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Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week

Sports Mole selects the 11 most impressive players from the eighth round of Premier League fixtures.

The Chelsea bandwagon continued to roll on this weekend courtesy of a 2-1 victory away at fellow Londoners Crystal Palace.

Leading the chasing pack are champions Manchester City, who recorded a 4-1 win at the expense of Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium.

Elsewhere, there was an emphatic 8-0 victory for Southampton over Sunderland, while there was also triumphs for Everton, Newcastle United and West Ham United.

Manchester United and Arsenal were held to 2-2 draws by West Bromwich Albion and Hull City respectively, but there was better news for Liverpool as they overcame Queens Park Rangers 3-2 at Loftus Road.

Here, Sports Mole has picked out the 11 players that made the biggest impression on us during the eighth round of matches.

Joe Hart (Manchester City)
The victory over Spurs was a comprehensive one for the champions, but it was only possible because of the form of Hart in goal. With the score at 2-1, he made two crucial stops from Roberto Soldado - including one from the penalty spot.

Leighton Baines (Everton)
With not too much work to do defensively, the shackles were off Baines. The left-back responded by setting up two of his team's three goals.
Steven Taylor (Newcastle United)
Called into the side for a rare start, Taylor showed no sign of rustiness as Newcastle recorded a much-needed victory and clean sheet.
Marc Wilson (Stoke City)
The Republic of Ireland defender made a host of crucial clearances and challenges as Stoke came from behind to beat Swansea at the Britannia Stadium.
Seamus Coleman (Everton)
Back to fitness and restored to the starting lineup, Coleman was at his best. He made a number of raids forward and was rewarded by scoring the third goal.

Dusan Tadic (Southampton)
The summer signing from FC Twente set up an impressive half of his side's eight goals at the St Mary's Stadium, as well as contributing a goal of his own.
Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea)
There is not a Premier League game that goes by where Fabregas does not have some sort of impact. At Selhurst Park, he scored what turned out to be the winning goal to round off a lively display.
Stewart Downing (West Ham United)
Downing's transformation into a central attacking midfielder has been one of the season's biggest success stories. The former England man created numerous openings away at Burnley.
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
Another goal for the Chilean, who caused plenty of problems to the Hull rearguard with his pace and trickery from a wide position.

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Just the four goals for Aguero, who took his tally for the season to nine. He tormented the Spurs rearguard from the first minute and would have scored five times but for a poorly taken penalty.
Bobby Zamora (Queens Park Rangers)
He may not have scored, but the veteran frontman caused plenty of problems to the Liverpool defence. His hold up play in particular was of high quality.

Numpty of the week

Santiago Vergini: In all honesty, the entire Sunderland side could have collectively shared this award. In short, they were embarrassing away at Southampton, who hit eight goals. The rout started, though, thanks to Vergini. On the edge of his own penalty area, the Sunderland defender attempted to lash the ball out for a throw, but the Argentine only succeeded in powering it into the bottom corner of the net. It set the tone for the afternoon.

Goal of the week

Stephane Sessegnon – (West Bromwich Albion) vs. Manchester United: Scoring goals against Man United this season hasn't always been the trickiest of tasks, but few have been better than the one that Sessegnon fired in at The Hawthorns. Having been picked out brilliantly by Andre Wisdom on the edge of the box, he powered an effort into the top corner, which left an in-form David de Gea helpless.

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Steven Fletcher of Sunderland celebrates scoring the second goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Sunderland and Stoke City at Stadium of Light on October 4, 2014
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Premier League Team of the Week
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal28204470244664
2Liverpool28197265263964
3Manchester CityMan City28196363283563
4Aston Villa29175760421856
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
17Luton TownLuton2957174260-1822
18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014

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