Welcome to this week’s player of the week, where I choose a Man of the Match for each game. You can navigate by using the page numbers at the bottom of this article or the quick navigation area where you can select a match to read about the Man of the Match for it. First up: the North London Derby!

Arsenal 5 – 2 Spurs

The derby lived up to expectations in a game fuelled by goals and controversy.

Emmanuel Adebayor stole the limelight in the first few minutes with the opening goal, before being shown a straight red card for a two-footed lunge on Santi Cazorla in the 18thmnute.

From there on it was the latter who took centre stage, as Cazorla ran the show, making the Gunners tick and chipping in with another assist and the final goal of the game.

In addition, the Spaniard attempted more final-third passes than any other player on the pitch (32) with an accuracy of 81%, only topped by his teammate Theo Walcott (for players who attempted over 15 passes in the final third).

Cazorla was also the game’s most impressive dribbler, attempting to beat his man four times, with a 100% success rate.

He is fast becoming the focal point that Cesc Fabregas once was at the Emirates, and with the likes of Podolski, Walcott and Giroud beginning to show signs of settling, Arsenal look like an attacking force once again.

Man of the Match – Santi Cazorla

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Arsenal Vs Spurs | Liverpool Vs Wigan | Man City Vs Aston Villa

Newcastle Vs Swansea | QPR Vs Southampton | Reading Vs Everton

West Brom Vs Chelsea | Norwich Vs Man Utd | Fulham Vs Sunderland | West Ham Vs Stoke

Liverpool 3 – 0 Wigan

Liverpool kept up their unbeaten run with a convincing win over Wigan at Anfield.

Luis Suarez would usually have received the MOTM award for his two expertly taken goals, but I am going to give the award to Jose Enrique for a second successive week.

The left-back has been the difference since his move to the Red’s left wing and again put in a match-winning performance by providing an assist and scoring his first ever goal for the club.

He laid on a further two clear-cut chances for his teammates and dominated the game with his linking play with Glen Johnson. Enrique also regularly drifted into more central positions, as he did for Suarez’s second goal.

The Spaniard’s positional transition could well prove to be a permanent one and Brendan Rodgers has to take full credit for a move that mirrors the one that saw Gareth Bale transformed from full-back to flying winger a few seasons ago.



Man of the Match – Jose Enrique

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Arsenal Vs Spurs | Liverpool Vs Wigan | Man City Vs Aston Villa

Newcastle Vs Swansea | QPR Vs Southampton | Reading Vs Everton

West Brom Vs Chelsea | Norwich Vs Man Utd | Fulham Vs Sunderland | West Ham Vs Stoke

Man City 5 – 0 Aston Villa

The champions brushed aside a wide-eyed Villa team at the Etihad to put a one-point gap between themselves and Manchester United at the top of the table.

The stats point to Samir Nasri as the star performer, despite him not getting in on the scoring act. Nasri created a total of eight chances for his teammates, including an assist, and achieved a pass completion of 90%, with an 86% success rate in the final third.

He was by far the game’s most creative player and attempted nine crosses throughout the game, to a completion of 56% – not a bad ratio considering the lack of a target man in the City line-up. In the end he averaged a created chance every 11.6 minutes – certainly impressive from the former Arsenal man.

Man of the Match – Samir Nasri

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Arsenal Vs Spurs | Liverpool Vs Wigan | Man City Vs Aston Villa

Newcastle Vs Swansea | QPR Vs Southampton | Reading Vs Everton

West Brom Vs Chelsea | Norwich Vs Man Utd | Fulham Vs Sunderland | West Ham Vs Stoke

Newcastle 1 – 2 Swansea

An entertaining game at St James Park ended in with a valuable win for Swansea after Newcastle failed to capitalise on the vast number of chances they created.

Hatem Ben Afra was the game’s standout performer, with his constant efforts to create and drive at the opposition. The French winger laid on eight chances for his side (two clear cut chances) and attempted a total of 12 dribbles, more than any other player in the Premier League this weekend. The winger also created a chance every 11.3 minutes – the most frequently last weekend. An excellent individual performance which wasn’t enough for Newcastle.

He also had seven shots on goal as the Toon bombarded Gerhard Tremmel’s goal to no avail.

Man of the Match – Hatem Ben Arfa

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Arsenal Vs Spurs | Liverpool Vs Wigan | Man City Vs Aston Villa

Newcastle Vs Swansea | QPR Vs Southampton | Reading Vs Everton

West Brom Vs Chelsea | Norwich Vs Man Utd | Fulham Vs Sunderland | West Ham Vs Stoke

QPR 1 – 3 Southampton

The match labelled ‘El Sackico’ ended in misery for QPR and Mark Hughes as his side failed to match the grit, willpower and ambition of the visiting team.

Jason Puncheon was in unstoppable form and was at the centre of everything the Saints created. The winger linked up well with Rickie Lambert as QPR failed to contain the pair. Puncheon attempted six crosses and had eight shots on goal as he led the visitors’ siege.

Amazingly five of his eight shots were on target giving him a shot accuracy of 63% whilst he also missed a clear-cut chance so he could have had more goals. A promising player for Southampton.

