Manchester City were magnificent in their 7-2 thrashing of Stoke, which meant they opened a two-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Earlier on Saturday, their city rivals United drew 0-0 at arch-rivals Liverpool, before champions Chelsea suffered a surprise loss at Crystal Palace, who recorded their first league win of the season and scored their first goals.

Watford continued their good start to the season with a 2-1 win over Arsenal, whose north London rivals Tottenham remained in third with a 1-0 defeat of Bournemouth.

Elsewhere Swansea beat Huddersfield 2-0 and there were draws at Burnley, Brighton and Southampton.

You can see the thinking behind my team below but, first, have a go at picking your own team of the week.

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Goalkeeper - David de Gea (Manchester United)

No goalkeeper made more saves in the Premier League this weekend than the Spaniard (five). He has kept seven clean sheets this season, two more than any other keeper

Unfortunately for United it's a while since they had a team capable of reclaiming the trophy they used to win on such a regular basis. But if you are going to win the Premier League you need a world-class goalkeeper to do it, and I think we all agree that David de Gea is in that class.

His save from Liverpool defender Joel Matip with his feet was unbelievable. I could never understand keepers who always felt they had to save every shot with a textbook save, fresh from the coaching manual, with their hands. I can assure you strikers get just as frustrated when a goalkeeper produces a world-class save with his feet.

Former United keeper Peter Schmeichel used his feet better than most, but the greatest of them all must have been Pat Jennings. The former Northern Ireland international was a master at keeping the ball out of the net with judicious use of his feet. De Gea is a close second, and the only reason United got a point at Anfield.

Defender - Phil Jones (Manchester United)

Jones made more clearances (seven) and interceptions (four) than any other United player at Anfield

When I saw Marcus Rashford and Juan Mata on United's bench, my initial thought was Jose Mourinho had better get a result. If you were a United fan having travelled to Anfield only to hear the manager had left Rashford and Mata - two of your most creative artists - on the bench, your heart must have sank. And if that wasn't infuriating enough, watching United play with such caution against one of your biggest rivals must have nearly killed you.

However, what is exciting me is watching Phil Jones getting better with every game. The England defender made a couple of first-class decisions in the first half, on the edge of United's penalty area, when he refused to take the bait and make an inappropriate challenge. Instead, he stood up and gave the striker the problem by refusing to commit himself.

Defenders who pose questions to strikers are often the best defenders, and that is what Jones is doing more and more these days. It is an easy evaluation to make in the cold light of day, but not in front of 53,000 people demanding you do something. Sometimes in that situation, giving the striker the option often presents him with biggest problem of all.

Defender - Per Mertesacker (Arsenal)

Mertesacker scored his first Premier League goal for 1,400 days and made three blocks against Watford - no other player made any in the match

I don't often select defenders on losing sides, but this week I have to make an exception.

During the game at Vicarage Road, I saw the most exquisite ball played from Arsenal's central defence to send Alex Iwobi away on the right. It was such an composed pass from the defender, I craned my neck to find out who it was. I was amazed to see it was none other than Per Mertesacker who was responsible for such a sophisticated ball. I don't know why I was so surprised, the 'Big Friendly German' is set to head Arsenal's academy next season, so such erudition should be par for the course.

I was also shocked to see Mertesacker starting the game, and with the captain's armband. It was like rolling back the years to the days when he used to appear regularly in my team of the week! This defender is clearly very clever. He never overextends himself and appears a model professional. His headed goal against Watford was like taking candy from a baby - what a mismatch asking Tom Cleverley to mark Mertesacker on a set-piece. That's like asking Ryan Giggs to fight Mike Tyson!

Defender - Mamadou Sakho (Crystal Palace)

Palace's win percentage with Sakho in the team is 50% this season (two wins in four) compared to 17% without him (one win in six) in all competitions

This lad was outstanding for Crystal Palace last season, and almost single-handedly turned their season around. There have been two different managers since his return to Selhurst Park, but the former Liverpool player looks like he's never been away.

