Goalkeeper: Jussi Jaaskelainen (West Ham) - Discarded halfway through last season by Bolton in favour of Adam Bogdan, the veteran Finnish ‘keeper has enjoyed an excellent start to his Hammers career, with two clean sheets out of three. Saturday’s 3-0 win over Fulham may have seen Kevin Nolan and new boy Andy Carroll draw most of the plaudits, but the 37-year-old’s eight saves make him worthy of a place in our team.
Defender: Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal) - The Finnish connection continues with Arsenal’s young defender, who kept Raheem Sterling relatively quiet during the clash with Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday. Jenkinson produced a number of excellent tackles to go along with his fine distribution of the ball. On this showing, Bacary Sagna could be a long time kicking his heels.
Defender: Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa) - Scored the opener and also kept Demba Ba and Papiss Cissé quiet in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle. This hasn’t been a good start to the season for the Birmingham club but the young Irish defender has been impressive in the absence of Richard Dunne.
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Defender: Joleon Lescott (Manchester City) - Roberto Mancini’s selection of spent force Kolo Toure ahead of Lescott proved costly in the draw with Liverpool, as the England defender showed his class in a routine victory for Roberto Mancini’s side. While Vincent Kompany gets most of the plaudits, Lescott has been practically faultless for the last year and this was another cool display.
Defender: Sebastien Bassong (Norwich City) - Playing against his former side, Bassong was impressive and kept the likes of Gareth Bale, Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon quiet in a solid and well organised Norwich defence. There are shades of his Newcastle days, when Bassong was one of the few players to emerge from a relegation season with any credit. The 26-year-old has won 13 of his 17 aerial battle in two Premier League games for Chris Hughton’s side.
Midfielder: Abou Diaby (Arsenal) - Where did this lad come from? Diaby’s injury record make Kieron Dyer look like the model of consistency (ok, not quite), but if proof were needed of his abilities when fit, he provided it against Liverpool on Sunday. The Frenchman bossed the midfield along with Mikel Arteta, and if he can stay vertical for more than a game or two, then Arsenal fans will feel that they got the better end of the Alex Song to Barcelona deal.
Midfielder: Paul Scholes (Manchester United) - United fans might worry about a future without the Ginger Prince, but they have him now and should make the most of him. Everything good about United in the last half an hour flowed through the 37-year-old – he created a chance for van Persie as soon as he came on, and went from there.
Midfielder: Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton) - The Frenchman has made more interceptions that any other player in the Premier League this season, with six of those 13 coming against United. Add his first Premier League goal into the mix and it was a fine day’s work for the 22-year-old, even if he did end up on the losing side.
Forward: Santi Cazorla (Arsenal) - His first Premier League goal and another impressive display from the Emirates Stadium’s new favourite son. Cazorla is a joy to watch, rarely wasting the ball and setting up chances for his team-mates. As well as scoring, he set up Lukas Podolski for his first Gunners strike.
Forward: Steven Fletcher (Sunderland) - The Scot has scored with his only two shots as a Sunderland player. He may not offer a lot of subtlety, but Martin O’Neill’s expensive gamble already looks like it’s going to pay off.
Forward: Luis Suarez (Liverpool) – No, not really.
Forward: Robin van Persie (Manchester United) - As Arsene Wenger commented, he’s wearing the wrong shirt, but the Dutch striker seems to have fit in seamlessly in his new surroundings. That’s 52 goals in his last 58 Premier League appearance – and imagine how many more he would have scored for Arsenal if he’d been on the end of those corners instead of taking them.
The Premier League team of the week
Goalkeeper: Jussi Jaaskelainen (West Ham) - Discarded halfway through last season by Bolton in favour of Adam Bogdan, the veteran Finnish ‘keeper has enjoyed an excellent start to his Hammers career, with two clean sheets out of three. Saturday’s 3-0 win over Fulham may have seen Kevin Nolan and new boy Andy Carroll draw most of the plaudits, but the 37-year-old’s eight saves make him worthy of a place in our team.
Defender: Carl Jenkinson (Arsenal) - The Finnish connection continues with Arsenal’s young defender, who kept Raheem Sterling relatively quiet during the clash with Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday. Jenkinson produced a number of excellent tackles to go along with his fine distribution of the ball. On this showing, Bacary Sagna could be a long time kicking his heels.
Defender: Ciaran Clark (Aston Villa) - Scored the opener and also kept Demba Ba and Papiss Cissé quiet in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle. This hasn’t been a good start to the season for the Birmingham club but the young Irish defender has been impressive in the absence of Richard Dunne.
Defender: Joleon Lescott (Manchester City) - Roberto Mancini’s selection of spent force Kolo Toure ahead of Lescott proved costly in the draw with Liverpool, as the England defender showed his class in a routine victory for Roberto Mancini’s side. While Vincent Kompany gets most of the plaudits, Lescott has been practically faultless for the last year and this was another cool display.
Defender: Sebastien Bassong (Norwich City) - Playing against his former side, Bassong was impressive and kept the likes of Gareth Bale, Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon quiet in a solid and well organised Norwich defence. There are shades of his Newcastle days, when Bassong was one of the few players to emerge from a relegation season with any credit. The 26-year-old has won 13 of his 17 aerial battle in two Premier League games for Chris Hughton’s side.
Midfielder: Abou Diaby (Arsenal) - Where did this lad come from? Diaby’s injury record make Kieron Dyer look like the model of consistency (ok, not quite), but if proof were needed of his abilities when fit, he provided it against Liverpool on Sunday. The Frenchman bossed the midfield along with Mikel Arteta, and if he can stay vertical for more than a game or two, then Arsenal fans will feel that they got the better end of the Alex Song to Barcelona deal.
Midfielder: Paul Scholes (Manchester United) - United fans might worry about a future without the Ginger Prince, but they have him now and should make the most of him. Everything good about United in the last half an hour flowed through the 37-year-old – he created a chance for van Persie as soon as he came on, and went from there.
Midfielder: Morgan Schneiderlin (Southampton) - The Frenchman has made more interceptions that any other player in the Premier League this season, with six of those 13 coming against United. Add his first Premier League goal into the mix and it was a fine day’s work for the 22-year-old, even if he did end up on the losing side.
Forward: Santi Cazorla (Arsenal) - His first Premier League goal and another impressive display from the Emirates Stadium’s new favourite son. Cazorla is a joy to watch, rarely wasting the ball and setting up chances for his team-mates. As well as scoring, he set up Lukas Podolski for his first Gunners strike.
Forward: Steven Fletcher (Sunderland) - The Scot has scored with his only two shots as a Sunderland player. He may not offer a lot of subtlety, but Martin O’Neill’s expensive gamble already looks like it’s going to pay off.
Forward: Robin van Persie (Manchester United) - As Arsene Wenger commented, he’s wearing the wrong shirt, but the Dutch striker seems to have fit in seamlessly in his new surroundings. That’s 52 goals in his last 58 Premier League appearance – and imagine how many more he would have scored for Arsenal if he’d been on the end of those corners instead of taking them.
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