It’s only the second week of the Premier League season, but there are already teams and individual players starting to make their mark on the new campaign. Tottenham and Manchester City have been the most impressive sides to date this season, but this week also witnessed good displays from West Ham and Sunderland. Chelsea notched up their second win out of two, but they have only played two promoted sides, they will face tougher tests in weeks to come, with a trip to Everton next weekend.
Goalkeeper:
Thibaut Courtois
The goalkeeping situation at Chelsea was one of the main talking points before a ball was kicked this season, but it looks like Jose Mourinho made the correct decision when he selected Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian had spent three seasons on loan at Atletico Madrid, in which time he has developed into one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He kept his first Premier League clean sheet this weekend against Leicester, producing a great display in the process. His main involvement was to smartly deny David Nugent after closing down the angle, this highlighted his awareness, while prevented Leicester an equaliser. There will be tougher tests ahead, but he has started the season well.
Defenders:
Alan Hutton
This is a player who has had a poor couple of years as he has been an unwanted man at Aston Villa and shipped out on loan across Europe, however he has started the season in excellent form after being brought in from the cold. He has always been a steady Premier League defender, but he appears to have added consistency to his play, while his determination to show Paul Lambert that he has been wrong in leaving him out has played a huge part in his performances. Hutton was the best player on the pitch on Saturday against Newcastle as he kept the highly talented Remy Cabella quiet. The full back looked dangerous going forward as well, providing two or three excellent deliveries.
Eric Dier
Nobody expected Eric Dier to start the way he has done at Tottenham. He has always been looked upon as a big talent, after coming through the Sporting Lisbon academy, and it was good to see him move back to England this summer, but many saw him as a squad player for Spurs. However it has been the opposite, he has started the first two matches, grabbing two goals in the process, becoming the first defender to score in his first two league matches in the Premier League. His goal at the weekend showed his excellent movement from set pieces as he made a poor delivery from Erik Lamela into a good one. He is only 20 years old and if he stays in the Spurs first team, he could make his England debut before too long as the national team is lacking in central defenders.
Jonas Olsson
West Brom were among the favourites for the drop at the start of the season, however a couple of draws has suggested they will again be tough to beat this campaign. Their defence was brilliant at the weekend as they managed to restrict a new look Southampton side to limited chances, with Jonas Olsson impressing. He is the experienced Premier League campaigner in the back four and that showed on Saturday as he marshaled the defence to a clean sheet, making several decent tackles and interceptions to stop promising attacks from the home side.
Danny Rose
Everybody was superb for Tottenham at the weekend as they convincingly beat QPR 4-0. Danny Rose was a particular highlight, especially after there were doubts about his ability to establish himself as a first team player at the club. Mauricio Pochettino has opted to field Rose ahead of Ben Davies so far this season and his faith was repaid on Saturday as the left back showed his class going forwards, providing a sumptuous ball for Emmanuel Adebayor to score the fourth goal of the afternoon. Meanwhile his passing and defensive contribution throughout were both excellent.
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