Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week

Another round of Premier League matches have been completed and for the second weekend in succession Jose Mourinho's Chelsea were the big victors.

Arsenal's 5-1 defeat away at Liverpool and Manchester City's 0-0 draw with Norwich City presented the Blues with the chance of claiming top spot, and they duly obliged by defeating Newcastle United 3-0 at Stamford Bridge.

At the bottom, Fulham secured a late 2-2 draw away at Manchester United, while there was also victories for West Ham United and Swansea City against Aston Villa and Cardiff City respectively.

Also, in the battle for fourth spot, Tottenham Hotspur came out on top against Everton courtesy of a 1-0 success at White Hart Lane.

So, with that in mind, Sports Mole has picked out the 11 players who made the biggest impression on us this weekend in a 4-5-1 formation.

Maarten Stekelenburg (Fulham)
At times his work between the posts was unorthodox, but Stekelenburg made a handful of saves and cleared a number of crosses that came into his box against United. What's more, there was nothing that he could have done to have prevented either of the home side's goals.

Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)
The Serb was part of the Chelsea defence that kept another clean sheet, while he also showed his attacking capabilities by setting up the first goal for Eden Hazard.
Martin Skrtel (Liverpool)
Within the opening 10 minutes against Arsenal, the Slovakian had scored two goals to put Liverpool in command. After that, he helped keep the Gunners at bay but for a consolation penalty.
James Collins (West Ham United)
The Hammers have now kept two clean sheets on the trot, thanks in part to the influence of Welsh defender Collins. Against Villa, he kept Christian Benteke quiet for the majority of the 90 minutes.
Martin Olsson (Norwich City)
Many had expected Man City to win by a comfortable margin at Carrow Road, but Olsson and his fellow defenders denied Manuel Pellegrini's side. The Swede also got forward well on occasions.

Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
There is not much to be written about the Belgian that hasn't been scribed already. He is the Premier League's most in-form player right now and further enhanced his status by scoring three times against Newcastle.
Steve Sidwell (Fulham)
Fulham may have spent the majority of the match at United inside their own penalty area, but when they did venture forward, Sidwell was heavily involved as he scored his side's first goal and played a part in their late equaliser.
Kevin Nolan (West Ham United)
Following his brace last time out against Swansea City, West Ham skipper Nolan backed that up with two more goals as the East Londoners recorded a crucial win away at Villa.
Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
The Brazilian was at his creative best against Arsenal, laying on Liverpool's fourth goal for Daniel Sturridge in what was arguably his best performance of the season.
Raheem Sterling (Liverpool)
The Arsenal rearguard could not handle the teenager's pace as he scored a goal in either half. With a display like that, it's little wonder that Roy Hodgson is reportedly considering Sterling for England's upcoming friendly with Denmark.

Shane Long (Hull City)
The Tigers parted with a hefty £7m to land Long, but he has already started to repay that fee. He drew the foul that resulted in Sunderland defender Wes Brown being red-carded, before going on to open the scoring.

Numpty of the week

Phil Bardsley and Wes Brown: Sunderland's home clash with Hull was just three minutes old when their defensive duo made big errors. First Bardsley played a blind pass straight to visiting striker Long, who raided towards goal. His route was halted by a late challenge from Brown, which resulted in a red card for the centre-back. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but with 87 minutes left to play, Brown may have been better off letting Long get his shot away. After all, it could have been saved by Vito Mannone, but even if it hadn't been, Sunderland would have had enough time with a full complement of players to get back into the game. As it was, they lost 2-0 with 10 men.

Goal of the week

Eden Hazard (Chelsea vs. Newcastle): Each of the Belgian's three goals was easy on the eye (even the penalty), but it was his second that has earned the plaudits. Chelsea were defending a Newcastle corner and within 10 seconds and a move also involving Willian and Samuel Eto'o, Hazard calmly stroked the ball into the bottom corner of Tim Krul's net.