Premier League Team of the Week

By Gabriel Tan

Mikel Arteta was the villain for the Gunners, conceding a penalty in the 67th minute which allowed Dimitar Berbatov to make it 3-2 in the Cottagers' favour, before missing one of his own at the death, after Olivier Giroud had equalised for the hosts.

The result means Arsenal are now 11 points behind leaders Manchester United, who picked up their ninth win of the campaign in trademark fashion, coming from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 thanks to an inspirational display by Javier Hernandez.

On Sunday, Manchester City kept pace with their neighbours after recovering from going a goal down to beat Tottenham 2-1, while a late Luis Suarez strike helped Liverpool hold Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Elsewhere this weekend, there were wins for West Ham, Everton, Stoke and West Brom, while relegation-threatened Reading and Southampton were both held to draws by Norwich and Swansea respectively.

Here, ESPNSTAR.com picks our best 11 players from the Premier League this week with the tried-and-tested 4-4-2 formation.

GK: Jussi Jaaskelainen (West Ham)

Kevin Nolan came back to haunt his old club on Sunday as his 39th-minute strike handed West Ham a 1-0 win over Newcastle, but the victory was only possible thanks to a resilient display from Jaaskelainen.

The 37-year-old, who only moved to Upton Park in the summer, made his first impressive stop shortly before the break when he parried a well-struck effort by Yohan Cabaye, and two minutes into the second half, he bettered that as he clawed away a goal-bound header from Demba Ba.

With 19 minutes to go, Jaaskelainen made sure of the three points when he pulled off a fine save to keep out a fierce drive by Hatem Ben Arfa, capping off an excellent night at the office for the Hammers.

RB: Pablo Zabaleta (Man City)

When Gareth Bale is on form, there is probably no right-back in the world that is capable of stopping the Welsh winger. But if there's one man who would probably come close to doing so, it would probably be City's Zabaleta, which proved to be the case on Sunday.

Despite having the unenviable task of keeping the Tottenham man quiet, Zabaleta manfully stuck to his task all afternoon long and effectively nullified his opponent's threat down the left.

And when the game eventually opened up after the break, the Argentinean full-back was always ready to bomb forward to provide support to his side's attacking forays.

CB: Ryan Shawcross (Stoke)

Shawcross has enjoyed an excellent start to the season and looks set to challenge for a spot in Roy Hodgson's England side in the next few months, and that continued on Saturday as he put in a commanding display in the Potters' 1-0 triumph over QPR.

The 25-year-old's effective smothering of Djibril Cisse meant the Frenchman was starved of any real scoring opportunities, which served to frustrate him even further given QPR midfielder Adel Taarabt seemed to be allergic to passing the ball to his striker, or any of his other team-mates for that matter.

Shawcross also proved to be a threat going forward and came close to racking up an assist with a couple of handy flick-on headers inside the attacking third.

CB: Garry Monk (Swansea)

Swansea's decent start to the 2012/13 season has seen plenty of attention drawn to the likes of Michu, Jonathan De Guzman, Pablo Hernandez and Nathan Dyer, who have all combined to produce some impressive attacking football under Michael Laudrup.

However, not many have noticed how effective the Swans backline has been as well, especially the partnership between Monk and Ashley Williams.

While many managers prefer centre-backs that complement each other, Laudrup clearly is a fan of the "safety first" option by playing two no-nonsense veterans side by side, and Monk had an excellent game against Southampton on Saturday.

The 33-year-old's most telling contribution came midway through the first half when his timely and vital block prevented Jason Puncheon a clear-cut scoring chance.

LB: Jose Enrique (Liverpool)

Enrique hasn't enjoyed the best of seasons so far but he showed what he is capable of on Sunday with a man-of-the-match display at Chelsea.

The Spaniard put his strength to good use as he outmuscled the dangerous Eden Hazard and limited his influence, but also looked dangerous when going forward with his driving runs down the left.

