Adebayor and Defoe connect

He may have artificially inflated the figure by scoring a rebound from his own penalty, but Emmanuel Adebayor's nine shots on target against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday was the most by any player in a single game for five seasons. The game turned into something of a personal battle between Adebayor and the West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster – Adebayor's nine attempts were from 11 shots on target overall from Spurs.

Adebayor's partnership with Jermain Defoe is excellent. As mentioned earlier in the season, the two combine well to keep Tottenham's moves flowing, and this was a particularly good example of how Adebayor was able to focus his energies in the penalty box, while allowing Defoe to drop deep and become involved in the buildup.

Only two crosses into the six-yard box failed to find a team-mate – the rest of Defoe's 20 passes were successful. His work between the lines was particularly important for Tottenham – with Rafael van der Vaart out injured and the absent Luka Modric replaced by the much more defensive-minded Sandro, Spurs needed a link man. Defoe played that role excellently and scored with a fine long-range strike, while Adebayor provided the finishing touches in the box.

Morison passes muster

Playing up front is not all about impressive passing chalkboards, though, as Norwich's Steve Morison showed. The Welshman has the unwanted distinction of the lowest pass completion rate for any outfield player in the Premier League, at 52.2%. Kevin Davies (55.5%) and Peter Crouch (56.6%) are his nearest challengers.

Yet Morison had an excellent game in the win over QPR. He beat Anton Ferdinand to a long ball to create a chance for himself on nine minutes, was the target for the corner eventually turned in by Russell Martin, sidefooted a shot narrowly over the crossbar from the edge of the area, and bundled his way past three defenders to create a headed chance for Grant Holt shortly before his goal. He did his job brilliantly – few were complaining about his terrible pass completion rate of 31%.

Lucas keeps Silva under wraps

The Premier League needs a new unsung hero and no one can fail to notice the impact Lucas Leiva has on games, and big games in particular. In a remarkable performance against Manchester City the Brazilian completed all 11 of his attempted tackles, while also making six interceptions. In total, he won the ball every 5.3 minutes.

His role was particularly impressive because he was up against David Silva, the most outstanding creative player in the Premier League so far, with seven assists from his 11 starts. The Spaniard's influence was diminished despite being given a more central role than usual, and he only created one chance from open play, for Sergio Agüero just before half-time.

Etherington's wings clipped

Matthew Etherington had an interesting game against Blackburn on Saturday. Although he constantly looked a threat down the left, he gave the ball away an incredible number of times when trying to dribble past opponents – from 11 attempts to take on a defender, 10 were unsuccessful.

The curious aspect of this performance is that, despite being regarded as a tricky winger, Etherington does not tend to try to beat opponents. In Stoke's previous game against QPR, for example, he only took on an opponent twice.

Sturridge sidelined – but still a threat

Daniel Sturridge has scored for Chelsea in successive home games, following up last weekend's equaliser against Liverpool with the second in the routine 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The goals were extremely similar. On both occasions, Sturridge came inside from his right-wing position to finish from within the six-yard box, converting a cross from Chelsea's left-winger – Florent Malouda provided the assist last weekend, and on Saturday it was Juan Mata.

Sturridge has repeatedly voiced his preference for the role of central striker, but with Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres battling for one position, plus Romelu Lukaku a ready-made Drogba replacement, it seems Sturridge will have to get used to playing on the right. If we are to see him stake his claim as a goal-poacher, we can expect plenty more goals like these.

Michael Cox is editor of zonalmarking.net