Ratings review

Given: Great performance

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There were some superb performances over the weekend as Fulham shocked Liverpool, Chelsea hammered Bolton and Arsenal cruised to victory over North London rivals Tottenham.

The dust has now settled and it is the job of Ratings Review to cast an eye over the interactive assessment of players and highlight those who proved popular with both readers and reporters.

Generosity was in short supply from our team at skysports.com, with just two players from across all the games deemed to have done enough to earn a score of 9/10.

There were not too many high marks from the readers either and perhaps it is getting to that point where the high hopes of pre-season are replaced by more realistic expectations, with patience wearing thin over those exciting summer signings who have so far failed to deliver.

Portsmouth forward Aruna Dindane certainly had not done much in his first couple of months at Fratton Park after joining on loan from Lens but he turned in a wonderful display against Wigan to inspire his side to a 4-0 success.

The Ivory Coast international scored a hat-trick and set up a goal for his strike partner Frederic Piquionne to receive 9/10 from our man at the ground and an incredible 9.2 from you.

In stark contrast to Pompey, who had seven players with an average rating of above 8.0, Wigan's worst performers felt the wrath of fans and received the lowest marks of the weekend.

Paul Scharner and Emmerson Boyce picked up 4/10 and 5/10 respectively from us but the readers were even more harsh and awarded both men 3.0.

Eye-catching

Returning to the other end of the spectrum and the second player to receive a 9/10 from skysports.com was Andy Reid, with reporter Jamie Casey impressed by a sublime display from the midfielder in Sunderland's 2-2 draw with West Ham. The readers agreed and dished out an 8.4 to the Irishman.

Another player to shine was Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given, who matched Dindane's average rating of 9.2 and picked up 8/10 from us after pulling off several important saves to keep Birmingham at bay and earn a point for his side.

Honourable mentions must also go to Wolves defender Jody Craddock (8/10 and 8.6), Dimitar Berbatov of Manchester United (8/10 and 8.7) and Burnley midfielder Graham Alexander (8/10 and 8.2), who all caught the eye.

It is not surprising that the wider the margin of victory, the greater the difference between the scores of players on the winning team and their unsuccessful counterparts, as previously highlighted with Pompey versus Wigan.

This was also evident in the clash at Emirates Stadium as Arsenal players like Cesc Fabregas (8/10 and 8.9) and Robin van Persie (8/10 and 8.8) scored well, while Tottenham's David Bentley (5/10 and 3.2) and Ledley King (5/10 and 3.6) had bad days at the office.

Didier Drogba (8/10 and 8.4) and Nicolas Anelka (8/10 and 8.1) once again linked up to devastating effect in Chelsea's 4-0 victory over Bolton, while Jlloyd Samuel contributed to his own team's downfall as he was dismissed and failed to escape the disapproval of readers (5/10 and 3.3).

Jamie Carragher received 4/10 from us and 3.3 from you after being sent off in Liverpool's 3-1 defeat to Fulham and team-mate Andriy Voronin also came in for criticism (4/10 and 3.1) following his latest outing up front.

Differences

Of course, Ratings Review is not complete without the glaring differences of opinion between reporter and reader and this week was no different.

Our man watching Bolton thought Zat Knight had played with plenty of spirit in a 10-man team and deserved 7/10, but the readers obviously saw a different game and gave him just 3.9.

Blackburn striker Nikola Kalinic was awarded 8/10 after a seemingly bright substitute appearance at Manchester United but you were less impressed and rated him at just 5.9.

The Premier League continues with West Ham's game against Aston Villa on Wednesday and you will once again have the chance to give your verdict on all the players in action.