Manchester United and Chelsea lost further ground

Manchester City continue their winning start to the season with a victory over Watford. Raheem Sterling scored his City goal shortly after half time and Fernandinho added a second to ensure that City goes into the international break with a three points lead at the top of the table.

Champions Chelsea stuttering start continues as their lost 2-1 to Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge, only the second time in 100 home games under Jose Mourinho. All the scoring came in the second half with Bakary Sako putting Palace ahead only for Radamel Falcao to equalise. But it took the visitor only two minutes to restore their lead through Joel Ward.

Liverpool and Manchester United suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of West Ham and Swansea respectively.

Manuel Lanzini making his premier debut, got a dream start when he put West Ham ahead in the third minute. Mark Noble made in 2-0 after Lovren's mistake. Any hope of a fight-back was extinguished when Philippe Coutinho was sent off for two yellow card offenses. The numbers was even out when Mark Noble joined the Brazilian for an early shower. Diafra Sakho added a third just before the final whistle.

Over at Liberty Stadium, Juan Mata put the Red Devils ahead but the home team hit back in quick succession with goals from Andre Ayew and Bafetimbi Gomis.

Arsenal's poor conversion rate in front of goals continue as they struggled to beat Newcastle who had to play 74 minutes with 10 men, after Aleksandar Mitrovic got his marching order. The Gunners needed an own goal from Fabricio Coloccini to ensure they came away from St. James' Park with all three points.

Callum Wilson followed up his hat-trick the previous weekend with another goal to put Bournemouth in front. Jamie Vardy equalised from the spot on the 86th minute to maintain Leicester's unbeaten start to the season.

Yann M'Vila put Sunderland ahead at the Villa Park only for Scott Sinclair to hit a double before half-time. Jeremain Lens equalised for the visitor to share the spoils.

Tony Pulis, who was given a warm reception on his returned to Britannia Stadium, left his old hunting ground will all three points. Jose Salomon Rondon scored the only goal of the games after Stoke had Ibrahim Afellay and Charlie Adam sent off.

Southampton finally got their first win of season, a 3-0 victory over Norwich. Graziano Pelle scored on the stroke of half-time before Dusan Tadic added two more in the space of three minutes.

Tottenham was still searching for their first win as they were held to a 0-0 draw against Everton.

Top five performing team *
Manchester City: 7.3
Arsenal: 7.04
Swansea: 7
Southampton: 6.94
Leicester: 6.92

Top five performing players *
Riyad Mahrez (Leicester): 8.46
Bakary Sako (Crystal Palace): 8.36
Yaya Toure (Manchester City): 8.08
Pedro (Chelsea): 8.07
Aleksandar Kolarov (Manchester City): 8.04

*Statistics provided by WhoScored.com 

Liverpool and Manchester United lost perfect record

Before the start of the weekend ganes, there were four teams who had 100% from their first 2 games. At the end of it, only Manchester City gets to keep their perfect start in tact.

The Citizens follow up their 3-0 success over Chelsea with another impressive victory at Goodison Park with Aleksandar Kolarov and Samir Nasri scoring the goals.

Liverpool and Manchester United were held to goal-less draw against Arsenal and Newcastle respectively. Both Aaron Ramsey and Wayne Rooney had goals wrongly ruled out for outside.

Leicester and Riyad Mahrez continued their brilliant start to the season with the Algerian equalising after Dele Alli had given Tottenham the lead 60 seconds earlier.

Champions Chelsea finally got their first win of the season at The Hawthorns. Debutant Pedro Rodriguez opened the scoring and Diego Costa put Chelsea 2-0 ahead. James Morrison made up for his earlier missed penalty by pulling a goal back before Cesar Azpilicueta restored the Blues 2-0 advantage. James Morrison got his second of the night but West Brom could not find an equaliser against ten men Chelsea after John Terry was sent off.

Bournemouth scored their first Premier Leagues goals when Callum Wilson scored twice to put the newly promoted side 2-0 ahead. Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate levelled the score for the Hammers before Marc Pugh and Callum Wilson restored Cherries' 2-0 lead. Modibo Maiga pulled one back but forcing a draw proved too much for the home side who had Carl Jenkinson sent off.

Crystal Palace players scored all three goals in their 2-1 win over Aston Villa. Scott Dann put home side ahead only for Pape Ndiaye Souare to put through his own goalkeeper. Bakary Sako pops up with the winner to spare the Senegalese's blushes.

Watford got their third consecutive draw, helding Southampton 0-0 at Vicarage Road.

Matches between Norwich City vs Stoke City and Sunderland vs Swansea ended in a 1-1 draw.

Mame Biram Diouf put Stoke ahead in the 11th minute and Norwich replied through Russell Martin 17 minutes later.

Swansea scored on the stroke of half time, courtesy of Bafetimbi Gomis. Jermain Defoe replied to ensure Sunderland got their first point of the season.

Top five performing team *
Manchester City: 7.33
Liverpool: 7.12
Arsenal: 7.04
Swansea: 7.02
Watford: 7.01

Top five performing players *
Riyad Mahrez (Leicester): 9.22
Bakary Sako (Crystal Palace): 8.51
David Silva (Manchester City): 8.25
Pedro (Chelsea): 8.21
Yaya Toure (Manchester City): 8.14

*Statistics provided by WhoScored.com 

Liverpool, Man City and Man Utd wins

Finally the big kick off is here and normal service for weekends resumes.

The big four / five endured mixed results with only Manchester City making an early statement. The Citizens put West Brom to the sword with Yaya Toure (twice) and Vincent Kompany scoring the goals.

