3 talking points from Premier League matchday 2

Liverpool needed more late heroics to keep pace with Arsenal and Tottenham at the top of the Premier League as 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha snatched a dramatic 3-2 win for the Reds at Newcastle on Monday.

Arsenal were far more convincing in a 5-0 demolition of Leeds, but Spurs produced the performance of the weekend as they eased to a 2-0 win at Manchester City.

AFP Sports looks at the major talking points from the second round of Premier League fixtures:

Clinical Liverpool playing with fire

Liverpool are yet to drop a point in their title defence, but could easily have failed to win both their opening games as Arne Slot is yet to strike the right balance between his high-powered attack and a struggling defence.

Slot's men also struck twice late on to beat Bournemouth 4-2 on the opening night of the season.

Newcastle dominated most of the match at St. James' Park despite going down to 10 men in the first half when Anthony Gordon saw red.

Ngumoha's emergence adds to the wealth of attacking talent on offer to Slot, who started all of Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike.

Newcastle's wantaway star striker Alexander Isak could also yet arrive at Anfield for a British transfer record fee this week.

But Arsenal will be confident of picking off their title rivals in Sunday's showdown at Anfield unless Liverpool immediately improve.

Frank's solid Spurs foundations

Tottenham's decision to sack Ange Postecoglou despite the Australian ending the club's 17-year trophy drought has paid immediate dividends under Thomas Frank.

The former Brentford boss masterminded a controlled and commanding display at City on Saturday to secure maximum points from his opening two league games in charge without conceding.

That defensive discipline is a world away from the high-wire act of Postecoglou's reign, which combined Europa League glory with Tottenham's worst league finish since 1976/77.

"It is a big thing we've been working on, the defensive side of the game," said Frank. "(With) clean sheets you are closer to win the game."

Frank also came within minutes of starting his reign with a trophy before conceding twice late on to European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup.

The Dane has shown his tactical flexibility by changing his approach for a 3-0 home win over Burnley last weekend, either side of a more counter-attacking gameplan against PSG and City.

Postecoglou also got off to a flying start two years ago and Frank is yet to experience the strains of Champions League football on a squad that was decimated by injuries last season.

But he has silenced any doubters of the decision to axe Postecoglou with a spectacular start built on solid foundations.

Grealish feels the love at Everton

Jack Grealish has been handed a fresh start to spearhead a new era for Everton and got off to the perfect start with a man-of-the-match display as the Toffees christened the Hill Dickinson Stadium with a 2-0 win over Brighton.

Grealish created both goals, scored by Iliman Ndiaye and James Garner, to register more assists in one game than he had for Manchester City in the entirety of last season.

Just four years ago City paid a then British transfer record £100 million ($135 million) for Grealish from Aston Villa.

But he slowly slipped down the pecking order under Pep Guardiola and conceded he needed to feel the love from his manager and a home crowd again.

"The main thing was to enjoy football and enjoy playing every day. I think maybe at times in the last couple of years I’ve not fallen out of love but didn't enjoy football as much as I should," said Grealish.

"I want to have that feeling again when you get up on a match day and can’t wait to get out there. That's how I felt today and hopefully my performance showed that."

Grealish has already been taken to Evertonian hearts and is the marquee signing the club hope will bring a new 53,000 capacity crowd to its feet.