RM: Andreas Weimann (Aston Villa)

For almost an hour on Saturday, Weimann looked set to become the new darling of Villa Park after his two clinical strikes put his side two goals up against United.

But while Villa eventually ended up on the losing side thanks a certain Javier Hernandez, it should not take away from the fact that the Villans have a genuine gem on their hands in Weimann.

The 21-year-old's speed and guile posed a real handful to the United defenders and he showed great technique to side-foot a rocket of a strike past David de Gea to open the scoring, before displaying intelligence to find space inside the box to tap home his second.

CM: Leon Osman (Everton)

At 31 years of age, and in his 11th season in the Premier League, Osman has finally earned international recognition by earning his first England call-up last week.

While he is unlikely to ever earn a regular starting berth with the Three Lions, he showed he can be a capable squad player with another all-action display in Everton's 2-1 triumph over Sunderland.

With the Toffees a goal down thanks to Adam Johnson's first-half strike, Osman slid the ball for Marouane Fellaini's equaliser in the 76th minute, before both players combined to set Nikica Jelavic up for the winner two minutes later.

CM: James Morrison (West Brom)

It's no surprise West Brom's first away win of the season coincided with Morrison's return from injury, given how he's been one of their most-influential players since joining from Middlesbrough.

Now in his sixth season at the Hawthorns, the 26-year-old recovered from a hamstring problem to inspire his side to a 2-1 triumph over Wigan.

Morrison opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark when he showed great desire to meet a Chris Brunt cross with a bullet header past a hapless Ali Al Habsi, and was constantly chasing down oppositions players and winning the ball, before looking to get his side on the front foot with his prompt distribution.

LM: David Silva (Man City)

Silva has failed to live up to the lofty standards he set in the past two seasons, but he was back to his best on Sunday as he tore the Spurs defence to shreds.

His incisive passing was a sight to behold as he regularly picked out team-mates in a tight situation and it was no surprise that he was the man who unlocked the Tottenham backline towards the end, laying on a superb ball for Edin Dzeko to score.

ST: Olivier Giroud (Arsenal)                 

Despite a slow start to life at the Emirates Stadium, Giroud has been showing glimpses of quality in recent weeks even though he has still struggled to hit the back of the net.

His hold-up play and presence in the box has given some much-needed structure to the Gunners attack, and he finally reaped the rewards on Saturday with two well-taken headers.

Even though Arsenal ultimately had to settle for a share of the spoils, their French striker is fast proving to be one bright spark in an otherwise-disappointing campaign so far.

ST: Dimitar Berbatov (Fulham)

It has been awhile since Berbatov lit up the Premier League stage after he found himself marginalised at Old Trafford, but Martin Jol has done a fantastic piece of business by bringing him to Fulham at a bargain.

The Bulgarian's languid style of play means pace, or the lack of it, has never been a problem for him, meaning despite now being 31, he still has his full arsenal to call upon, as Arsenal found out on Saturday.

It was almost impossible to win the ball off Berbatov and his danced his way past challenges, and grabbed two goals and an assist for his efforts, showing he is still one of the league's deadliest strikers when given the chance.

Substitute: Javier Hernandez (Man United)

So we've risked incurring the wrath of all involved with United by not naming Hernandez in our starting XI. But even the most ardent of United fans have to admit the man affectionately known as 'Chicharito' struggles to make an impact from the start.

Instead, he does his best work when he comes off the bench, against tiring defenders and after he's had time to analyse the game and figure out where in the opposition backline he can best exploit.

Therefore, we've decided he deserves a special mention as our "substitute of the week" because, at the moment, there isn't a player quite as capable of coming on and changing a game as Hernandez.

The Mexico international opened his account with a neat finish through Brad Guzan's legs even after failing to control the ball initially, before making it 2-2 by sneaking in at the back post and hitting a shot that went in off Ron Vlaar.

And with three minutes left on the clock, Hernandez capped off another United comeback by stooping low in the box to glance a Robin van Persie freekick into the bottom corner.