The EPL Weekend-Round 26

The weekend served up it usual dose of surprise and unexpected results.

Chelsea felt robbed as a controversial sending off was quickly  followed by a Burnley equalizer. The Blues lead is now down to 5 points and this was a huge opportunity missed to preserve their advantage at the top.
Juan Cuadrado has offered Mourinho a different dimension to the Blues forward play. He seems to have fit perfectly into English football and the Blues set up. He played well on the flanks and although he faces a battle to oust Willian fromthe starting 11, he grabbed his opportunity well. Chelsea should have been home and dry before the Matic incident and they paid for their profligacy infont of goal. Costa hasn't been as sharp in the last 2 matches and he missed a couple of chances early on.
Mourinho will feel the officials conspired against his team but they should have put Burnley to the sword early on. What the blues now need to do is forget this result and focus on their next match. They are still in a good position and strong favorites to claim the title in May.

Manchester City ensured they took advantage of Chelsea's slip by thrashing a disappointing Newcastle side.
The return of Yaya Toure brought stability to the City midfield and it was evident why they struggle when he is not playing. in deed City won only one of five games that Toure missed. Aguero looks to be back to his best and with Bony making his debut, City look prepared to run Chelsea down the home stretch. Dzeko also had a solid game upfront for City. On the evidence of this performance, Chelsea still have a long way before they can ease their feet of the gas.

Arsenal ground out a hard fought win against Palace in a tough London derby. With a lot of their key players now back from injury, Arsenal are looking good for a top 4 finish. A good number of their players look to be hitting top form at the right time. Ozil looks a different player since his return from injury, Giroud looks sharper than he has been this season and the defence looks to have gotten past their rough patch.
The Gunners are upto 3rd in the table and it's hard seeing them fail to make top 4.

Manchester United's luck finally ran out as a string of recent poor performances finally resulted in a defeat. United have had a succession of below par performances.Van Gaal has been very underwhelming. The optimism and hope that greated his appointment has been replaced by grumbles and despair as a star studded team continues to struggle against lesser opposition. United now face a real battle to finish in the top four with Southampton, Tottenham and Liverpool breathing down their neck. The ease with which teams play against United is worrying. This was a poor Saints side,coming off a run of bad results and missing Wilfred Bony. But they still beat United to ensure they complete a first ever double over the Red Devils. Whatever disease Van Persie has, it seems to be spreading to the rest of the team. For a while now, Mata, RVP, Falcao, Di Maria, Rooney have been very poor. In fact the only United player who seemed interested was Herrera. It is a wonder Van Gaal rarely plays him.

Liverpool were brilliant against the Saints. Brendan Rogers has done a very good job to turn Liverpool's fortune around after a difficult start to the season. The return of Sturridge has further strengthened the squad a brought forth new belief. Liverpool are right in the battle for top four, and with Spurs, United and Saints dropping points around them, this was a fruitful weekend for Liverpool.

Team of the week,
Lloris, Ivanovic,Skrtel, Mertecsacker,Coleman, Cambiasso, Nasri,Silva,Hazard,Aguero, Dzeko

Player of the week
David Silva

The EPL Weekend-Round 16

The EPL served up its usual dose of excitement following mid-week action of European football.

Manchester City continued their recent good form with a hard fought 1 nil win over relegation threatened Leicester. City once again ground out a result against a potentially tricky fixture. City are becoming masters of doing that lately. The win came at a cost though with City losing captain Kompany and Dzeko to injuries and the duo look set to miss out on the crucial holiday fixtures. City are now in the middle of an injury crisis and are set to face a real challenge with the busy run of fixtures coming up. With Aguero, Jovetic and now Dzeko out injured, 18year old Pozo is their only recognised striker. The 3 points were priceless in their pursuit of Chelsea. Lampard was once again the hero for City with his 175th goal in the premier league. I was sceptical when City signed Lampard but i have been really impressed by him. His professionalism and hunger even in the twilight of his career is an example to the younger players. 6 goals already from midfield and you start to understand why Pellegrini is keen on extending his loan spell. The real star of the show however was Nasri. The Frenchman seems to have rediscovered his form and has been in a rich vein of form. My man of the match against Roma in midweek, Nasri once again provided the creative spark for City in the absence of David Silva. He has been controlling play very well of late and was the creator for Lampard's goal. All in all, City got the job done in the end and will now head into the festive fixtures hoping to keep in touch with the league leaders.

