Premier League Team of the Week

Champions Manchester City were stunned at Southampton after impressive performances from Jason Puncheon and Rickie Lambert helped secure a shock 3-1 result.

Manchester United took advantage of City's slip-up by shooting down Everton 2-0 thanks in large part to a man-of-the-match performance from Rafael.

Elsewhere, Chelsea and Tottenham continued their steady pace to secure UEFA Champions League football next season with wins over Wigan and Newcastle respectively.

There were also wins for Arsenal, Swansea, Stoke and Aston Villa while Liverpool's recent good run of results came to a halt with defeat to West Brom.

We've gone with a 4-4-2 formation.

GK: Ben Foster (West Brom)
West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster will be absolutely chuffed with himself following Monday's performance against Liverpool. The former Manchester United player helped inspire his team to a 2-0 win over the Anfield outfit including a very good save to deny Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard from the penalty spot.

RB: Rafael (Manchester United)
Manchester United full-back Rafael has had some woeful games against Everton in the past but history certainly did not repeat itself at the weekend when those two teams met again. Rafael was man-of-the-match as he managed to help United nullify the threat of Leighton Baines and Kevin Mirallas while also setting up team-mate Robin van Persie with a sweet assist for a goal in Sunday's 2-0 win.

LB: Nathan Baker (Aston Villa)
Aston Villa's Nathan Baker deserves more than just a Team of the Week mention for his effort in a vital 2-1 win over West Ham at the weekend. The relegation candidates had to battle hard to get the three points and nobody was more of a warrior than Baker, who sustained a head injury early in the match after an aerial challenge with Andy Carroll.

Despite the obvious discomfort he continued to play and continued to make brave challenges and tackles to ensure Villa walked away from Villa Park with the ‘W'.

CB: Bacary Sagna (Arsenal)

A lot has been made about Arsenal's lack of fighting spirit when the chips are down but Bacary Sagna showed plenty of steel on Saturday against Sunderland. Following the last-minute withdrawal of Laurent Koscielny, Sagna stepped up for his team with a fearless performance in the centre of defence. And it seemed to rub off on some of his team-mates as well as the Gunners had to dig deep to edge out Sunderland 1-0 after the second half dismissal of Carl Jenkinson.

CB: Robert Huth (Stoke)
Filling up the last spot in central defence in our Team of the Week is Stoke's Robert Huth. The big German was this main reason for Stoke's 2-1 win over the in-form team in the Barclays Premier League. Huth's powerful header broke the deadlock in the second half while his composure at the back ensured the Potters came away with their first win since Boxing Day.

RM: Jason Puncheon (Southampton)
It may have been a harsh decision for Southampton to sack Nigel Adkins but the Saints are playing some good really good football under new manager Mauricio Pochettino. This was especially evident during their 3-1 dismantling of champions Manchester City on Saturday. Saints midfielder Jason Puncheon was key as his early goal set the tone for the match but Jack Cork also deserves a mention.

LM: Gareth Bale (Tottenham)
If Tottenham qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League it will be down to winger Gareth Bale. Spurs' Welsh wing wizard scored both goals for Andre Villas-Boas' side in a 2-1 win over the Toon. It was another Ronaldo-like performance from Bale who has the ability to terrorise any defence from wide positions before cutting in to finish the job off with a goal - or more.

CM: Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

Chelsea need to re-open negotiations with Frank Lampard and get him to sign on the dotted line. End of story.

CM: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
As good as Frank Lampard was for Chelsea in their 4-1 destruction of Wigan on Saturday, his team-mate Eden Hazard was better. Wigan had no answer to the Belgium international's skill on-the-ball and it was not surprising to see Hazard's name on the score sheet after the game had finished.

ST: Michu (Swansea)
Not many strikers make Chris Samba look ordinary but Swansea's Michu did exactly that on Saturday. The Spaniard struck twice to lift his club to a 4-1 win over QPR to end a run of six games without a goal for the forward.

ST: Rickie Lambert (Southampton)

Southampton's 3-1 win over Manchester City was the outstanding result of the latest round of Premier League fixtures. Despite not scoring a goal, Saints' striker Rickie Lambert was a menace from start to finish and rightly takes his place in our Team of the Week. Lambert is known for being a finisher but in Saturday's win over City he showed his game is much more complete than that.