Kante, Eriksen, Pedro and Coutinho star in team of the week

After another scintillating weekend of Premier League action, just two points now separate top three Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal – and Manchester City are not out of it in fourth.

While most of the attention was focused on the top four clashes on Super Sunday, there was plenty of action elsewhere as Chelsea demolished Newcastle 5-1, Liverpool thrashed Aston Villa 6-0 and Manchester United suffered another major blow as they were beaten 2-1 by Sunderland.

But who were the stars of the weekend action? Here's The Week's pick of the experts picks:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Goalkeeper: Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion)

On a weekend that saw several fine goalkeeping performances and some spectacular saves, it is Foster who gets the nod after keeping a clean sheet as Everton "laid siege to the West Bromwich Albion goal at the weekend, somehow not getting anything from the game despite having an eye-watering 34 shots on goal", says website The Offside Rule. "Only six of those efforts were on target, but Ben Foster was equal to all of them as he made four big saves and kept a clean-sheet."

Defence: Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Jonas Olsson (West Brom), Lamine Kone (Sunderland), Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool)

Chelsea showed a glimpse of the team they can be as they destroyed the Magpies. Full-back Azpilicueta "capped off another excellent display in a blue shirt by assisting Chelsea youngster Bertrand Traore", who scored Chelsea's fifth goal, says the Daily Mail.

West Brom centre-back Olsson joins his keeper in team of the week. The Baggies' win was down in a "large part" to Olsson, says ESPN, while pundit Paul Mariner says the player "defended with every sinew of his body".

Kone, who arrived at Sunderland in January, also had a fine game against Man United and had a large part to play in the Black Cats' second goal. "Kone is a strong, no nonsense, old fashioned defender who would send a chill down any centre forward's spine and who is also proving to be a nightmare to mark in the opposition's penalty area on set-plays," says Garth Crooks of the BBC.

The final berth goes to Liverpool full-back Clyne, who scored against Villa. His goal may have been slightly fortunate but Clyne offered an "energetic presence on the break", says Goal.com.

Midfield: N'Golo Kante (Leicester City), Christian Eriksen (Spurs), Willian, Pedro (both Chelsea), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)

He may not have been on the winning side, but Leicester midfielder Kante was excellent against Arsenal. "Kante epitomises what Leicester is all about and the nearest thing I've seen to the former Chelsea and Real Madrid superstar Claude Makelele," says Garth Crooks of the BBC.

Eriksen celebrated his 24th birthday with a dramatic late winner for Spurs against Man City. It was a case of "right place, right time to collect Lamela's exquisite assist and give Tottenham one of their biggest victories of the past half-century," says Gab Marcotti of ESPN.

Chelsea duo Willian and Pedro were in fine form against Newcastle. Willian notched up "another impressive display" and is "Chelsea's most consistent player", says Eurosport. He set up Diego Costa for the Blues' first goal and also scored one himself. Team-mate, Pedro scored twice to prove his worth to the team. The Spaniard "has struggled during his debut season in the Premier League, but came up with the goods as Chelsea put Newcastle to the sword", says the Mail

Liverpool midfielder Coutinho did not score against Aston Villa, but notched up three assists to make him the joint-top points scorer on Fantasy Premier League this week. He also makes Harry Redknapp's team of the week in the Daily Telegraph.

Attack: Troy Deeney (Watford)

Were it not for the best title race in a generation and the collapse of Chelsea, Watford would be the talk of the town as they challenge for Europe in the first season back in the top flight.

"For much of the first half of this season, Troy Deeney has ceded the spotlight to his Watford strike partner Odion Ighalo, but while the Hornets skipper's nine strikes have all been extremely important, all but two have made a tangible difference to the result of the game, which was the case again this weekend, as he notched both for Watford in their 2-1 win over Crystal Palace," says ESPN.