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Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week

Sports Mole picks out the 11 Premier League players that made the biggest impression on us this weekend.

Arsene Wenger took his Arsenal side to Stamford Bridge this weekend looking to secure his first ever victory over Jose Mourinho.

However, it was not a case of 12th time lucky for the Gunners boss as Chelsea ran out 2-0 winners in West London, which opened up a five-point advantage at the top of the table for Mourinho's men.

Champions Manchester City, who currently sit second, won 2-0 away at Aston Villa, while Manchester United made it back to back victories in the Premier League for the first time under Louis van Gaal's management by overcoming Everton 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Elsewhere, Liverpool returned to winning ways at the expense of West Bromwich Albion and there was a first triumph of the season for Sunderland over Stoke City.

There was also wins for Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Hull City, but there was draws at the King Power Stadium and Liberty Stadium.

Here, Sports Mole has looked back on all 10 encounters to pick out the 11 players that made the biggest impact on proceedings.

David de Gea (Manchester United)
The Spaniard not only became the first Premier League goalkeeper to save a penalty from Leighton Baines, he also made two stops of high quality in the closing stages to ensure that United held out for all three points.

Rafael da Silva (Manchester United)
Rafael was heavily criticised last month following his performance at Leicester City, but he showed his best form against Everton with a strong performance, both defensively and offensively.
John Terry (Chelsea)
Danny Welbeck may well have arrived at Stamford Bridge full of confidence following his Champions League hat-trick, but the Arsenal frontman was barely afforded a kick by Chelsea skipper Terry.
Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur)
Playing at the heart of the Spurs defence, Vertonghen read the game extremely well as his side kept their first Premier League clean sheet since August.
Andrew Robertson (Hull City)
The young Scot kept Crystal Palace's lively winger Jason Puncheon quiet and later crossed for Mohamed Diame to head in the game's opening goal at the KC Stadium.

Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa have hogged the Chelsea headlines this term, but Hazard well and truly joined the party against Arsenal. His jinking run earned a penalty, while he was the source of a constant headache for the visiting rearguard.
Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
The England international showed at Anfield that midfielders do not just have to be either defensive of attack-minded - you can be both. He assisted Liverpool's opening goal and then scored the second, as well as making numerous tackles and clearances.
Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City)
It may not have happened for him at Spurs, but Sigurdsson has shown a real creative side with Swansea. He set up both of the Welsh side's goals against Newcastle United, taking his tally of assists for the season to six.
David Silva (Manchester City)
Pint-sized Silva has the knack of finding space in the tightest of situations. He was a real menace for the Villa defence, who couldn't contend with his movement and creativity.

Steven Fletcher (Sunderland)
Goals had been hard to come by for the Scottish centre-forward, but he rediscovered his clinical touch against Stoke by scoring twice - one of which was a powerful header.
Papiss Cisse (Newcastle United)
Cisse seems to have taken upon himself to keep his manager Alan Pardew in the job. He recently bagged a brace against Hull and added another to earn a point at Swansea.

Numpty of the week

Arsene Wenger: The Arsenal manager will never admit it, but Jose Mourinho, just as he intended, has got under his skin. It all came to a head at the Bridge when Wenger marched down the touchline to demand that referee Martin Atkinson send off Chelsea defender Gary Cahill for a challenge on Alexis Sanchez. His route was blocked by Mourinho, but rather than return to his technical area, Wenger pushed his Chelsea counterpart. It was a bit embarrassing for the Frenchman, who lost yet another big match.

Goal of the week:

Adam Lallana - (Liverpool) vs. West Bromwich Albion: After the standard of last weekend's goals, the latest batch was always going to feel a little anticlimactic. Yet, to be fair to Lallana, he can be proud of his first goal in Liverpool colours. He showed quick feet before picking out Henderson, who returned the ball to sender. From there, Lallana moved into the West Brom area and then showed great composure to beat Ben Foster with a low shot.

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Eden Hazard of Chelsea scores the opening goal from the penalty spot during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on October 4, 2014
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
2Arsenal32225575264971
3Liverpool32218372314171
4Aston Villa33196868491963
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle321551269521750
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd32155124748-150
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham33139115258-648
9Chelsea31138106152947
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves32127134651-543
12Fulham33126154951-242
13Bournemouth32119124757-1042
14Crystal Palace3289153754-1733
15Brentford3388174758-1132
16Everton3298153248-1627
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3379174258-1626
18Luton TownLuton3367204670-2425
19Burnley3348213368-3520
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3237223084-5416


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