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There are no prizes for naming our player of the week, with Jermain Defoe leading a Tottenham-dominated Premier League first XI.

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

It is almost impossible not to give Defoe full marks for smashing five in the 9-1 win over Wigan.

And it only seems fair that he should be partnered by club and occasional national team-mate Peter Crouch, who scored one, should have got more and was a total nightmare for the Latics defence.

Spurs wide-man Aaron Lennon was in scintillating form and is joined by team-mate Niko Kranjcar in a good week for midfielders. Top-drawer performances from David Dunn, Michael Essien and Jimy Bullard meant that Darren Fletcher, Andre Bikey, Florent Malouda, Javier Mascherano and Lorik Cana were edged out when ordinarily they would have been a shoo-in.

Goals galore also meant fewer defenders made the cut, with John Terry imperious in Chelsea's 3-0 win over Wolves, while Paulo Da Silva was a revelation in Sunderland's win over Arsenal.

Fleet Street rated United's bounding full-back Patrice Evra just above Burnley's Stephen Jordan, who was unlucky not to make the cut, while in goal a penalty save by Thomas Sorensen in Stoke's 1-0 win over Portsmouth was enough to give the Dane the nod.

Team of the week (3-5-2 ):

GK: Thomas Sorensen (Stoke) 7

RCB: Paulo Da Silva (Sunderland) 7.33

CB: John Terry (Chelsea) 7.33

LCB: Patrice Evra (Manchester United) 8

RM: Aaron Lennon (Tottenham) 9

LM: David Dunn (Blackburn) 8.33

CM: Michael Essien (Chelsea) 8.33

CM: Jimmy Bullard (Hull) 8.33

CM: Niko Kranjcar (Tottenham) - 8

FW: Peter Crouch (Tottenham) 7.33

FW: Jermain Defoe (Tottenham) 9.67

Flops XI

It is great testament to just how bad Wigan were that keeper Chris Kirkland was nowhere near being the worst of the bunch, despite conceding nine.

Instead, Wolves shot-stopper' Wayne Hennessey makes the grade for being rubbish for two of Chelsea's goals, while the entire Wigan back four comfortably qualify.

Their Latics team-mates Hendry Thomas, Mohamed Diame and Jason Scotland were not quite as bad as their ratings suggest, unfortunate to be in with a terrible bunch by default.

Salif Diao was widely condemned for his performance in Stoke's win over Pompey, hauled off after 57 minutes, while young Dan Gosling was somewhat harshly rated as not good enough' in Everton's defeat to Manchester United.

Flops of the week (4-4-2):

GK: Wayne Hennessey (Wolves) - 4.33

RB: Mario Melchiot (Wigan) - 4.33

CB: Emerson Boyce (Wigan) - 3.33

CB: Titus Bramble (Wigan) - 3.33

LB: Erik Edman (Wigan) - 3

RM: Dan Gosling (Everton) - 4.67

CM: Salif Diao (Stoke) - 4.33

CM: Hendry Thomas (Wigan) - 4.67

LM: Mohamed Diame (Wigan) - 4.67

FW: Johan Elmander (Bolton) - 4.67

FW: Jason Scotland (Wigan) - 4.67

Team of the Season

Shay Given is head and shoulders above the rest as stand-out keeper so far this season, with nearest challenger Brad Friedel a whopping 0.3 points average behind.

Fletcher's wonder-goal against Everton means he regains his place from Sunderland's Andy Reid, who played well enough in the win over the Gunners but slips just out of the running.

Villa's Richard Dunne retains his midfield place despite a dodgy performance at Burnley in a bad week for defenders, but with John Terry just 0.03 points behind the Irishman expect the Chelsea captain to return soon.

David Dunn's brilliant performance against Bolton made his place safe as he starts to show the form that earned him an England call eight years ago, while Jimmy Bullard could threaten the likes of Cesc Fabregas if he manages to stay fit.

The forward pairing of Didier Drogba and Robin van Persie stays untouched, although with both ruled out through injury expect the likes of Defoe and Wayne Rooney to start knocking.

Team of the Season (4-4-2, minimum seven starts):

GK: Shay Given (Manchester City) - 7.08

RB: Glen Johnson (Liverpool) - 6.91

CB: Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal) - 6.94

CB: Richard Dunne (Aston Villa) - 6.84

LB: Ashley Cole (Chelsea) - 6.73

RM: Darren Fletcher (Manchester United) - 7.22 (NEW ENTRY)

CM: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) - 7.33

CM: David Dunn (Blackburn Rovers) - 7.29

LM: Craig Bellamy (Manchester City) - 7.26

FW: Robin van Persie (Arsenal) - 7.33

FW: Didier Drogba (Chelsea) - 7.47

Flops of the Season

Some shocking performances this week mean there are four new entries in our flops section, all of whom have decreased their points average from last week.

Two, however, only come in because prior incumbents failed to make the cut for falling short of our criteria demanding at least half the season's matches have been played: Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink was on the bench for Hull's draw with West Ham while Carlo Cudicini will be spared the wooden gloves award after his unfortunate accident ruled him out for three months.

They are replaced by Pompey striker Aruna Dindane and Manuel Almunia, who is now rated the worst keeper in the Premiership despite being at an Arsenal side with serious title aspirations.

Otherwise, Morten Gamst Pederson of Blackburn comes in for Marouane Fellaini, while Gosling's bad day at the office drags him beneath Dean Marney.

Flops of the Season (4-4-2, minimum seven starts):

GK: Manuel Almunia (Arsenal) - 5.76 (NEW ENTRY)

RB: Paul McShane (Hull City) - 5.28

CB: Jloyd Samuel (Bolton) - 5.52

CB: Marc Wilson (Portsmouth) - 5.46

LB: Herita Ilunga (West Ham) - 5.42

RM: Greg Halford (Wolves) - 5.63

CM: Dan Gosling (Everton) - 5.56 (NEW ENTRY)

CM: Morten Gamst Pedersen (Blackburn) - 5.67 (NEW ENTRY)

LM: El-Hadji Diouf (Blackburn) - 5.61

FW: Aruna Dindane (Portsmouth) - 5.85 (NEW ENTRY)

FW: Jason Roberts (Blackburn) - 5.71

Reda MAHER / Eurosport