack of creativity in the middle of the park until the introduction of Coutinho. Sterling was his usual burst of energy and Tony Hibbert struggled to keep up but Liverpool will need more than that.

Arsenal against Tottenham was also lacklustre in the first half with Spurs content to defend in numbers and invite Arsenal to come to them. Excitement was at a premium to the point where the major talking points of the half were the injuries Arsenal suffered. The Gunners have a well documented history with injuries and that trend is already taking shape again this season.Ramsey and Arteta joined the growing injury list and look set to miss the games against Galatasaray and Chelsea. It sometimes feels like Arsenal enter into matches with two objectives, to win and to avoid injuries. The addition of the former German National Team fitness coach Shad Forsythe doesn't seem to have helped matters. Maybe the only consolation is atleast no defenders were injured. Ozil failed to follow up his good showing against Villa and i still think Arsenal need a classic no.9 forward. Sanchez has got to start the next match.Welbeck was his usual hard work but i'm sure majority of the Arsenal fans would prefer a lazy forward 'a la Berbatov or Nistelrooy whose only contribution would be to score goals. It's like having a 4 wheel vehicle that is so fast on a flat road but struggles on rough terrain. Welbeck ought to thank Oxlade Chamberlain for saving him embarrasement after his miscued shot was fired home by the English-man.  That was after Spurs had taken a shock lead courtesy of a Flamini error. Like i have mentioned before, Arsenal need to convert dominance in games into 3 points.Spurs were very poor offensively and were there for the taking.  Kaboul produced a man of the match performance and thwarted Arsenal on several occasions. And when the Gunners got past Kaboul, Lloris was on hand to produce brilliant saves. The Frenchman made at least two top class saves. On a positive side for Arsenal, Chambers filled in well at right back, and the back four generally looked composed. Next up for Arsenal is Chelsea and that will be massive.

Manchester United got back to winning ways with a hard fought narrow win over West Ham. As they did against Leicester, United raced into a 2-goal lead only to concede and put themselves under pressure. It is testament to United struggles that a seemingly straight forward home match against West Ham can cause so much tension that every United fan was left praying for the final whistle to go. Rooney got himself foolishly sent off and United had to withstand wave after wave of West Ham attack. With better finishing and luck West Ham could easily have nicked a point. As I have said before, De Gea needs to get out of his comfort zone and start producing for United. He was at fault for the West Ham goal and it almost proved a costly error. On a positive note for United, Mcnair making his debut at center half did well and Rafael produced a man of the match performance. Overall it was an important win for United but still a lot needs to be done especially defensively with matches against the big boys looming. Rooney's 3 match suspension offers LVG the chance to experiment in midfield.

Chelsea were once again impressive in their 3-0 demolition of Villa and you begin to wonder who will stop them. The team looks so balanced and almost all the Chelsea players are showing good form. Willian was outstanding and the link up play between Fabregas, Willian, Hazard and Costa was simply brilliant.

Manchester City came out good in a 6 goal thriller as Hull threatened to cause an upset. City needed to keep in touch with Chelsea. When fit Aguero can be some player. City look the most likely challengers to Chelsea at the moment.

Team of the week

Lloris, Ivanovich, Kaboul, Jagielka, Rose, Chamberlain, Sterling, Dorrans, Wilian, Dzeko, Pelle

Player of the week

Younes Kaboul

Have a sporty week ;)

Mark Macheda