Having slowly built up a seven-point advantage at the top of the Premier League table over recent weeks, Chelsea's 1-0 defeat away at Aston Villa has opened up the title race.

Liverpool took full advantage by beating rivals Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford, while there were also victories for fellow challengers Manchester City and Arsenal, over Hull City and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.

Meanwhile, towards the bottom there was a 1-0 success for Fulham at the expense of Newcastle United, and West Bromwich Albion also got the better of Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium.

So, with another round of fixtures completed, Sports Mole has picked out the 11 players that made the biggest impression on us over the last couple of days.

David Marshall (Cardiff City)
If there was one player that didn't deserve to be on the losing side this weekend, it was Marshall. The Scot made a host of saves at Goodison Park against Everton and was only beaten by a deflection and a scuffed effort.

Seamus Coleman (Everton)
That "scuffed effort" was scored deep in stoppage time by Coleman, who secured three vital points for the Toffees in the process. It rounded off another decent display from the Republic of Ireland international.
Martin Demichelis (Manchester City)
Often the scapegoat from a City point of view, Demichelis produced his best performance for the club after his defensive partner Vincent Kompany had been red carded early on.
Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)
The Gunners were on the back-foot for much of the North London derby, but they kept a clean sheet thanks largely to the defensive work of Koscielny alongside Per Mertesacker.
Jon Flanagan (Liverpool)
Both Juan Mata and Adnan Januzaj tried their luck against the youngster, but neither was given room to manoeuvre. Flanagan's display at left-back was even more impressive when considering that he is naturally right footed.

Peter Odemwingie (Stoke City)
Playing in a wide role for the Potters, the Nigerian made a crucial impact by scoring two of his team's three goals in the victory over West Ham United.
Fabian Delph (Aston Villa)
Aside from his winning goal of high quality in the closing stages at Villa Park, Delph more than held his own in the midfield battle against Chelsea's Nemanja Matic.
Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
Captain Steven Gerrard will dominate the headlines for his two-goal contribution from the penalty spot, but Henderson's stock continued to rise with this showing against United. The energy that he provided helped Liverpool to win the fight for supremacy in the middle of the pitch.
David Silva (Manchester City)
The Spanish international was heavily involved in both of City's goals at Hull, scoring one from distance, before slotting the ball neatly into the path of Edin Dzeko to secure all three points.

Luis Suarez (Liverpool)
They weren't the first and will by no means be the last defence to struggle to contend with Suarez, but the United rearguard were run ragged by the Uruguayan. He scored one and could have added a couple more.
Jay Rodriguez (Southampton)
The Southampton frontman did his chances of going to this summer's World Cup no harm by scoring another goal in the win over Norwich City. He was also denied a goal of the season contender when his effort from distance cannoned against the crossbar.

Numpty of the week

Rafael da Silva: The Brazilian may have been one of the only Man United players to have shown any passion and fight during their humiliation at the hands of rivals Liverpool, but that cannot excuse his actions in giving away the first of the visiting side's three penalties. It was a moment of madness from Rafael, who stuck out his hand to stop Suarez from heading towards goal. Gerrard stepped up to convert the resultant penalty, setting the Merseysiders on their way to three comfortable points. Liverpool may have won the match anyway, but Rafael gave them a helping hand, literally.

Goal of the week:

Tomas Rosicky (Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal): It was going to take something special to pip Delph to this award and Rosicky provided it within two minutes of the start of the North London derby. A pass from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain sat up nicely for the midfielder, who despite an unfavourable angle, fired a powerful effort into the far corner of Hugo Lloris's net.