Chelsea got past Hull in a match that will be remembered for the Blue's diving antics. Costa, Willian and Cahill all tried to fool the referee withblatant dives, the latter lucky to escape a second yellow card. A Tom Huddlestone red card and a Diego Costa goal were enough to make things comfortable for the Blues in the second half and help erase the memories of the previous weekend's loss to Newcastle. Chelsea were not at their fluid best but they still got the three points that mattered.

Arsenal returned to winning ways with a deserved 4-1 thumping of Newcastle. The Gunners were totally dominant and the performance was so good it made those agitating for Wenger's sacking eat their words. In what was a potentially difficult game on paper given the Magpies wonderful run of results, Arsenal came out on top and deservedly so. Giroud was deadly infront with a brace. He missed 3 months of the season but is only a goal behind Welbeck. Birthday boy Cazorla looks to be back to his best and i think Arsenal are a better side when he is playing. Arsenal's defence which has come under a lot of criticism especially following the defeat to Stoke played with better organization. Bellerin filled in at right back and gave a promising display providing good attacking threat down the right side. Oxlade Chamberlain also gave an assured display that reignited the Gunners charge back into the top four.

Manchester United v Liverpool was the highlight of the weekend. United ran out comfortable winners in the end as a lethargic Liverpool side continued their wretched run of poor form. Van Gaal once again went for a back 3 with Valencia and Young as wing backs. De Gea was in excellent form thwarting Liverpool and Sterling so many times, one lost count along the way. Carrick deserves special mention as he marshaled the defence well. There is a lot of talk about United winning without playing well but that might actually be a good thing. Six wins on the trot without playing well makes you wonder what would happen of they actually started playing well. With the injuries easing, United have every reason to feel confident heading into the festive period.


Team of the week
De Gea, Bellerin, Debuchy, Mangala, Clichy, Lampard, Cazorla, Rooney, Mata, Giroud, Hazard

Player of the week
De Gea

The EPL Weekend-Round 15

Another exciting weekend of EPL action.

Chelsea finally got beaten as their 23 match unbeaten run was brought to a sudden halt by hard working Newcastle. It is evidence to the unpredictable nature of the league this season. The Magpies started the season in terrible fashion with Pardew almost losing his job amid pressure from the fans, a run of five successive wins turned the tide and not many would have predicted them to end Chelsea's long unbeaten run.
The Blues were missing suspended Nemanja Matic in midfield but the rest of the team was the usual Mourinho first 11.
Chelsea did not work the Newcastle keeper a whole lot. Newcastle's game plan of hurrying Chelsea and hitting them on the counter worked perfectly. In Cisse, Newcastle have a striker on top of his game and he took his chances well after he came on as a second half sub. Mourinho was left mourning about Newcastle's tactics but in truth the Magpies were thoroughly deserving of the win. It will be important to see how Chelsea respond to this set back. A few days ago they were looking like near certainties to win the league, now they are only 3 points ahead of Manchetser City. All of a sudden the title race is back on and Chelsea will face a real battle to stay ahead of the pack.

Manchester City ensured they took advantage of Chelsea's earlier slip up by scrapping a win against Everton courtesy of a dubious penalty. City had Hart to thank for a late save to deny Lukaku. The win came at a cost though as their talisman Aguero looks set for a spell on the sidelines. The Argentine has been by a distance City's standout performer this season and it will be a big challenge for City, especially during the busy holiday period, to cope without him. City did what they had to do and the gap to Chelsea is now just three points. As long as they keep within touching distance, City will be confident of retaining their title. The interesting bit is City's recent run of good form has been achieved without their creative magician David Silva and Kompany has been struggling with injuries. The two alongside Hart, Toure and Aguero form the spine of the team. The feeling is that City are yet to really hit top form and when they do, the rest of the premiership will be left struggling to catch up.

Arsenal put in a woeful performance at Stoke. Traditionally the Potters away is always a tough fixture for Arsenal but the manner of their collapse was baffling. 3-0 down at half time and lucky not to go 4 nil down in the second half. The Gunners did manage to salvage some degree of respect to the scoreline but this was a disappointing performance. The biggest disappointment however will be that having been 3 nil down Arsenal came back to within a goal of levelling the scores with over 20 minutes still to play, yet they couldn't find that all important goal. Arsenal's defense was all over the place and the ease with which Stoke were able to score is worrying for Arsenal. Wenger started with Mertesacker and Bellerin in defence and that gave Stoke confidence that they could bully the pair. I think it's about time Wenger started pairing Koscielny and Mertesacker. The former has just returned from injury but the urgency with which Arsenal need that pairing back together is huge. Chambers had a torrid day and got himself sent off. Arsenal need to look at this result as a one off since they were on a good run anyway. They need to dust themselves up, forget about Stoke and focus on the next game.

