Which Premier League stars let themselves down this weekend?
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With just Sunderland’s Monday evening trip to South London to face Crystal Palace yet to be played during this round of Premier League action, we’ve taken a look at the most disappointing XI from the weekend’s fixtures:
GK) Eldin Jakupovic (Hull City)
Perhaps slightly harsh on the Bosnian, who also made a string of outstanding saves, but his error to allow Victor Wanyama to give Southampton the lead was a shocker.
RB) Kyle Naughton (Tottenham Hotspur)
May have been on the winning side at Villa Park, but Naughton was poor in possession throughout and also extremely shaky defensively.
CB) Chris Smalling (Manchester United)
Smalling suffered a complete loss of thought in the first half at the Etihad Stadium, picking up a mindless first yellow card and following it with a barely more reasonable second.
CB) Per Mertesacker (Arsenal)
His side may have won 3-0, but Mertesacker was caused consistent problems by the pace and movement of Danny Ings throughout the game at the Emirates Stadium and was fortunate not to be punished.
LB) Alberto Moreno (Liverpool)
Absolutely hopeless stuff from left back Moreno, who was run ragged all game by Newcastle and gifted the winning goal to Ayoze Perez with a dreadful individual error.
CM) Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
The Liverpool captain is looking like an increasingly peripheral figure this season, with quicker and more energetic opposition players constantly stamping out any influence he can have on games.
CM) Scott Arfield (Burnley)
Arfield was overrun in central midfield for Burnley as Arsenal took charge at the Emirates Stadium – his opening day goal against Chelsea seems an awfully long time ago.
CM) Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea City)
Shelvey was poor on the ball in his side’s 0-0 draw at Everton and also compounded his poor performance with a silly second yellow card in the second half.
ARM) Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
Looks like a shadow of the player that he was during last season, Coutinho was bullied and kept very quiet by a hard working Newcastle midfield.
ALM) Angel di Maria (Manchester United)
Di Maria has been wonderful for United so far this season but did not have his finest game in the Manchester derby, with his wasteful display reminiscent of Argentina against Switzerland in the World Cup.
SC) Christian Benteke (Aston Villa)
Benteke’s performance in the first half for Aston Villa against Spurs was immense as he terrorised the visitors, but the Belgian let his teammates down with a ridiculous red card.