It was a crazy weekend in the Premier League, with 35 goals scored in the nine matches played. This figure owed a lot to 6-0 victories for Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle. In the 18 complete seasons of Premier League football, a 6-0 scoreline had been recorded only 17 times. This weekend we got it three times in 24 hours.

Thomas Vermaelen has become a fan favourite at the Emirates after just one season at Arsenal. As well as the aerial dominance and tackling skills you would expect from a centre-back, Vermaelen has impressed going forward. He started last season with four goals in his first five games and often charged forward to join attacks in open play. His confidence on the ball can be demonstrated by his passing statistics in Arsenal's first two games of this season, against Liverpool and Blackpool. He has attempted 69 passes, and is yet to give the ball away.

Bolton Wanderers had a clear strategy at Upton Park this weekend – to work the ball down their left-hand side, hoping to involve new signing Martin Petrov in as much play as possible. Some 43% of the passes they attempted were on the left flank, compared to just 16% down the right.

Despite this, the only successful cross they played into the box came from the right, and it resulted in a goal, as Johan Elmander converted Lee Chung-yong's centre.

It has been suggested that Tim Cahill's only real quality is his goalscoring ability and, for a midfielder, he does little else if not finding the target. He proved his doubters wrong on Saturday, creating five chances from open play, the most of any player in the Premier League this weekend. He showed his combative nature by winning nine of the 11 challenges his contested in the game against Wolves, including four in the opposition penalty area. One of these, in the 43rd minute, saw him nick the ball away from a defender after a Mikel Arteta free-kick, before turning and firing into the top of the net to give Everton the lead.

By his own admission, Theo Walcott doesn't score enough goals. But he does seem to have a 'trademark' type of strike, from an inside-right position, low across the goalkeeper into the far corner – think of two of his goals against Croatia, his goal against Barcelona at the Emirates in March, or his first of last season at home to Blackburn.

His hat-trick on Saturday consisted of three of these goals – all hit from a familiar position, all ending up in a similar part of the net.

Michael Cox is editor of zonalmarking.net. You can also follow zonalmarking on Twitter