T

wo games into the new Barclays Premier League season and with two 0-0 draws against Sunderland and Stoke to their name, the Gunners haven’t exactly had an ideal start to the campaign.

However, it hasn’t been all doom and gloom for Arsene Wenger’s men, who lost Robin van Persie and Alex Song earlier in the summer, as they have showed some very promising signs in their opening two games.

Santi Cazorla has enjoyed a lively start to life at the Emirates Stadium and is already forming a good
understanding with compatriot Mikel Arteta in the Gunners’ engine room, while Germany international, Lukas Podolski, has been very dangerous whenever he’s on the ball.

The final piece in the jigsaw appears to be Olivier Giroud, who has been misfiring so far and has a lot of improving to do if he is to fill the sizeable void left behind by Van Persie.

Liverpool, on the other hand, played very well against Manchester City last Sunday and was unlucky not to come away with all three points after Carlos Tevez pounced on a Martin Skrtel error to steal a share of the spoils for his side.

Still, there were plenty of positives for new Reds’ boss Brendan Rodgers to take from the game,
including a blistering first-league start from 17-year-old Raheem Sterling and an accomplished performance from summer signing, Joe Allen.

Given Arsenal full-backs’ love to push forward whenever possible, Rodgers would do well to give Sterling another go at Anfield on Sunday, as he could just be the man to carve open the opposition defense given his pace, skill on the ball and sheer penetration.

Manchester United got their first win of the campaign on Saturday after beating Fulham 3-2, but the win was overshadowed by an injury to Wayne Rooney, who received a nasty gash on his thigh after Hugo Rodallega accidentally landed on him with his studs.

And while Rooney could miss up to two months, the Red Devils have incredible depth in their attacking stocks and Sir Alex Ferguson is unlikely to be too worried in the absence of the England international.

Van Persie, who opened his United account against the Cottagers with a sublime strike, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez are all capable of finding the back of the net on a regular basis, and should Dimitar Berbatov remain at Old Trafford beyond Friday, he could well prove to be a wild card at least until the transfer window opens again in January.

Finally, Tottenham will be looking for their first win of the campaign when they entertain Norwich on Saturday and already, the pressure is mounting on Andre Villas-Boas, who has led his new side to just one point from their opening two games.

In his defense, Spurs did alright in the 2-1 loss to Newcastle but they really should have beaten West Bromich Albion at the weekend, where they were let down by some very poor finishing.

Plenty will depend on what kind of last-minute deals Villas-Boas will be able to broker, especially now that he has cash to splash following Luka Modric’s £33 million (US$52.2 million) move to Real Madrid.

With Moussa Dembele’s move to White Hart Lane a done deal, and Hugo Lloris likely to follow, Spurs could actually have a strong enough squad capable of matching last
season’s fifth-place finish.

Otherwise, it could be a long season for the Tottenham faithful.

Former Liverpool and England International Steve McMahon is a soccer expert with ESPN. Catch him on The Verdict on Mondays at 8 p.m. and on ESPN’s coverage of the Barclays Premier League.