Manchester United made it 5 wins on the trot with a hard fought, and rather fortuitous win over Southampton. The Red Devils are on a really good run and are up to third on the table without really playing well. van Persie scored a brace and looks to have rediscovered his scoring touch with 3 goals in 2 games. United's problems still lie in defense where once again they looked very vulnerable. Van Gaal resorted to a 3 man central defense system. I can understand his thinking since the two wing backs are really not defenders and needed support against a tough side away from home. The problem in defense was not the system but rather the personnel. Mcnair was looking like a disaster in the waiting and Smalling's injury made matters worse. Evans who came on as a sub is hardly a figure of reassurance in such a system and Carrick is not a defender. So under the circumstances, this was a massive win. United next face Liverpool and they will be hoping to have a few defenders back. In the meantime, they can bask in the glory of rising to third in the standings.

Liverpool were booed off by their own fans after playing out a dull goalless draw with Crystal Palace. In truth Palace should have won and left Anfield disappointed. They totally dominated and a combination of wayward finishing and the Reds keeper kept the scoreline goalless. Liverpool lacked bite and quality and it is sad to see how low they have fallen this season. It's hard to pin point exactly where the problem is. Brendan Rodgers is under real pressure and you get the feeling should they go out of the the Champion's League, the fans will apply even more pressure. What Liverpool need to do is start winning games by whichever means. And what a time it would be to start that winning run. Their next match is against Manchester United.

Team of the week,
Green, Jenkinson, Collocini, OShea, Clichy, Colback, Bojan, Sissoko,  Bolasie, Cisse, Caroll

Player of the Week,
Collocini

The EPL Weekend-Round 12

The EPL returned from a two week international break with lots of talking points.

The weekends big match was without a doubt Manchester United trip to Arsenal. Both teams were looking to build some momentum having had largely disappointing seasons. Arsenal had a poor record against United lately having only defeated United once in the last 14 games. The Gunners started the game so well and engineered wave after wave of forays into the United goal area but without making it count. In the first 25 minutes Arsenal had at least 3 good opportunities to score but the wasted their chances. United struggled to impose themselves and the inexperienced defense was looking very uneasy. Van Gaal had opted to start with 3 central defenders with Shaw and Valencia as wing backs. Blackett looked the most nervous and erratic of the 3 center halves.He had a torrid time against Chamberlain who i thought played really well and has been my best player for Arsenal recently. Arsenal however did not make United pay and after the break, United slowly grew into the game.  The first goal was always going to be key and a lot of luck and fortune swung United's way when Gibbs first knocked of Schezny before inadvertently poking the ball into his own net. That provided the games turning point since after that United were able to sit back and hit Arsenal on the counter. Welbeck had a poor game against his former employers and for me he is yet to really convince me that he was a good signing for Arsenal. If he hadn't been around, Giroud would probably have been thrust straight into action and i doubt he would have missed the couple of headers Welbeck missed in the first half. Wilshere got injured and looks set for a spell on the sidelines but crucially for Arsenal, Koscielny and Giroud are back. For United, another injury to Shaw added to their injury woes but they now need to put together a run of wins to solidify their grip on top four.

Chelsea as usual produced a disciplined performance against West Brom, it ended 2 nil but it could easily have been 7-0 had it not been for Ben Foster and some wayward finishing by Chelsea. The Blues are surely on their way to winning the title. They have the most discipline defensively and no other team understands how to defend as a unit more than Chelsea. Even Hazard who last season was criticized by Mourinho for not tracking back has been doing his own share of defensive duties. In Matic they have the leagues best defensive midfielder and with Fabregas and Costa having shaken off injuries, Chelsea only look set to stretch their lead at the top.

Liverpool once again lost, this time against Palace. The Reds are tinkering on having a crisis and Rodgers is now facing questions about the security of his job.
The Reds defense particularly appears too vulnerable whenever the opposition are attacking. Lovren in particular has been having a nightmare of a season and maybe it's time Rodgers tried out the experienced Kolo Toure. Lambert did get his first goal for the club and with Balotelli sidelined he now needs to start showing he is capabhle of leading the line.

