Team of the Week

This Sunday's Team of the Week is all about a threesome. Not that sort you understand, but our pick of the players who undoubtedly put on the show of the weekend by thrashing Manchester United in their own backyard.

In all honesty you could close your eyes and point a finger at any of Liverpool's players and stick them in our illustrious line-up but we've gone for Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Fabio Aurelio.

The Torres-Gerrard love-in continued as they both scored, both set one up, and generally ran riot in Manchester. The Spaniard's performance was all the more remarkable due to the fact he clearly wasn't fully fit, while Stevie G got the chance to luxuriate in the knowledge that he'd rammed years worth of insults back down Old Trafford's throat.

Aurelio gets in for shackling Ronaldo to superb effect, affording the Portuguese little room in which to manoeuvre, or to attempt his usual menagerie of arrogant trickery. And, of course, for his delightful free-kick which signalled the beginning of the 'rubbing their noses in it' section of the game.

After a threesome, let's move on to twosomes, starting with the Wigan pair of Chris Kirkland and Charles N'Zogbia. Kirkland had another solid afternoon, even if he will be mildly miffed at letting Grant Leadbitter's shot squirm underneath him - but his fine double save from Andy Reid's deflected shot and Steed Malbranque's follow-up more than made up for it.

As for N'Zogbia, he delivered the game's winning goal by breezing 80 yards up the field unchecked before tucking a low shot past Martin Fulop. Having taken plenty of stick due to his Newcastle past, netting such a storming match-winner may just have put a cheeky smile on the sulky Frenchmen's face.

A winning Spurs duo is next, in the form of Jonathan Woodgate and Aaron Lennon. Both were excellent as Tottenham capitalised on Aston Villa's £30m wobble. Lennon had a hand in both goals, whipping in a devilish cross for the first and breaking into the penalty area in the build-up to Darren Bent's second; while Woodgate's copybook was only slightly spoiled by allowing John Carew to beat him in the air and give Villa a glimmer of hope late in the game. Save for that he was excellent alongside Ledley King, cultivating that Johnny-on-the-spot habit to a tee during the 90 minutes.

Making up the back four are Joleon Lescott and Steven Taylor. The former capped another tireless shift with a goal, even if it did carry with it the faint whiff of offside. The latter rescued a vital point for Newcastle with a deft finish against fellow strugglers Hull. We're not entirely convinced he meant it, but then we'll give him the benefit of the doubt given his "we need men not boys" speech in midweek, where he basically told his team-mates they need to be playing a bit more like him.

Medical marvel Michael Essien continues to defy logic by displaying exemplary form upon his return from six months out through injury. His delightful finish against Manchester City was his second goal in as many games and quite apart from netting the winner, he popped up just about everywhere he was required, bang on time.

Rounding off our illustrious XI is Arsenal's twinkle-toed Russian wunderkind Andrei Arshavin. He must think the Premier League is a piece of the proverbial after scything through Blackburn's defence time after time at the Emirates.

He was in the mix for the first goal, then finished sublimely for the second, and even had a hand in the third as Emmanuel Eboue turned home after his shot had been saved by Paul Robinson. Speaking of Eboue, he nearly got in the side after his two goals but then he was only on the field for seven minutes, and we can't be having that eh?

No question who is our boss of the week. He may look like a fat Spanish waiter - as the song goes - but he's definitely not cracking up. Rafa Benitez knew he'd be in for an avalanche of stick after his infamous Fergie rant of a few weeks ago, but he never could have imagined he'd be hearing his own fans singing the "cracking up" song in an ironic fashion as his side steamrollered the current Champions. Whether he lasts two more weeks or two years at Anfield you can't deny his legacy is shaping up pretty nicely; first Istanbul, now the slaughter in Manchester.