Much to the relief of Palace fans, Sakho has signed for the Eagles on a permanent basis. The price tag (£26m) was a little on the high side in my view, but if Kyle Walker is costing £50m, it's hardly surprising Liverpool wanted so much, which is probably why the deal didn't go through until the last day of the transfer window. Against a Chelsea side desperate to keep in touch with the league leaders, Mamadou Sakho was as solid as ever and made striker Michy Batshuayi look ordinary.

Make no mistake, Sakho is arguably the most competitive defender in the league and is just as popular with Palace fans as he was at Anfield. However, I find it inconceivable that Chelsea manager Antonio Conte finds himself with only one player to replace injured forward Alvaro Morata. Batshuayi is simply not ready to lead the line for a team like Chelsea, while Spurs have a man sitting on their bench - Fernando Llorente - who might. Madness.

Midfielder - Joe Gomez (Liverpool)

Liverpool have kept six clean sheets in the 10 Premier League matches Gomez has started

I don't know how Mourinho has the nerve. I remember him slamming former West Ham manager Sam Allardyce for "parking the bus" having seen the Hammers produce a brilliant display at Stamford Bridge some years ago. He has also used the term to describe other performances by those who insist on containing the opposition and have refused to play an open game against his teams. So forgive my annoyance when Mourinho adopts the same tactics to save his own behind on occasions.

Thankfully, Liverpool did their best to make a game of it and none more so than the impressive Joe Gomez. This is a young, versatile English player who can play as a full-back or in central defence. What I like about him is he can actually defend, which is a rare quality in Liverpool's defence these days. He saw off Anthony Martial and later gave Marcus Rashford something to think about in a game in which Liverpool were allowed to dominate the play. Sir Alex Ferguson would never have subjected United fans, or one of his teams, to such a cowardly display, especially at Liverpool.

United going to Anfield looking for a draw? Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola must be laughing himself to sleep.

Midfielder - Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)

De Bruyne now has 32 Premier League assists since his debut - more than any other player

When Guardiola talked about Manchester City having the "wow factor", he wasn't kidding. Poor Tom Edwards will remember his debut for the rest of his life, and for all the wrong reasons. The Stoke full-back must have felt a million dollars before the game, and wondered what had hit him afterwards. I think the name that will stay with young Edwards for some considerable time will be Kevin de Bruyne.

The Belgium international produced a performance in the Zinedine Zidane class. His range of pass and ability to carve open Stoke's defence was sublime. The pass for Leroy Sane that led to City's second goal was one of those balls that makes a football crowd gasp because no-one other than De Bruyne saw it coming. As for the ball to Gabriel Jesus for City's fourth goal - well, you will not see a better pass.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, he produces a ball for Sane, who politely accepts the gift to convert yet another assist. Guardiola didn't need to substitute De Bruyne, he simply could have left him on the pitch and no-one would have thought anything of it. But he didn't. Instead, he took the man of the match off so both sets of fans could give him the standing ovation his performance deserved. Now that's management.

Midfielder - Tom Cleverley (Watford)

Cleverley notched his first Premier League goal since April 2016, winning the game for Watford in the 90th minute

What a wonderful compliment from Troy Deeney to announce in his post-match interview that not only was Tom Cleverley the best player on the pitch against Arsenal, but he has been Watford's best player so far this season. It struck me at that point that there must be a special team spirit at Watford at the moment for the captain to deflect the compliments directed to him for the victory over Arsenal to his team-mate. Cleverley looked suitably embarrassed, but he shouldn't have done.

The former Manchester United and Everton player has found himself at Watford. His spells at Old Trafford and Goodison Park were interesting affairs, but now he looks so much more accomplished in a way he never did at his previous clubs. The Hornets are fourth after this win over Arsenal, but we must not let the controversy surrounding that win alter the view that manager Marco Silva is doing a remarkable job, and he is doing it very Cleverley.

Midfielder - Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

Sterling has had a hand in eight goals in his past six Premier League games (six goals, two assists) - scoring one and assisting two against Stoke

What's happened to Raheem Sterling? I have not seen this sort of performance from the young man since his early days at Liverpool. I did see a flash of this overwhelming confidence when he snatched the ball from Sergio Aguero, to the amazement of the striker, to take a penalty in their demolition of Watford. I also saw a snippet away at Bournemouth when he scored City's winner in the dying seconds.