Holder Chelsea was held to a 2-2 by Swansea at Stamford Bride. The Blues led twice and had Courtois sent off.

Arsenal was humbled by West Ham at the Emirates Stadium. Both goals were results of Cech's mistake, the signing that many said tilt the title in the Gunners' favour.

Liverpool and Manchester United were hardly inspiring in their 1-0 victory. Liverpool needing a Coutinho superb goal and the Red Devils had Kyle Walker to thanks for the three points.

Steve McClaren's tenure as manager of Newcastle began with a 2-2 draw against last season surprise package, Southampton.

Leicester will try to avoid last season scrap and did their cause no harm with a opening 4-2 victory over Sunderland.

None of the newly promoted team manages a win. Watford earn a point with at 2-2 draw at Everton, while both Bournemouth and Norwich lost their home game against Aston Villa (0-1) and Crystal Palace (1-3) respectively.

Top five performing team *
1) Manchester City: 7.70
2) Leicester: 7.55
3) West Ham: 7.52
4) Watford: 7.42
5) Crystal Palace: 7.42

Top five performing players *
1) Riyad Mahrez (Leicester): 10.00
2) Marc Albrighton (Leicester): 9.31
3) Yaya Toure (Manchester City): 8.80
4) Adrian (West Ham): 8.78
5) Jamie Vardy (Leicester): 8.31

*Statistics provided by WhoScored.com

Six new faces to look out for

With the season to start in a couple of days, let us look at some of the new faces that could light up the Premier League.

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Jordan Ayew
Striker, Aston Villa

The man tasked with replacing Christian Benteke has goals in him. He scored 13 times in the Ligue 1 for FC Lorient.

His pace will offer Villa options on the flank as well.

Appearance: 29
Goals: 11
Assist: 5
WhoScored.com rating: 7.07

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Yohan Cabaye
Midfielder, Crystal Palace

Possibly the transfer coup of the summer, Cabaye will be linking up once again with manager Alan Pardew, after the pair enjoyed a successful stint together at Newcastle United from 2011 to 2014.

A great passer of the ball, Cabaye will also be adding goals to the London club. He scored 18 times in 93 appearances for Newcastle.

Appearance: 13
Goals: 1
Assist: 1
WhoScored.com rating: 7.06

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Memphis Depay
Forward, Manchester United

One of the most promising young players in the world, Louis Van Gaal was so eager to sign him up that a deal was done before the end of last season.

Top Scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie with 22 goals, Depay is a good dribbler with plenty of pace and packed a power long shot.

Appearance: 30
Goal: 22
Assist: 5
WhoScored.com rating: 7.92

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Georginio Wijnaldum
Midfielder, Newcastle

Newcastle third most expensive player, after Michael Owen and Alan Shearer, Wijnaldum captained PSV to the Eredivisie title last season and was crowned Dutch Footballer of the Year 2014/15.

The attacking midfielder had 19 caps for Netherlands and scored 56 goals in 152 appearances for PSV before arriving on Tyneside.

Appearance: 32
Goal: 14
Assist: 3
WhoScored.com rating: 7.47

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Dimitri Payet
Midfielder, West Ham

A sensational swoop. Payet was the star in the Marseille side that finished four in the Ligue 1 last season.

He topped the Ligue 1 assist chart with 17 assists and wasted no time in winning the fans over with his man-of-the-match performances in the pre-season friendlies against Southend United and Norwich.

Appearance: 35
Goals: 7
Assist: 17
WhoScored.com rating: 7.62

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Roberto Firmino
Forward, Liverpool

Firmino will add creativity and goals to Liverpool.

Known for his attacking prowess and dribbling ability, Firmino will add creativity and goals to a Liverpool side who was very dependent on Coutinho as a playmaking outlet last season.

The Brazilian can play across the front three.

Appearance: 33
Goal: 7
Assist: 10
WhoScored.com rating: 7.79

MOAN-inho at it again

A master of the mind game, Jose Mourinho had started his game before the season gets underway.

First he took a swipe at Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool for spending more money than his Chelsea and buying their way to the title.

He might have selective memory but to put records on the table, over the period between 2004 and 2014, no manager in the world has spend more money than the Portuguese during his spells with Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. His total spending, nearly €1bn, €22m more than his closest rival Carlo Ancelotti who succeeded him at Real

Second, after the Community Shield defeat at his nemesis Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, he said, "My opinion is the team that defends very well, that leaves their philosophy in the dressing room, changes their attitude, plays all the second half with nine players in front of the box, doesn’t concede and scores one goal, from that perspective they deserve to win.

"This is football. This is very good tactical organisation. Congratulations to them."

While Mourinho might seem to be praising Arsenal, it does not mask the fact he is critising Wenger for deploying the park-the-bus tactics, something which Mourinho has perfected and used frequently during big games en-route to the league title last season.

But is Arsenal really that bad?

Based on WhoScored.com statistic, the Blues' manager is far from being true.

Total Shots
Arsenal - 11
Chelsea - 14

Shots on Target
Arsenal - 5
Chelsea - 2

Pass Success
Arsenal - 75%
Chelsea - 80%

Aerial Success
Arsenal - 39%
Chelsea - 61%

Dribbles
Arsenal - 5
Chelsea - 11

Tackles
Arsenal - 11
Chelsea - 18

Possession
Arsenal - 43%
Chelsea - 57%

Knowing Mourinho, he will usually try to unnerve opponents whom he thinks is a threat to his Chelsea team. For him to pay such "tribute" to Arsenal, one can be sure that he sees Arsenal as a genuine contender.