The 8 best players of Premier League Gameweek 2 - ranked | OneFootball

Gameweek 2 of the 2024/25 Premier League season was another slate of fixtures filled with sublime team and individual performances.

Arsenal came through their trip to Villa Park unscathed as they kept pace at this early stage with Manchester City, who trounced Ipswich Town after being poked into action. Manchester United were beaten on the south coast, while there were wins for Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.

But which players were the most crucial to their respective sides' success? Here are 90min's best players of Gameweek 2 in the 2024/25 Premier League.

Rogers constantly drove forwards / Clive Mason/GettyImages

Morgan Rogers was perhaps unfortunate to be on the losing side as Aston Villa were downed by Arsenal.The home side couldn't take any of their chances as Ollie Watkins misfired up front, but the marauding runs of Rogers meant they were always asking questions of the visiting backline.They just couldn't break through but the 22-year-old should still be encouraged by his performance, which was full of enthusiasm and confidence.

7. Danny Welbeck

Welbeck brought up his century / Eddie Keogh/GettyImages

Brighton have been a bogey team for Manchester United in recent years and it was a former Red Devil who dealt his old side a hefty blow at lunchtime on Saturday.Danny Welbeck has carved out a place for himself on the south coast and brought up 100 senior club goals by getting on the end of Kaoru Mitoma's low cross.The Seagulls won it late on through Joao Pedro but Welbeck's restless running and poacher instincts got the ball rolling at the AMEX Stadium.

6. Erling Haaland

Haaland loves a hat-trick / Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/GettyImages

The comparisons with Thanos are obvious at this point. For Erling Haaland, scoring hat-tricks for Manchester City against newly promoted opposition is inevitable.The Norwegian proved far too much for the Tractor Boys to handle, becoming truly riled and awakened after Kieran McKenna's outfit had taken the lead.Haaland rattled in a penalty and grabbed two more goals, with his third a low drive from outside the area.

Son is up and running / Marc Atkins/GettyImages

Son Heung-min led from the front as Tottenham tore apart a wounded Everton in north London, scoring twice.The South Korean was rewarded for some committed pressing as he robbed Jordan Pickford and tapped in and was later the beneficiary as Micky van de Ven hit the accelerator, getting his second with a finish at the near post.Spurs were much more clinical than their opener against Leicester City as goals from Yves Bissouma and Cristian Romero wrapped up a 4-0 win.

4. William Saliba

Saliba made some crucial interventions / Clive Mason/GettyImages

Arsenal's defenders are the stuff of nightmares for opposition forwards these days, but some of the Gunners might have had fears heading into Saturday's crunch clash at Aston Villa.Unai Emery's side did the double over Arsenal last season but imposing centre-back William Saliba made sure there would be no three-peat, making some crucial interventions and last-ditch blocks.Mikel Arteta's troops are yet to concede a goal this season and it might be a while before they do on the strength of Saliba's performance alongside Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes and Jurrien Timber.

3. Luis Diaz

Diaz scored and assisted against Brentford / Michael Regan/GettyImages

It was a momentous day at Anfield as Arne Slot took charge of his first home game for Liverpool. Having been made to work for their first win at Ipswich Town, the Reds had much more control of Sunday's clash with Brentford.Ryan Gravenberch was excellent in central midfield but it was the contributions of left winger Luis Diaz that ultimately proved crucial to picking up a second win from two matches.The Colombian raced on to Diogo Jota's through-ball and finished to hand Liverpool a 13th-minute lead before turning supplier for Mohamed Salah in the second half.

2. Cole Palmer

It's Cold Palmer SZN / David Rogers/GettyImages

Cole Palmer gave his first ridiculous performance of the season in the thrashing of Wolves, looking a level above anyone who dared to go near him.The England international produced sharp turns to dart away from defenders and often found himself in acres of space. After he had put Chelsea ahead for the second time with a beautiful lob, he grabbed a further three assists with bizarrely similar passes which Wolves just could not figure out.The Blues will be plenty of fun to watch if their opponents are similarly haphazard to Gary O'Neil's side, with Palmer set to continue thriving under Enzo Maresca.

1. Noni Madueke

Madueke made Molineux his playground / Shaun Botterill/GettyImages

Noni Madueke should slag off the town Chelsea visit wherever they go for away days, given how he subsequently performed in the 6-2 drubbing of Wolverhampton Wanderers.He was booed at Molineux for posting "Everything about this place is s***" on Instagram before the match but didn't let it affect his performance, constantly getting in behind on the right wing and finishing from Palmer's assists.The former Tottenham Hotspur youth product bagged a hat-trick in 14 minutes of second-half action, helping the Blues completely blow away the hosts after a frantic opening 45 minutes had ended 2-2.