Lampard hat-trick could earn England reprieve

THE MANCHESTER clubs are still sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League table after another weekend of drama and excitement.

The top seven teams in the division all won and the table is starting to take shape. There are a couple of unexpected names among the early pace-setters, with Newcastle looking good in fourth place and Villa just about keeping up with the leaders in seventh.

There were 34 goals this week, another good return for the fans, although supporters of Blackburn, QPR and Bolton who were all on the receiving end of big defeats may have wished there had been fewer. Indeed Rovers' 4-0 setback at the hands of Man City led to calls for manager Steve Kean's head. Roberto Martinez may also be feeling the heat as Wigan lost to Villa.

But there was better news for others:

FRANK'S BACKA month ago Frank Lampard was officially over the hill, on the scrapheap or at the very least "heading towards a land of cameos" as the Mirror put it. But after his hat-trick against Bolton for Chelsea on Sunday what are the chances that he is handed a starting berth for England against Montenegro on Friday night? As the Chelsea man said after the game: "There is only one way to answer critics - you have to keep going and working hard and today it all came for me. I'm very pleased." As for Owen Coyle and the Trotters, they may be more annoyed by Daniel Sturridge's two goals against them, after all, he spent several months on loan at Bolton last season and they helped turn him from Premier League also-ran into a proper England prospect.

SPURS ON TOP IN NORTH LONDONThere can be no denying it any more, there has been a power shift in north London, and Spurs are now the superior team. They inflicted a fourth defeat of the season on Arsenal at White Hart Lane on Sunday, and rarely seemed troubled as they eased to victory. The Lilywhites are now sixth in the table and the Gunners a lowly 15th. The only thing missing for Tottenham fans was a goal from former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor to rub salt into the wound. Given the febrile nature of the atmosphere the fact that he didn't score was probably something of a relief for the matchday security teams. In any event both Harry Redknapp and Arsene Wenger were moved to condemn some of the unpleasant chants that came from both sets of fans.

UNITED WIN UGLYAnders Lindegaard took time out from "picking his nose" (as he so charmingly put it) at Manchester United to don the gloves as Norwich visited Old Trafford. He ended up a lot busier than he or Alex Ferguson would have expected as the Canaries wasted a host of chances to shock the league leaders before normal service was resumed and United ended up 2-0 winners. Despite the win United have lost their mojo in the last couple of weeks and no longer look unbeatable. The biggest concern for Fergie is at the back where the absence of Nemanja Vidic is increasingly worrying.

IS RIO ON THE WAY OUT?Frank Lampard may be raging against the dying of the light, but for one of his contemporaries the end may be in sight. Rio Ferdinand was left out of Fabio Capello's quad to play Montenegro on Friday, despite actually being fit for a change. A year ago the 32-year-old was England captain but this weekend he was on the bench for Manchester United, and Capello apparently now sees the 81 cap veteran as surplus to requirements, opting instead for youngsters like Gary Cahill and Ferdinand's team mate Phil Jones.

YOUR NUMBER'S UP CARLOSAny lingering hopes for a reconciliation between Manchester City and Carlos Tevez would have been dispelled by a quick look at the City squad list on the matchday programme. Tevez has the shirt number 32 but on the list that number had been allocated to reserve keeper Costel Pantilimon, whose name also appeared next to the number 30 shirt. City claimed it was a printing error, but it was quite a convenient one. There were few printing errors on the anti-Tevez banners on display among the City fans at Ewood Park, making it clear that as far as they are concerned he is persona non grata.

MORE STICK FOR THE TOFFEESEverton boss David Moyes must feel as though the world is against him after seeing Martin Atkinson issue Jack Rodwell with a straight red card 23 minutes into the Merseyside derby on Saturday. The decision was greeted with mystification in most quarters and became the defining moment of what was shaping up to be an even contest. That Everton hung on until midway through the second half before conceding a goal is testament to their team spirit.

TAARABT's TOYS come OUT OF THE PRAMHe has yet to light up the Premier League with the kind of flair he displayed in the Championship last season, but QPR's temperamental genius Adel Taarabt fulfilled the first part of his brief on Sunday by storming out of Craven Cottage after being substituted at half time. Fulham took Rangers apart, winning 6-0, but afterwards the talk was about Moroccan Taarabt. But QPR manager Neil Warnock was uncharacteristically diplomatic and said: "I've more worries than any individual when you lose 6-0. I don't think you can blame Adel Taarabt today... You get days when Adel comes off. You're going to get days when he throws his toys out the pram, but that isn't a worry for me. If I sub somebody and they are happy, then I have more of a problem with that." ·