Manchester City got back to winning ways in a tricky fixture against high flying Swansea. City had to rely on the power of Yaya Toure to see them through as they kept alive their feint hopes of catching up with leaders Chelsea. City are not the real deal so far but they will feel that as long as they don't let Chelsea get too far ahead of them, they will still have a chance. Their next match against the Saints is absolutely crucial. City are certainly not at their best at the moment but as long as they keep grinding out results, anything is possible.

Team of the week
de gea, kelly, smalling, dummet, robertson, toure, sissoko, jedinak, hazard, rooney, ings
Player of the week
danny ings

The EPL Weekend-Round 11

Another weekend of English Premiership Football bonanza.
Manchester United managed to scrape a win over Palace at Old Trafford.  If the victory was labored, the relief was almost palpable as United got their first win in four games. It is a measure of how much The Red devils have fallen that a one-nil home win over Palace would be celebrated in the manner in which it was. But then again this season has seen reduction in the gap between the 'top' teams and the supposedly 'weak' teams. Anybody can beat anybody as Arsenal, Man City and Spurs found out. United once again had a patched up central defense pairing following injuries/suspensions to Jones,Smalling, Rafael and Rojo. 
Rooney's return relegated Mata to the bench. United defensive problems have been well highlighted this season but lately i think the attack has been more of a problem. United have only conceded 2 goals in their last 3 games- 2 of those games against Man City and Chelsea. During this period, United have only scored twice. This is meagre returns for an attack force boasting the likes of Rooney,Mata,Van Persie,Di Maria, Januzaj. It is worth noting that this has coincided with Di Maria's dip in form. Prior to this period, he was the focal point of most of United's attacking play. Falcao's persistent injuries have robbed Van Gaal of options upfront and you get the feeling when he is fit, he will get plenty of time to prove he is worth his salt. Nobody doubts his abilities but the injuries will deny United the prospect of reaping maximum from his loan spell.
Januzaj's progress has been very slow and for me he shouldn’t be starting games. I would be very surprised if he started the next match against Arsenal especially if Rafael and Valencia are both fit.

At Arsenal, the perennial 'Wenger out' sentiments have started. Swansea were the latest team to expose Arsenal's defensive frailties. The Gunners are really missing Koscielny because i think without him Mertesacker is just not the same player. Monreal has been filling in at central defense and he clearly doesn't relish playing in that position. If only Jenkinson was still around as cover in the right back position then Chambers would deputise for Koscielny as he is a natural center back. As it is Arsenal have to do with Monreal. Welbeck did score a hat trick recently but he has now gone 5 matches without a goal in the EPL. Welbeck will always elicit mixed feelings because he can be exciting and disappointing at the same time. He missed a good chance against Swansea but then did very well to provide an assist for Sanchez. Alexis Sanchez is Arsenal's best player this season by a mile.The amount of goals and assists he has contributed would make every Arsenal fan cringe at the thought of him being injured. Arsenal next play Man United and that is a big game. The Gunners will be hoping they have a few of their players back from injury.

Liverpool's bad season shows no sign of improving. The Reds lost for he 5th time this season against Chelsea and you wonder where Brendan Rogers goes from here. Liverpool's problems lie in the quality of players they have. I think they are simply not good enough and those that performed last season like Henderson were performing beyond their abilities. A lot of the Liverpool players over-performed last season. Sterling at times looked like an equal to Messi and Ronaldo. There was even talk of Real Madrid being interested. This season has brought them back to the level where they actually are. Against Chelsea it was not that the players were not giving their best, they were but their best was simply not good enough. To add insult to injury, the players recruited in the summer are average at best.Their leaky defence has not helped matters and it's about time Rodgers considered dropping the suspect Lovren for Kolo Toure. Lucky for Liverpool, and United, Arsenal and City, top four is still a realistic target with only Chelsea and Saints looking consistent so far.

