It was not a vintage start to the Premier League season for the capital’s representatives, with 16 goals against their name with only one round of games gone.
Tottenham were the only London side to keep a clean sheet, and they had the advantage of playing almost half of their 2-0 win against 10 men after Newcastle captain Jonjo Shelvey’s stamp on Dele Alli.
Arsenal were the only other capital winners, though their 4-3 triumph over Leicester raised more questions about whether they can muster the defensive integrity of champions. Watford also ended the weekend in credit after a late equaliser secured them a 3-3 draw with Liverpool.
The rest of the capital had little to shout about. Crystal Palace and West Ham prop up the first week table after their 3-0 and 4-0 losses to Huddersfield and Manchester United respectively whilst the mood at Chelsea is remarkably bleak for any reigning champion after their nine men fell to a 3-2 home defeat against Burnley.
Standard Sport assesses the capital’s top performers in our London Team of the Week…
GK: Hugo Lloris
Well the options were hardly exceptional for London goalkeepers, what with all Lloris’ rivals conceding three or more on the opening day. The Spurs captain didn’t even face three shots on Sunday but he exuded calm at St James’ Park and was dominant when Newcastle crossed from wide.
CB: Toby Alderweireld
In a match where Tottenham hogged possession Alderweireld was able to show off another side of his game. No player completed more passes than the 93 made by the Belgian as Spurs slowly wore down a determined by limited Newcastle.
CB: Jan Vertonghen
An even quieter afternoon for Vertonghen, who is a default selection as part of a backline that kept a clean sheet. He may not have made many memorable contributions but the 30-year-old also didn’t put a foot wrong.
In Pictures | Newcastle vs Tottenham | 13/08/2017
CB: Miguel Britos
Considering every other defence in the capital shipped three or more we have had to cast our net wider. At least Watford can point to Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane as their tormentors rather than the Burnley or Leicester attacks and Britos takes his place in our side for his stoppage time equaliser.
RWB: Kyle Walker-Peters
Whilst the man of the match prize he won may have been a tad generous Walker-Peters translated his impressive summer form with the England U20s to the senior game with ease against the dangerous Christian Atsu. The 20-year-old grew more dangerous in attack as the contest wore on and never made a mistake.
LWB: Ben Davies
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Securing Spurs’ victory with the second goal of the game is enough to earn Davies a place in the team even though the Welshman was otherwise a non-entity in attack. Certainly he offers nowhere near as much of an attacking threat as Danny Rose, though the 24-year-old was reliable in defence.
CM: Aaron Ramsey
No-one has gained more from Arsene Wenger’s switch to a back three than Ramsey, who finally has the licence to burst forward from deep without leaving a chasm in defence. His reputation was burnished by Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny’s travails without him whilst a well-taken equaliser capped a bright contribution off the bench.
CM: Mousa Dembele
The Premier League’s outstanding all-round midfielder was at his best on Sunday, bossing his way through midfield by committing Newcastle defenders in attack and stealing the ball back in defence. If Tottenham can keep him fit for a whole season they will be inestimably better off.
RF: Christian Eriksen
The Dane made something of a slow start at St James’ Park and spent too much of the first half trying to do it all himself, typified by a string of shots that did not test Rob Elliot. That all changed in an exceptional second period, where his gorgeous delivery for Dele Alli finally ended Newcastle’s rearguard.
LF: Alvaro Morata
It took Morata only 10 minutes to prove Antonio Conte had been too cautious in leaving his record signing among the inexperienced substitutes. A diving header from Willian’s cross was the mark of a poacher supreme. The flicked assist for David Luiz was even better. If he’d been given more time Chelsea might just have found an equaliser.
ST: Olivier Giroud
Arsene Wenger is spoilt for choice. All three of his senior strikers found the net in the 4-3 win over Leicester, each offering snippets of quality that suggest Arsenal might have their best frontline in over a decade. We’ll leave it to the Gunners boss to make the call and favour a striker who is “in his prime, at the top of his game”.
Honourable mentions: Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Alexandre Lacazette