Ratings review

Defoe: Comes out on top

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They say a week is a long time in football and one club who will be able to relate to such a statement is Arsenal.

The Gunners were labelled as serious title contenders before the international break following their 4-1 demolition of Wolves.

Yet just two weeks later they have been written off with many of the opinion that the Premier League is now a two-horse race between Manchester United and Chelsea after Arsene Wenger's side slipped eight points behind the Blues as a result of their 1-0 defeat to Sunderland on Saturday.

In reality Arsenal are still very much in the hunt, possessing a game in hand on both United and Chelsea, and with Carlo Ancelotti's men visiting Emirates Stadium on Sunday Wenger will be quietly confident of closing the gap.

North London rivals Tottenham were the weekend's biggest winners trouncing Wigan 9-1 at White Hart Lane, while Chelsea marched on beating Wolves 4-0 at home with United comfortably seeing off Everton 3-0 at Old Trafford.

Blackburn travelled to neighbours Bolton minus manager Sam Allardyce, who is due to undergo minor heart surgery, and came away with an easy 2-0 win while Hull City and West Ham shared the spoils at the KC Stadium following a 3-3 draw.

Birmingham beat Fulham 1-0 as Burnley kept up their impressive home form with a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa and Stoke scrapped past Portsmouth 1-0 at a blustery Britannia Stadium.

Finally what seems like an eternity ago Liverpool and Manchester City kicked off the weekend's action at Anfield with a 2-2 draw in what was certainly a game of two halves.

As for the stand-out players, Jermain Defoe stole all the headlines for his five-goal haul against Wigan, while Darren Fletcher continues to enjoy his elevated status at the Theatre of Dreams after another polished performance, and sublime goal, against the Toffees.

Michael Essien shone for Chelsea as did infamous winger Gael Kakuta, who came on for the final 30 minutes for his Blues debut against Wolves. Special mention must also go to Birmingham's Lee Bowyer who scored and dazzled at St Andrews against Fulham.

But did they do enough to be mentioned in your top three for the week.

Top three

Doing just enough to secure third spot is Blackburn's David Dunn with a score of 9/10 from us and a 9.2 from you guys. The midfielder continued his fine form with the opening goal against Bolton at the Reebok as he collected possession on the left-hand side of the area before digging the ball out from under his feet and curling it majestically into the far corner. The 29-year-old now has six goals this term and has been mentioned as a possible England candidate. Stranger things have happened.

In at number two is Tottenham's Aaron Lennon. The winger was a constant threat on the right for Spurs and in this kind of form is virtually unplayable. Lennon finished up with three assists and scored one himself. The 22-year-old's performance was made all the more impressive when you consider that the match was his first taste of action for nearly a month due to injury. The England international scored a 9/10 from us and a 9.4 from the readers.

No prizes for guessing who came out on top this week with Jermain Defoe sweeping all before him. The striker's amazing five goals against Wigan took his season tally to 11 with his manager Harry Redknapp describing him as the best finisher in the country. Few could argue on this display but unbelievably it was not enough to secure a perfect 10 from our man at the Lane who must be a hard man to please instead awarding the 27-year-old a 9/10 while he received a 9.6 from you lot.

Mauling

Whenever there is a mauling such as the one at White Hart Lane the losing team usually suffer in the ratings and Wigan are no exceptions. The whole Latics backline should hold their hands up for the embarrassing defeat but one man suffered more than most. Erik Edman, returning to his former club and only just back from a long-term injury, had one of those afternoons that every professional dreads. The full-back was tormented and twisted inside out by the livewire Lennon so much so that he is probably still unravelling himself as we speak. It was a sorry sight with our reporter handing him a 2/10 while you thought him more deserving of a 1.9.

Emmanuel Adebayor continues to divide opinion and this weekend was no different. The Togo international got himself on the scoresheet but was criticised by some for another lazy display. However our man at Anfield handed him a 7/10 while you guys disagreed and thought he deserved a 5.9. The same can be said of his team-mate Craig Bellamy who also got a 7/10 from our man and a 5.9 from you.