Ipswich got a pretty brutal reminder of the jump in quality at Old Trafford. They actually scored first and had a crack, but once United got rolling they were opened up badly. There’s still plenty to like about the way Ipswich approach games, but they can’t afford to be that loose against another side with serious attacking weapons.

Liverpool are somehow still looking for their first league win after another 2-2 draw, this time against Forest. The attack is starting to look much sharper, particularly with Isak involved, but they’re still giving teams far too many chances.

Ipswich at home will make this uncomfortable, but Liverpool are eventually going to turn all that attacking quality into three points.

Newcastle suddenly look very interesting. After holding Liverpool in Week 1, they went to Spurs and comfortably put them away. Wissa and Elanga are already looking dangerous, and the new manager seems to have pulled the squad together far quicker than expected after a messy summer.

Bournemouth have been competitive without getting the reward yet. They pushed City in the opener and were seconds away from beating Everton before Tarkowski pinched a late equaliser.

This shouldn’t be easy, but Newcastle at St James’ Park look like the stronger side right now.

Brentford came crashing back down after flogging Spurs, although a draw away at Leeds is hardly a disaster. They controlled plenty of the game and still look like a well-drilled side that knows exactly what it’s trying to do.

Sunderland bounced back beautifully from the Ipswich loss and ground out a win over Fulham. Nothing spectacular, but after last season’s heroics it’s encouraging that they already look capable of winning ugly as well.

Brentford at home gets the lean, but Sunderland are good enough to turn this into a horrible afternoon.

Brighton somehow scored three at Stamford Bridge and still went home with nothing. Their attack remains absolutely lethal, but conceding four is generally considered a minor tactical inconvenience.

Leeds remain unbeaten after taking a point off Brentford. They haven’t looked remotely overawed by being back in the Premier League and already seem much better equipped for this level than plenty expected.

The Amex swings it towards Brighton, but Leeds are playing well enough that this is no banker.

Two games, two losses for Fulham. They were lively against Chelsea but then followed it up with a flat performance at Sunderland, which is exactly the wrong direction to be travelling.

Palace have also started badly. Everton beat them comfortably, then City turned up and put four past them. In fairness, City are making most sides look stupid at the moment, but Palace desperately need something positive before this gets uncomfortable.

Neither side has given me much reason to trust them, so I’m taking the wonderfully brave option of backing neither.

City look frightening already. Haaland and Cherki both scored twice in the demolition of Palace, and they’re now two from two despite still adjusting to life under Maresca. Cherki in particular looks like he could become an absolute menace this season.

Coventry have had about as cruel an introduction to the Premier League as possible. Arsenal away first, then a narrow loss to Hull. They haven’t looked completely out of place, but travelling to City while searching for your first point is a fairly disgusting fixture.

There isn’t much to overthink here.

Forest were much better at Anfield than they had been against Leeds. They led twice, caused Liverpool plenty of problems and were unlucky not to leave with all three points. That’s a pretty decent response after a poor opening weekend.

Spurs are already approaching comedy territory. Two league games, two losses, zero goals. The Newcastle performance was better in patches, but they fell apart after half-time again. De Zerbi has inherited a massive job despite the club throwing more than £300m at the squad.

Forest at home against a side whose confidence already looks shot? I’ll take them.

Hull might be the story of the opening fortnight. They shocked United, then backed it up by beating Coventry late. Six points, two clean sheets, and suddenly the promoted side everyone had pencilled in for relegation is sitting near the top of the bloody table.

Villa finally looked more competitive against Arsenal, but they still lost and still haven’t scored. Given how heavily the squad was stripped over summer, Emery is basically rebuilding the plane while flying it. There was improvement against Arsenal, just not enough of it.

On paper Villa have more talent. Based on what we’ve actually watched so far, Hull deserve to be taken seriously.

Everton have quietly made a solid start. They beat Palace, then were good enough to steal a late point at Bournemouth. Nothing spectacular, but they look difficult to knock over.

United finally woke up against Ipswich. After that embarrassing opening loss at Hull, Bruno Fernandes responded with a hat-trick as United smashed five past Ipswich. Suddenly the attack has a few more moving pieces again.

This is a much tougher test than Ipswich at Old Trafford. Everton will make it ugly and I’m not convinced United are fixed after one good afternoon.

Easily the game of the round.

Arsenal are two from two without really needing to hit top gear. They smashed Coventry, then went to Villa Park and ground out a one-goal win. That’s exactly the sort of boringly efficient stuff champions do while everyone else is busy turning matches into circus acts.

Chelsea are the circus act, except it’s currently working. They’ve scored seven goals in two league games and beat Brighton 4-3 in an absolute belter. Alonso has them attacking with freedom again, but they still haven’t discovered the mysterious concept of keeping a clean sheet.

Chelsea can absolutely hurt Arsenal, but the difference so far is obvious: Arsenal look balanced, Chelsea look explosive. At the Emirates, I’ll take balance.