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A huge performance from Liverpool's Yossi Benayoun gets him in the Team of the Week, while there is a first look at the Team and Flops of the Season.

HOW IT WORKS

We take marks out of 10 awarded to Premier League players from a selection of six national newspapers - The Sun, Daily Star, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, The Times and the Guardian - then create an average and round to the nearest half. The top player in each position will be rewarded with a spot in the team of the week, while the worst scorers will be named and shamed in our Flops XI.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Yossi Benayoun's hat-trick inspired Liverpool's 4-0 mauling of Burnley - and made the Israeli the first name on the teamsheet for this week's top XI.

Two of his Liverpool team-mates also make the list: the dependable Jamie Carragher and, slightly surprisingly, Lucas Leiva. The Brazilian midfielder has come in for plenty of stick during his time at Anfield, but a masterly performance this weekend - according to the Fleet Street critics, at any rate - suggests that he might be coming in to his own.

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard was unlucky to miss out on selection this week, the talismanic playmaker edged out surprisingly by Sunderland's Lee Cattermole.

Jamie O'Hara was superb in his first start for Portsmouth while Blackburn's David Dunn looked consistently dangerous - and scored - playing just off Jason Roberts in Rovers' 3-1 win against Wolves.

O'Hara wasn't the only former Spurs player to shine: Darren Bent had probably his best showing so far in a Sunderland shirt as the Black Cats hammered Hull.

But it was a bittersweet display for one of Bent's new team-mates Michael Turner, who was as good as ever (i.e. very good indeed) against the team who made him the man he is today.

Team of the Week (4-4-1-1)

GK: Shay Given (Manchester City) - 7.5

RB: Abdoulaye Faye (Stoke City) - 7.5

CB: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool) - 7.5

CB: Michael Turner (Sunderland) - 7.5

LB: Patrice Evra (Manchester United) - 7.5

RM: Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool) - 9

RCM: Lee Cattermole (Sunderland) - 7.5

LCM: Lucas Leiva (Liverpool) - 7.5

LM: Jamie O'Hara (Portsmouth) - 7.5

ACM: David Dunn (Blackburn) - 8

FW: Darren Bent (Sunderland) - 8

FLOPS OF THE WEEK

It's not often that a player scores twice and still finds himself in the Flops XI - but that has been managed by Hull's Kamil Zayatte .

The centre-half scored an equaliser just before half-time against Sunderland, but in the second half put a goal into the exact same net. Those Fleet Street judges are unforgiving of own-goals, and Zayatte was rated the second-worst player of the weekend.

Also being 'credited' with an own-goal was Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia, but his distinctly dodgy display against Manchester City was probably deserving of his spot alongside this week's losers.

Michael Ballack is usually as reliable as an atomic clock but had a rare bad day against Stoke, while Robbie Keane struggled against Manchester United - although in fairness he did have to contend with in-form Darren Fletcher and back-from-injury Rio Ferdinand.

One sad name to see is that of Nenad Milijas: the Wolves midfielder looked an exciting prospect in the first game or two of the season, but has struggled since then.

Flops XI (4-4-2)

GK: Manuel Almunia (Arsenal) - 4.5

RB: Richard Stearman (Wolves) - 5

CB: Kamil Zayatte (Hull) - 4.5

CB: Ibrahima Sonko (Hull) - 4.5

LB: Gael Clichy (Arsenal) - 5.5

RM: Michael Ballack (Chelsea) - 5

CM: Nenad Milijas (Wolves) - 5

CM: Radoslav Kovac (West Ham) - 5

LM: Robbie Keane (Tottenham) - 5

FW: Craig Fagan (Hull) - 4.5

FW: Andy Keogh (Woves) - 5

TEAM OF THE SEASON (Minimum three starts)

Best player of the year so far? Arsenal fans won't like it, but it's Emmanuel Adebayor. The former Arsenal striker didn't exactly win himself many new admirers as he faced his former team-mates for the first time, but four goals in four games tells its own story.

Wayne Rooney would have been up there alongside him but for a bit of a nightmare in the shock defeat against Burnley (remember that?) which has pulled his average down a little - and that leaves space for another love-him-or-hate-him striker up front in Didier Drogba.

And yes, we realise that Jermain Defoe has scored five goals already this season - and also that if you were really picking a team you'd almost certainly give him the nod - but for each of his ups so far there has been a mediocre display which will keep him out of the running for the Team of the Season until he improves his consistency.

In contrast Darren Fletcher and Gareth Barry have yet to put a foot wrong this season and make the sort of midfield heart any team in the world would kill for - as has Shay Given, who is as smart a move as any of Mark Hughes's many signings at Manchester City.

Team of the Season (4-4-2)

GK: Shay Given (Manchester City) - 7.25

RB: Micah Richards (Manchester City) - 6.58

CB: Glen Johnson (Liverpool) - 6.87

CB: Abdoulaye Faye (Stoke) - 6.91

LB: Patrice Evra (Manchester United) - 6.93

RM: Frank Lampard (Chelsea) - 7.07

CM: Darren Fletcher (Manchester United) - 7.58

CM: Gareth Barry (Manchester City) - 7.56

LM: Luka Modric (Tottenham) - 7.00

FW: Didier Drogba (Chelsea) - 7.53

FW: Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City) - 7.67

FLOPS OF THE SEASON (Minimum three starts)

Five games, no points tells its own story - so there's no surprise to see Portsmouth's defensive and midfield hubs dominating the Flops of the Season so far.

Everton's right- and left-backs have been almost as poor, while Carlo Cudicini has been busily proving at Tottenham just how lucky Chelsea were that Petr Cech was injury-proof for so many years.

Flops of the Season (4-4-2)

GK: Carlo Cudicini (Tottenham) - 5.44

RB: Tony Hibbert (Everton) - 5.50

CB: Anthony Vanden Borre (Portsmouth) - 5.22

CB: Marc Wilson (Portsmouth) - 5.11

LB: Leighton Baines (Everton) - 5.58

RM: Leon Osman (Everton) - 5.42

CM: Lee Bowyer (Birmingham) - 5.44

CM: Hayden Mullins (Portsmouth) - 5.50

LM: Niko Kranjcar (Portsmouth) - 5.75

FW: James Beattie (Stoke) - 5.33

FW: Gary O'Connor (Birmingham) - 5.50

Toby Keel / Eurosport