Manchester City have been going through a torrid run of form and this weekend was no exception. QPR exposed City's defence time and time again. In the end City were lucky to get away with a draw. With the gap between them and Chelsea growing to 8 points, Pellegrini is now under real pressure. This is despite Sergio Aguero's amazing run of form. You wonder where City would be without the Argentine's contribution this season. City have not progressed from last season and it would take a remarkable turn of events for them to catch up with Chelsea. Mangala has not impressed since his expensive acquisition and his cohort Demichelis did not fare any better. City have also been guilty of squandering a lot of chances in front of goal. They are not as clinical as they ought to be.With Silva still out injured, Dzeko joining him, Jovetic unable to show consistency, Toure and Nasri still searching for form, the gap between City and Chelsea will surely increase.

Chelsea continued their good run of form with a deserved victory over Liverpool. Quality-wise i don't think Chelsea are that way ahead of their rivals. Man for man, City and United are arguably better especially from midfield moving forward. The difference is in the confidence, organization and discipline. And that is why Mourinho is a good coach.Unlike Van Gaal, Wenger, Rodgers and Pellegrini, he has been able to have a consistent first 11. When Chelsea plays, you always know it's going to be Terry, Ivanovich, Cahill and Azpilicueta at the back, Matic, Fabregas, Oscar, Hazard, Wilian/Ramires and Costa upfront. With Arsenal, City, United and Liverpool, you are never sure who is going to start. Of course  Chelsea have been lucky to some extent with injuries but playing with the same people around you creates an understanding. Football is a game of surprises but it is hard to imagine Chelsea not winning the title this season with the kind of form and consistency they have shown.

Team of the week
Guzan, Janmaat, Collocini, Collins, Azpilicueta, Matic, Wanyama, Montero, Sigurdson, Aguero, Long

Player of the week
Sigurdson

Have a sporty week ;)

The EPL Weekend-Round 10

Arsenal easily so off the challenge of a Burnley side still struggling to get to grips with playing in the Top league in England. For about 70minutes it seemed like Burnley might hold on for a precious point but with Arsenal throwing everything at them, something had to give in the end. In Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal have a very intelligent player capable of making something out of nothing. He has so far proven his worth and it begins to seem like Arsenal might actually have got him on the cheap. Tougher tests await Arsenal but this was a good routine win, 6 points out of the last 2 games and suddenly Arsenal are looking good in the table. With their injury worries also easing, these are good times for the Gunners. Maintaining this momentum will be key.

Liverpool's problems continue to mount as the season progresses. Much of the recent talk has been aimed at Balotelli but truth be told the entire Liverpool team is under-performing. Newcastle were the latest side to inflict further agony on Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers must be feeling the pressure. And their next two matches are against Real Madrid and Chelsea . Rodgers will no doubt take some of the responsibility but the players need to look at themselves and question their commitment to the course. Even players like Sterling who started the season so well seem to have caught the infection and are now barely recognizable from the team that dominated the league just a few months ago. Going out of the Champion's League might actually do Liverpool some good. They need to start focusing on putting a serious, sustained assault on top four.

The Manchester Derby was the weekend highlight and as much as the predicted goal feast did not materialize, we were treated to an intriguing encounter. United are worse off in terms of points than they were at this stage last season. Yet the fans reaction to the managers is so different. A lot of United fans were already calling for David Moyes' head yet Louis Van Gaal despite statistically trailing Moyes seems to be enjoying majority if not the entire fan support. The reason is most fans believe the team is moving in the right direction. Yes 13 points from the first 10 games is a terrible return especially for a team of United's stature but a lot of fans believe this United side is better than last season's. United's performances against the big boys Chelsea and Man City have brought a lot of hope especially when viewed in relation to the thrashings in the corresponding fixtures last season. However the love relationship between the fans and Van Gaal would be severely  damaged if United fail to collect maximum points against Crystal Palace in their next fixture. United are experiencing an injury crisis with close to 8 first team players out. Di Maria has had two below par performances against Chelsea and Man City and  United will be hoping he quickly returns to his best.
For City, this was a crucial win especially with Chelsea edging out QPR earlier. The gap would have been too big even for City. City were better organised in defence with Demichelis replacing Mangala alongside Kompany. Pellegrini needs to play Demichelis more as Kompany's partner rather than the expensive Mangala.

Chelsea were once again efficient if not impressive. The Blues were actually pushed all the way by Rangers and were lucky in the end to come away with all three points.
But the thing with Chelsea this season is that even if they play badly they still seem to come away with the points. It takes a very brave man to bet against them winning the EPL this season.