In addition to this Puncheon was also his side’s most accurate passer, with a completion rate of 91%.

Man of the Match – Jason Puncheon

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Arsenal Vs Spurs | Liverpool Vs Wigan | Man City Vs Aston Villa

Newcastle Vs Swansea | QPR Vs Southampton | Reading Vs Everton

West Brom Vs Chelsea | Norwich Vs Man Utd | Fulham Vs Sunderland | West Ham Vs Stoke

Reading 2 – 1 Everton

Reading defied the odds to beat an in-form Everton side at The Madejski stadium, lifting themselves out of the bottom three for the first time this season.

Adam Le Fondre worked tirelessly and deserved his brace as Reading got their first win of the season. Le Fondre was a constant thorn in the Everton defence’s side, attempting more shots than any other player on the pitch and ending the game with two goals.

Brian Mcdermott will be depending on his forward to continue his goals-coring form if Reading are to build on their first win of the campaign.



Man of the Match – Adam Le Fondre

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Arsenal Vs Spurs | Liverpool Vs Wigan | Man City Vs Aston Villa

Newcastle Vs Swansea | QPR Vs Southampton | Reading Vs Everton

West Brom Vs Chelsea | Norwich Vs Man Utd | Fulham Vs Sunderland | West Ham Vs Stoke

West Brom 2 – 1 Chelsea

West Brom moved up to fourth in the table with another home win, this time overturning Chelsea as Steve Clarke’s men outplayed his former team.

Chelsea rung the changes and the home side capitalised as Shane Long put in a performance that will last long in the memory, tormenting David Luiz and Gary Cahill. The Irish forward finished the game with a goal and an assist.

Man of the Match – Shane Long

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Arsenal Vs Spurs | Liverpool Vs Wigan | Man City Vs Aston Villa

Newcastle Vs Swansea | QPR Vs Southampton | Reading Vs Everton

West Brom Vs Chelsea | Norwich Vs Man Utd | Fulham Vs Sunderland | West Ham Vs Stoke

Norwich 1 – 0 Man Utd

Norwich provided the upset of the weekend with an inspired win over Manchester United at Carrow Road. The Canaries extended their unbeaten run and must thank their goalkeeper for his heroic performance.

John Ruddy gets the token ‘Keeper MOTM’ this week after keeping United at bay with a string of top quality saves. The England man made a total of seven saves in the game and was the difference between the two teams as Norwich withstood heavy pressure from the visitors.

Ruddy then made what was arguably the save of the weekend when he kept out Anderson’s last ditch effort deep into injury time to seal all three points.

Man of the Match – John Ruddy

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Arsenal Vs Spurs | Liverpool Vs Wigan | Man City Vs Aston Villa

Newcastle Vs Swansea | QPR Vs Southampton | Reading Vs Everton

West Brom Vs Chelsea | Norwich Vs Man Utd | Fulham Vs Sunderland | West Ham Vs Stoke

Fulham 1 – 3 Sunderland

On a weekend that will have seen the bookies laughing all the way to the bank, Sunderland will have spoiled a few betting slips with their impressive win at Craven Cottage.

Adam Johnson has been slow to settle on Wearside but the winger found his stride at the weekend and showed just why Martin O’Neill was so eager to snap him up in the summer. Johnson attempted nine crosses from the left wing, more than any other player on the pitch, and laid on four chances for his side in a performance that his manager will hope is a sign of things to come.

His assist (he had two overall) for Steven Fletcher’s opener was vintage wing play and if the two can strike up an understanding, and Stephane Sessegnon can find the form which made him one of the players of last campaign, Sunderland can aim for a top-half finish come May.

Man of the Match – Adam Johnson

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Arsenal Vs Spurs | Liverpool Vs Wigan | Man City Vs Aston Villa

Newcastle Vs Swansea | QPR Vs Southampton | Reading Vs Everton

West Brom Vs Chelsea | Norwich Vs Man Utd | Fulham Vs Sunderland | West Ham Vs Stoke

West Ham 1 – 1 Stoke

‘The battle of the bruisers’ was not easy watching at times as both sides stuck to their blueprint and ground out a predictable draw at Upton Park.

Much was made of Stoke’s well-rehearsed opener but the visitors did not offer much from open play, and West Ham took the game to them in the second half, getting their equaliser, and probably deserving to win the game.

I’m going to round up the weekend by giving James Tomkins recognintion for his solid performance at the heart of the Hammers’ defence.

He cleared everything that was pumped his way and allowed West Ham to push forward in the second half.

Tomkins manageed 16 clearances over the course of the game and won 10/13 aeriel duels (77%), the majority of which were up against Peter Crouch.

Man of the Match – James Tomkins

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Arsenal Vs Spurs | Liverpool Vs Wigan | Man City Vs Aston Villa

Newcastle Vs Swansea | QPR Vs Southampton | Reading Vs Everton

West Brom Vs Chelsea | Norwich Vs Man Utd | Fulham Vs Sunderland | West Ham Vs Stoke