North London lead the way at the top of the 2025-26 Premier League table following the first two gameweeks of the season, as Arsenal look down on their 19 top-flight rivals thanks to their 5-0 battering of Leeds United on Saturday.
Bitter adversaries Tottenham Hotspur are in a close second owing to their 2-0 beating of Manchester City, while Liverpool also have six points to show from a possible six but were handed a monumental fright in their smash-and-grab 3-2 winover Newcastle United.
Elsewhere, title outsiders Chelsea got off the mark with a 5-1 demolitionof London rivals West Ham United, but Manchester United will have to make it third time lucky after playing out a 1-1 drawwith Fulham.
Nottingham Forest also had to settle for a point in anidentical stalemate with Crystal Palace amid off-field turmoil, while Sunderland failed to make it two for two, losing 2-0 in the battle of the newly-promoted clubs with Burnley.
Meanwhile, Everton, Bournemouth and Brentford all got off the mark for the season at the second attempt; the Toffees christened the Hill Dickinson Stadium with a 2-0 success over Brighton & Hove Albion, the Cherries were 1-0 victors over Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the Bees took down Aston Villa by the same scoreline.
Here, Sports Mole selects its Premier League Team of the Week for gameweek two of the 2025-26 season.
Goalkeeper: Jordan Pickford (Everton)
England's undisputed number one was at his brilliant best to ensure Everton got off to the perfect start at their new home; from keeping out Danny Welbeck's penalty to making a terrific low stop from Matt O'Riley after a shocking backpass from James Tarkowski, Jordan Pickford was faultless.
⭐️ STAR PERFORMER OF THE WEEK ⭐️
Right-back: Jurrien Timber (Arsenal)
Another Arsenal goal from a corner!
Declan Rice with the cross, Jurrien Timber with the header ? pic.twitter.com/X8JEsSpq1f
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 23, 2025
Earning a perfect 10 rating from Sofascore, Jurrien Timber ought to be haunting the nightmares of Leeds fans for weeks to come, having notched a memorable brace from a pair of corners either side of a perfectly-weighted through ball to Bukayo Saka for the Englishman's effort.
Centre-back: Joachim Andersen (Fulham)
Had Matthijs de Ligt not been culpable for Emile Smith Rowe's equaliser at Craven Cottage, the Man United man would have been a surefire pick. Alas, the Dutchman let himself down at the vital moment, whereas Joachim Andersen was unwavering in the Fulham backline with eight clearances, two interceptions and eight accurate long passes from 12 attempts.
Centre-back: Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea)
There was a time not that long ago when Trevoh Chalobah's Chelsea career appeared to be coming to a close, but the 26-year-old has now proven his worth to Enzo Maresca and then some, firing home an instinctive finish in the hammering of West Ham while also winning five of his six duels on the ground and in the air combined.
Left-back: James Garner (Everton)
A second straight selection for Arsenal's invigorated Italian Riccardo Calafiori was tempting, but he is just pipped to the post by makeshift Everton left-back James Garner, who drilled home a fabulous second for the Toffees against Brighton while also coming up with nine clearances and two key passes at their new home.
Right midfield: Jaidon Anthony (Burnley)
Burnley's beating of Sunderland was very much a collective effort, but two men in particular were the catalysts for the Clarets; one of them was Jaidon Anthony, who teed up Josh Cullen for his side's first Premier League goal of the campaign before skipping past Robin Roefs and finishing into the roof of the net.
Central midfield: Joao Palhinha (Tottenham)
Oh my ?
A costly City mistake is capitalised on by Palhinha@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/HPkufm9Gyn
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) August 23, 2025
As much as James Trafford was to blame for Spurs' second at the Etihad, Bayern Munich loanee Joao Palhinha nevertheless found himself in the right place at the right time to drive home a deflected effort, and he did what he does best dirty-work wise with four tackles and two out of two aerial duels won.
Central midfield: Josh Cullen (Burnley)
The beneficiary of Anthony's helper in Burnley's success over Sunderland, captain Cullen was equally influential in the Clarets' opening victory of the season, producing a composed finish to trigger Turf Moor lift-off before repaying the favour to his winger with a wonderful lofted assist of his own.
Left midfield: Jack Grealish (Everton)
Given a new lease of life in a new shade of blue, Everton's marquee signing Jack Grealish played playmaker for both of the Toffees' efforts against Brighton, delivering a crisp ball for Iliman Ndiaye to fire home before laying off Garner for his delightful drive.
Centre-forward: Joao Pedro (Chelsea)
Triggering the captivating Chelsea comeback at the London Stadium, Joao Pedro demonstrated his aerial prowess to head home the Blues' equaliser against West Ham, before also setting up both Chalobah and Pedro Neto for a points haul that made many Fantasy Football managers very happy.
Centre-forward: Viktor Gyokeres (Arsenal)
Viktor Gyökeres scores his first Arsenal goal and what a goal this is ✨ pic.twitter.com/bpchneTaDY
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 23, 2025
The less said about Viktor Gyokeres's Premier League debut the better, but Arsenal's new number 14 found his shooting boots against Leeds with a fine solo effort and a ferocious spot kick in the second half, allowing him to make a quip with his quiff following the 'more hair touches than ball touches' jibe at Old Trafford.
SPORTS MOLE'S PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM OF THE WEEK
PL TOTW GW2
Sports Mole's Premier League Team of the Week (4-4-2): Pickford, Timber, Andersen, Chalobah, Garner; Anthony, Palhinha, Cullen, Grealish; Pedro, Gyokeres
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