Chelsea again proved to be superior to Arsenal while Liverpool emerged with three points and lots of bruises after a derby win over Everton.

By Eugene YS Han

HEROES

CHELSEA
In another classic display of men against boys, Chelsea showed their ruthlessness and efficiency by seeing off Arsenal's title hopes at Stamford Bridge. It was that man Didier Drogba who proved to be the thorn in Arsenal's polished behinds. He scored two goals to increase his tally to 12 goals in his last ten appearances against the Gunners. The goals might have been scored against the run of play but you have got to give credit to how well Chelsea battled against the relentless pressure from Arsenal. John Terry again led the team with another all-action display and it seems that Fabio Capello's decision to 'dispossess' the England armband from him has given him a new lease of life on the pitch.

Tactically-wise, Chelsea have again proved the effectiveness of playing with two strikers up-front after Drogba and Nicolas Anelka combined perfectly for the second goal. Two heads are really better than one.

LIVERPOOL
Liverpool are now unbeaten in seven league games after winning another incident packed Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield. As expected in derby games, there wasn't much football played but Liverpool shaded it despite playing with ten men for almost an hour. The much-maligned Dirk Kuyt scored his 50th goal for Liverpool and he has now scored four goals in five games in the absence of Fernando Torres. Kuyt might be grabbing the headlines recently but the Reds defence also deserves some praise. It's now six clean sheets in seven games and Sotirios Kyrgiakos is quietly becoming a key figure in the back-five. Liverpool's derby win was also sweetened by how their rivals for the Champions League places dropped points - Manchester City suffered a shock defeat at Hull, Tottenham and Aston Villa canceled each other out while third-placed Arsenal lost at Chelsea.

MANCHESTER UNITED
True to form, Manchester United are picking up the pace as the business end of the Premier League season approaches. United have now won 11 games out of 13 games at home as they kept pace with Chelsea at the top of the table while Wayne Rooney is taking over Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring responsibilities. There is also a welcome return to form for Nani as well as Gary Neville. For all the defensive problems United have had this season, they are still looking favourites to win their record 19th league title on current form this season.

HULL CITY
Hull proved last week's draw with Chelsea was no fluke by beating big spenders Manchester City at the KC Stadium. Jozy Altidore got the first goal and a rare one from George Boateng gave Hull three priceless points in their fight to stay in the Premier League. Altidore was especially impressive for the Tigers and he proved such a handful for the City defence that both Kolo Toure and Dedryck Boyata were booked after fouling the United States international. Altidore is on-loan so Phil Brown will do well to secure his services permanently.

BIRMINGHAM CITY
Birmingham City had looked down and out against Wolves until super-sub Kevin Phillips late intervention. The veteran striker saved the Blues with two goals in the last ten minutes to win three precious points the home side probably did not deserve to earn. This last-gasp win not only maintained their good run which has seen them suffer just one defeat in 15 games. This victory is also a fitting tribute to former Blues player and manager Gil Merrick who passed away on Thursday at 88 years old.

BURNLEY
Burnley have won a league game at last under manager Brian Laws and it was a new recruit that helped them on their way - Danny Fox. The left-back who swapped the Hoops of Celtic to the Clarets of Burnley for just £1.8 million created the first goal and scored the second off a free-kick. Fox will be the bargain buy of January if he goes on to help Burnley survive in the Premier League this season.

ZEROES

MANCHESTER CITY
Are the wheels falling off Manchester City's wagons, yet again? Up against plucky Hull, City were expected to pick up three points to continue their quest for Champions League qualification. But a relatively unknown striker called Jozy Altidore gave the City defence the runaround and condemned Roberto Mancini to his second league defeat.

PORTSMOUTH
For the pragmatists, Portsmouth could have written off this trip to Old Trafford and do a Wolves - field a weakened side. But Pompey are running out of games to save themselves from relegation so every game has to count. Like in the game against Manchester City, Pompey had started brightly against the United but faded once they conceded a goal.

Also, many teams have gotten turned over at Old Trafford but no team have self-capitulated so badly as Portsmouth. Pompey did well to keep United at bay until the 40th minute when Wayne Rooney broke their resistance, But they allowed their heads to drop after that and gifted United not one but three own-goals. After scoring 'own-goals' off the pitch, Pompey are also doing it on the pitch.

WEST HAM
Despite bringing in two strikers during the January transfer window, West Ham have still not won an away game since the opening day of the season. Up against the porous defence of Burnley, the Hammers failed to get a goal only until they were two goals down. With West Ham stuck in the bottom three, the pressure is firmly on Gianfranco Zola's shoulders.

MARTIN ATKINSON
How the Merseyside derby only ended up with two red cards only match referee Martin Atkinson knows why. At least two more red cards should have been awarded after Marouane Fellaini's cowardly tackle on the on-rushing Sotirios Kyrgiakos (who deserved to be sent off) as well as Tim Cahill's elbow on Lucas. Atkinson could also have done better with just a yellow card for Steven Pienaar's 'kung-fu' tackle on Javier Mascherano in the first-half. His leniency could have encouraged more thuggery and violence on the pitch which would have left the supporters watching a boxing match instead of a proper football game.