However, I am now seeing the sort of growth in the player commensurate with his talents. Sterling has always been far too anxious in front of goal, but not any more it would seem. Guardiola has got the player (he's not just a winger any more) to settle down and be far more controlled in certain situations. It may even be the arrival of younger players such as Sane and Gabriel Jesus that has helped Sterling feel more at home in an otherwise pressurised environment. Whatever the reason, it's great to see.

When Sterling left Anfield he couldn't have imagined that his development at City would have been such a struggle. However, under Guardiola the England international looks far more accomplished. The question now is can Gareth Southgate get him to do the same for the national team.

Forward - Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)

Gabriel Jesus is averaging a 'goal involvement' every 63 minutes in the Premier League - scoring 13 goals and assisting five in just 1,130 minutes

Manchester City might have found another Ronaldo. He moves like the former Brazil and Real Madrid striker, and definitely has the same eye for goal. With De Bruyne cast as Zinedine Zidane, and playing like him, Gabriel Jesus will have access to all the ammunition he needs to steal the Golden Boot from Tottenham striker Harry Kane, Manchester United's Romelu Lukaku or even City team-mate Sergio Aguero.

At 20 years of age, this lad is embarrassingly brilliant and looks like he could be central to City's European dreams. As for the domestic scene, City fans must be giving United fans hell. They are top of the league and playing the sort of football other teams can only imagine. I have picked Manchester United for the title, but having seen such a gutless performance by Mourinho at Liverpool, I think I may have made a mistake.

Nevertheless, I will stick to my guns on the basis that even Mourinho must recognise there is far more at stake than winning the Premier League title. It's called kudos; football is nothing without the glory. It has never been just about winning that matters to football fans. It's how you win that makes you sleep well at night.

Forward - Troy Deeney (Watford)

Deeney has scored in consecutive Premier League games against Arsenal - netting in each of Watford's past two victories over the Gunners

What a travesty. How did Arsenal lose at Vicarage Road? According to Deeney, it was all about who "fancied it". A popular expression among footballers which basically means when the going gets tough, who is up for the battle?

Deeney claims certain Arsenal men went missing - a point my favourite pundit Graeme Souness has made on a number of occasions when referring to Arsenal performances in the past. Nevertheless, this Arsenal defeat was down to a combination of an excellent substitution by Marco Silva, Deeney's cool head and a shocking penalty decision from referee Neil Swarbrick. This result will hurt Arsenal because, until the alleged offence by Hector Bellerin, the Gunners were cruising. How did Swarbrick get it so wrong? What did he see that the rest of us didn't?

When a referee makes such a bad decision, it presents a team with a great opportunity. For Deeney to place the ball so competently past Petr Cech, having been on the pitch for a matter of minutes, was impressive. Did Richarlison dive? Well, we can see from the TV replay he certainly wasn't tripped so it begs the question: did he deceive the referee by going down as though he had? It seems to me that the newly formed Football Association commission on this matter has a very important decision to make. Let's see if they can do better than Swarbrick.

Forward - Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)

Zaha netted the winning goal against Chelsea and only Mo Salah (eight) completed more dribbles than Zaha this weekend (six) in the Premier League

If anyone was under any illusion why fans miss the Premier League so badly during the international break, then Crystal Palace versus Chelsea would have solved that particular mystery. What a game.

Whenever the champions (in this instance Chelsea) visit Selhurst Park, the level of optimism rockets among the home support and that transfers itself to the players. What would have also been an additional shot in the arm for Palace fans, and they needed it after recent results, was the return of Wilfried Zaha from injury. Boy have they missed the Ivorian's pace.

He absolutely roasted defender David Luiz on at least two occasions and then continued to leave jet contrail all over the pitch. What must be most worrying for Bournemouth, Brighton, Leicester and Everton is Palace's ability to generate such an incredible atmosphere at Selhurst Park. Playing at home must be a dream if you are a Palace player or fan. When Palace and, in particular, Zaha are in this mood, anything is possible. Great ground, great fans.