MANCHESTER City bounced back from last weekend’s defeat at Tottenham with a commanding 5-0 victory over Norwich at the Etihad on Saturday.

Much tougher tests await for City, but the way the champions overran Norwich showed they might be starting to find their form after a disappointing start to the season at Tottenham, where they lost 1-0 last weekend.

Jack Grealish marked his home debut for City by scoring the second goal. Second-half goals by Aymeric Laporte and substitutes Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez completed a win that was set on its way by an own-goal from Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul.

“Still we are not in our top form,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “Still we have many things to do.”

Two teams have started with two straight victories and one of them is among City’s big rivals for the English Premier League (EPL) title.

Liverpool beat Burnley 2-0 through goals by Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane. That came a week after its 3-0 win at Norwich, whose return to the top flight couldn’t have gotten off to a tougher start.

Brighton is the other team with six points after beating Watford 2-0.

Since the last time there was a full house at Anfield — in March 2020 — Liverpool has won the league title for the first time in 30 years and relinquished it to Man City.

Liverpool’s fans were back in force and there was something of a celebratory atmosphere against Burnley, which had claimed a shock victory in the same fixture last season to end Liverpool’s 68-game unbeaten run at Anfield in the league.

Jota scored for the second straight game to put Liverpool ahead and Mane converted a pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold to seal the three points.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp expressed his concern after the game about the directive that looks to be pushing referees to let games flow more this season and therefore involve fewer interruptions by VAR. He was unhappy about aggressive challenges by Burnley’s players.

“Watch wrestling if you like these kind of things,” Klopp said.

Shane Duffy marked his return to Brighton’s team by setting up the win over Watford with a thumping header.

It was a first Premier League goal since November 2019 for the Ireland center back, who spent last season on loan at Celtic after making just 12 starts in two years.(SD-Agencies)