3 things we learned in the Premier League this weekend

As we wait patiently for Monday's meeting between Manchester City and Everton, theScore takes a look back at what happened in the English top flight's nine other matches this weekend.

Granit gets slammed in the Potteries

Granit Xhaka drew some praise in Arsenal's season-opening 4-3 win over Leicester City after teeing up Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud with assists late in the clash. The plaudits were overblown considering he was beaten in the air by Shinji Okazaki for Leicester's first goal, and, 24 minutes later, clumsily squandered possession in the lead-up to Jamie Vardy's tap-in.

Arsene Wenger, normally a stubborn supporter of his players, then fumbled for the pocket Xhaka should've assumed when addressing the issues in Saturday's 1-0 loss at Stoke City.

"This is a kind of night when you are angry because not only did we not score for the number of chances we had, we made stupid mistakes centrally - first by losing the ball and then we didn't defend properly for the goal," Wenger said.

Jese Rodriguez did saunter through a lush, Xhaka-less expanse of green grass en route to his classy 47th-minute winner. If the Real Madrid product shows his promise that was largely absent at Paris Saint-Germain and Las Palmas in the 2016-17 term, Stoke's otherwise insipid transfer window can be remedied by the loanee.

The Red Devils are fun again

Manchester United has been relentless in the opening two matches of the season, and there isn't a great upturn of quality in the club's opposition until after the October international break.

That's when we'll see United's title credentials truly tested:

But for now, Jose Mourinho's side is the pacesetter, and punished Swansea City's defence when it folded in the latter part of Saturday's meeting in Wales. Paul Pogba was at his imperious best in front of Nemanja Matic in midfield, Phil Jones and Eric Bailly were strong defensively, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan added his third and fourth assists in the new league conquest.

The results are magnificent, but the fans will also be delighted with the football. Rather than the sideways passing that has blighted the past few years, the game plan is executed with thrilling, breakneck speed, spearheaded by the turbocharged tank that is Romelu Lukaku.

Tottenham suffers Blues, not curses

Too many brazen conclusions are drawn from a final score.

Chelsea, the 2-1 victor at Tottenham Hotspur's temporary Wembley home on Sunday, was on the back foot for much of the tilt. Alvaro Morata was wasteful when he nodded wide with the goal at his mercy in the opening half, and Tiemoue Bakayoko clumsily hacked and clawed at Spurs' midfield, committing six fouls.

Related: Alonso's unlikely brace ruins Spurs' Wembley house-warming

Mauricio Pochettino will again have to fend off daft questions about a hoodoo at the Home of Football after the late loss, and Harry Kane was unlucky to not get on the scoresheet - he still hasn't bagged a competitive goal in August - but reading too much into supposed curses and such a narrow scoreline would be foolish.

Danny Rose can moan about his employer's transfer activity as much as he likes: Tottenham is in fine shape. A club keeping hold of its best players (with the exception of wantaway Kyle Walker) would be commended in any other country - Napoli, which shared a similar summer tact to Spurs, is being tipped as a title challenger in Serie A - but in the spendthrift Premier League it's stupidly seen as evidence of poor planning or backroom discord.

With a smart new stadium being built, and all its best players tied down to long-term contracts, Tottenham should be a case study on how to efficiently run a competitive Premier League outfit.

Around the grounds

Javier Hernandez did his best to make up for the stupidity of Marko Arnautovic, who was sent off for an elbow on Jack Stephens, but Southampton took all three points via Charlie Austin's injury-time penalty. Ten-man West Ham United did well to fight back from 2-0 down with its new Mexican forward's double, but his arrival may not be enough to avoid another dispiriting campaign.

Related: West Ham's 2nd season at London Stadium is going from promise to disaster

Watching Huddersfield Town used to be an utterly miserable experience but, through the earlier days of Lee Clark's managerial reign and the increased influence of now-chairman Dean Hoyle in the boardroom, attendance finally returned to a five-figure average in the 2008-09 season. Hiring David Wagner in 2015 was the real masterstroke, though, and the German oversaw a 1-0 win over Newcastle United on Sunday for a full complement of points to begin the top-tier crusade.

Elsewhere

• Bournemouth 0-2 Watford
• Burnley 0-1 West Bromwich Albion
• Leicester City 2-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
• Liverpool 1-0 Crystal Palace

Monday: Manchester City vs. Everton

Pep Guardiola's designs were torn up by his old mentor at Barcelona, Ronald Koeman, in humiliating fashion at Everton last season. Academy product Tom Davies ran rings around Yaya Toure in the mid-January 4-0 defeat of Manchester City, but both teams should have a very different look after a summer of vast expenditure. This is certainly one to watch.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)