Manchester City Go Top as Hull City Make It Two From Two

The latest round of Premier League fixtures is in the books, and the early table already has an unfamiliar shape to it. Manchester City lead the way on goal difference from a Hull City side with a perfect record, while Tottenham Hotspur — pointless and goalless after two matches — prop up the division.

City cut loose at Selhurst Park

The round's stand-out scoreline came in south London, where Crystal Palace 1-4 Manchester City. According to the Premier League table, the win sends City to the summit with six points from two matches, six goals scored and two conceded — the best attacking return in the division so far.

For Palace, the numbers make grim reading: two defeats, one goal scored, six conceded and a place in 19th.

Confirmed results elsewhere

Two further scorelines were carried in our match data. Chelsea 3-2 Brighton & Hove Albion was the round's five-goal spectacle, and it puts the Blues on three points from their opening fixture, according to the table. Leeds United 0-1 Brentford handed the Bees a winning start that leaves them seventh.

Sunderland 0-0 Fulham completed the confirmed scorelines — a goalless share of the spoils on Wearside.

What the table tells us about the rest

Six fixtures finished without confirmed scorelines in our match data at the time of publication, but the Premier League table charts their impact clearly enough:

• Hull City won at Coventry City, making it two victories from two. The Tigers are the only side to have played twice without conceding — three scored, none against — while Coventry sit 17th, pointless and goalless.
• Newcastle United won at Tottenham Hotspur, a defeat that leaves Spurs 20th with two losses, no goals scored and five conceded.
• Arsenal won at Aston Villa, giving the Gunners three points and three goals from their opener; Villa drop to 18th.
• Ipswich Town won at Manchester United, leaving the Red Devils 16th with nothing to show for their first match, with Ipswich ninth.
• Liverpool drew with Nottingham Forest — a second stalemate in two for the Reds, who are 11th on two points, with Forest 12th on one.
• AFC Bournemouth hosted Everton with no confirmed scoreline in our feed; the table shows Everton fourth on four points from a win and a draw, with Bournemouth 13th on a single point.

The state of the table

According to the Premier League table, the top four reads Manchester City (six points, goal difference plus four), Hull City (six), Newcastle United (four) and Everton (four), with Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea and Ipswich Town among the sides on three.

The bottom four — Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Coventry — are all pointless, with Spurs rooted to the foot of the pile.

It remains early: ten of the 20 sides have played just once, according to the table, so the picture is still provisional. Even so, the round posed three questions worth carrying into the next set of fixtures — whether anyone can rein in City, whether Hull's defensive resolve lasts, and how quickly Tottenham find a first goal and a first point.