Not much to go on, but enough to write about

And so Ronaldo's absence hits home earlier in the season than Sir Alex might have imagined. Tonight's game at Turf Moor was the sort of game that Ronaldo would have found some way to salvage-if not through the penalty missed my Michael Carrick, then maybe through a more convincing header that that attempted by Berbatov late in the 2nd half. It's only been 2 games, but Man Utd have only managed 1 goal in total in their games against Birmigham and Burnley, and haven't exactly looked like they were worthy of much more. While the return of Ferdinand and Vidic will undoubtedly make them a better team, it won't necessarily open the floodgates at the other end of them team. Some stats to ponder-Wayne Rooney has never scored more than 16 goals in a season, Bernatov's record in the Premier League is about 1 in 3, and Michael Owen has not scored a goal since January.

The most impressive team so far (based on 2 games Arsenal fans!) is surely Spurs-a deserved home win against some people's favourite's Liverpool and a 5-1 thrashing of Hull at the KC, along with impressive starts by Bassong, Palacios and Defoe suggests Harry Redknapp may have a team to be reckoned with-and a more impressive squad than nearly any other team I can think of in the Premier League-with nearly 2 quality players to cover every position.

Liverpool made an inauspicious start-losing at Spurs with a sub-par performance from Torres and a general lack of quality in their midfield. Alberto Aquilani better get fit quick, and better be worth the £20m spent to bring him to Anfield. Still, Liverpool got back on track tonight, with a 4-0 win at home to Stoke, and a goal from Glen Johnson-which will surely please Liverpool fans greatly-given that many (like me) do not believe he was bought for his defensive qualities. Stories of Rafa being left with £1.5m to spend and subsequently storming out of the club have been doing the rounds today-tonight's win was extremely timely.

Signs for Portsmouth appear ominous-no end to the ownership saga in sight, and with the transfer deadline fast approaching, they could find themselves in dire straits by the time they can strengthen their squad. Narrow and perhaps unfortunate losses at home to Fulham and away to Birmingham also wouldn't fill me with confidence about their prospects, especially when looking at the results to date of the 3 promoted teams, who may be able to put up more of a fight than I first imagined.

If Arsenal produce many more performances like last Sunday's 6-1 thrashing of Everton, then I guess I will have to revise my opinion of them (as will many other 'experts'). When things click for this team, they are capable of great things. I'll wait a few more games before I see if they have improved on last season. For Everton, things are bad. Shipping 6 goals on opening day in front of your home fans is a sign that things can only get better, right? Maybe not. In what is turning into an increasingly ugly saga, wantaway Jolean Lescott was left out of their squad for a Europa League game-with David Moyes leaving us in doubt as to why. Surley Everton should just take the money offered by Man City and spend a (relatively) small portion of it on a Steven Taylor, Matthew Upson, Michael Turner, or, perhaps even extract old Goodison favourite Richard Dunne from City in a cash plus player deal. Lescott is good, but Everton have 2 pretty good centre halves as it stands (when Jagielka returns from injury), and there is a danger that this episode could continue to destabilise a club that will be under a lot of pressure from others for their top 6 place (a feat they have managed in 4 of the last 5 years).

And so to Chelsea. Things did not look great for much of the afternoon against Hull-and indeed look worse when compared to Tottenham's result against the same team, but, winning doesn't have to be pretty I guess. Still, the lack of fluidity and dynamism that has dogged Chelsea for the past few seasons was very much evident against Hull. However, things improved markedly aginst Sunderland, even Steve Bruce was quick to give Chelsea plaudits for an impressive display. Time will tell if Carlo's diamond is a real gem, and also whether Deco's sparkling display was nothing more than a flash in the pan.