Team of the week
Hart, Chambers, Collocini, Kompany, Clichy, Wanyama, Oscar, Toure, Downing, Sanchez, Aguero

Player of the week
Sanchez

Have a sporty week ;)

The EPL Weekend-Round 8

After a 2 week break, the EPL returned to offer a bucket load of excitement. We had controversial goals, dubious penalties,sending offs, crazy own goals, spectacular strikes, last minute action and plenty of talking points.

Chelsea went into their match against Palace looking to solidify their grip on top of the table. The blues were without Costa due to injury and Mourinho brought in Remy in his place. When Oscar opened the scoring early on with a delightful free-kick, it looked like Chelsea would have an easy day.But Palace responded well with resolute defending coupled with quick counter attacks. And when Azpilicueta was shown a straight red for dangerous play, Palace had the opportunity to capitalise. The one man advantage was however quickly wiped out when Palace themselves were reduced to ten men shortly after. The second Chelsea goal did eventually arrive and when it did, it was a beauty. Palace scored a late consolation but the scoreline flattered them. This was a comfortable win for Chelsea. The blues still look unbeatable and  it remains to be seen who will put a halt to their seemingly unstoppable march towards the title. Next up is Manchester United. Chelsea enter into a phase where they are likely to be without their main striker Costa and it will be interesting to see how they cope.

Manchester United had a tricky away trip at the Hawthorns. While coming back from behind twice to earn a draw showed some bit of character, these are the sort of games you would expect United to win. United's defence showed the now all too familiar signs of fragility. Berahino's goal in particular highlighted that particular problem.

Jones was caught out and Rafael was left chasing shadows. The most disappointing thing for United was that this was after a period in which they were absolutely dominant. Before the baggies scored their second, United had produced some of the best attacking football they have played this season but without a goal to show for the efforts.

Blind's late leveller saved United from another away defeat but this was more a case of two dropped points than one gained. United enter into a phase where they will be facing Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal in their next few matches. If they are to get anything from these games a lot has to improve. The defence has to be a lot tighter and solid than it currently is. United arguably started their strongest back four of Rafael, Rojo, Jones and Shaw against West Brom. Taking into account the available options, this was their strongest back four and i would continue to play them. With time they will get used to each other. Shaw looks way below his best form and he needs to improve fast. In midfield,i am in the minority that does not rate Januzaj that high. I actually think he is over-rated. He is a delightful prospect who will be a star in the future but i think he dwells on the ball too much, doesn't do much defensively and is at times selfish. He reminds me of a younger Ronaldo but slower, lighter and a bit lazy. For me Valencia will always be first choice in the right flank.He offers more defensively, works hard, and keeps the opposing full back occupied.

Arsenal were once again their usual self, a lot of play, majority of possession, enough chances but not enough sharpness and incisiveness. Arsene Wenger was forced to put together a patched up defence due to injuries. Monreal was a center half and teenager Bellerin started at right back in the absence of Koscielny and Chambers. As if to complete the script, Arsenal picked up another injury when Wilshere was taken off injured. Arsenal need to get back at least two or three of their injured defenders back to stop the bad run they have had. Alexis Sanchez was a bright spot for Arsenal and you just think he has to be starting for Arsenal regularly. He scored a brilliant goal and did superbly to st up Welbeck's injury time equalizer. He looks well worth the amount Arsenal spent on him. Flamini for me doesn't command the midfield the way he used to. On more than one occasion this season, opposing attackers have gotten past him a bit too easily.

Liverpool were extremely lucky to get all three points against QPR. Balotelli divides opinions but for me he is not the reason Liverpool are struggling. The players are simply not performing. Lovren and Lallana continue to prove that Southampton transfer business was shrewd.

Sturridge's latest injury set back is a big blow to Liverpool. Balotelli still hasn't fit into Liverpool's system and style. Individually he can be good but Rogers needs to fit him into the system. I would play 2 strikers, Balotelli and either Borini or Lambert with Balotelli playing in a withdrawn position behind the main striker. He doesn't seem to thrive in the lone striker role for Liverpool.

Manchester City were impressive in their 4-1 thrashing of Tottenham. Aguero finally seems to have gotten past his past injury struggles. He is some player when fully fit and he seems to be enjoying himself scoring goals at will. City look the most likely challengers to Chelsea and on this performance, it is easy to see why.

Team of the Week:

Hart, Coleman, Jagielka, Dawson, Baines, Fabregas, Diame, Tadic, A.Sanchez,  Aguero, Pelle

Player of the Week:

Sergio Aguero