MICHAEL OWEN often seems indispensable to Liverpool and England. The little striker was well marshalled by William Gallas for 89 minutes and 14 seconds at Anfield on Sunday, but one late lapse in concentration by the Chelsea defence allowed him to poach a last-minute winner to give Liverpool a 1-0 winner.

An EMILE HESKEY shot was tipped onto the post and Owen reacted quickest to score the rebound. STEVE GERRARD had earlier hit the Chelsea crossbar with a thumping drive by 30 yards.

"Strikers are paid to be on red alert from the first minute to the 90th," said Owen, who has now scored four times in his last two Premiership games.

Liverpool are second, Middlesbrough lie just behind them with UGO EHIOGU and GARETH SOUTHGATE looking one of the best defensive pairings in the league. Boro kept a clean sheet beating Bolton 2-0 at The Riverside with Ehiogu powering in the opening goal midway through the first half.

Sven was on goalkeeper watch over the weekend. He saw DAVID JAMES concede two by Stern John in West Ham's 2-1 defeat against Birmingham on Saturday. TREVOR SINCLAIR was also in The Hammers line-up.

DAVID SEAMAN was beaten only once for Arsenal on Sunday - Sven was in the crowd - but it mattered little as the champions beat Sunderland 3-1.

ASHLEY COLE'S excellent recent form continued and the left-back provided the perfect cross for Kanu's second goal. SOL CAMPBELL was his reliable self at the heart of the Arsenal defence.

Leeds keeper PAUL ROBINSON and central defender JONATHAN WOODGATE were the key reasons their side kept a clean sheet in a goalless draw at Aston Villa.

Villa forward DARIUS VASSELL felt hard done by though, he thought he had been brought down by Dominic Matteo when going on goal late on.

ALAN SMITH had one of his quieter days up front for Leeds in front of Tord Grip, while DANNY MILLS had an eventful afternoon, going close with a long-range shot then getting booked and finally keeping his cool after Dion Dublin tried to push him away. 

Chelsea's FRANK LAMPARD could hardly celebrate his recall to the squad. He was surrounded by his team-mates nursing the defeat at Liverpool when he got a call on his mobile from his dad saying he was in the England squad.

"He was obviously pleased but didn't want to make a song and dance about it because the Chelsea lads were disappointed by the result at Anfield," revealed dad Frank senior, who was himself capped twice by England while a player at West Ham.

The burgeoning reputation of WAYNE BRIDGE continued apace at St Mary's where England will play the second of their European Championship double-header, against Macedonia on October 16. The Southampton left-back showed great vision to set up both goals for Brett Ormerod in a 2-0 Saints win against Manchester City.

OWEN HARGREAVES was involved in Bayern Munich's 4-1 victory against Bochum in the Bundesliga on Saturday, KIERON DYER was in the Newcastle line-up which beat West Brom 2-1 also on Saturday.

NICKY BUTT, DAVID BECKHAM, GARY NEVILLE and PAUL SCHOLES will all be in action on Monday night when Manchester United face Everton.

SVEN WATCH - A capital weekend for the England coach. He was at Upton Park on Saturday to see Birmingham shock West Ham 2-1 and then checked on all his Arsenal players as they beat Sunderland 3-1 on Sunday.

Compiled by Joe Bernstein

Premiership results

Arsenal 3 Sunderland 1
Aston Villa 0 Leeds 0 Blackburn 1
Tottenham 2 Fulham 1
Charlton 0 Liverpool 1
Chelsea 0 Middlesbrough 2
Bolton 0 Newcastle 2 West Brom 1
Southampton 2 Manchester City 0
West Ham 1 Birmingham 2
Everton v Man Utd (playing Monday)