3 Up, 3 Down: Featuring Manchester United and Arsenal stars

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Up: Zlatan Ibrahimovic

All of the attention may have been on Pogba on friday night, but Manchester United’s superstar freebie stole the show once again with another brilliant performance.

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After scoring in both the Community Shield and his Premier League debut against Bournemouth, Ibrahimovic bagged his first double in England with a bullet header and a well taken penalty. Not only that, he linked up excellently with Wayne Rooney (who’s starting to look like a hungry forward again) and new man Pogba to cause Southampton many problems.

Many thought Ibrahimovic was too old to make an impact in England, but four goals in three matches suggest very much otherwise.

Up: Michy Batshuayi

A few seasons ago it would be unthinkable that a £33 million striker would start the season on the bench. Even more unthinkable would be that nobody is that surprised that such an expensive talent is out of Chelsea’s starting 11, but that hasn’t stopped Belgium’s Michy Batshuayi making a real impact in his first two matches.

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After coming off the bench to assist Diego Costa’s winner against West Ham United on Monday, Batshuayi made an even more telling contribution in Chelsea’s away win to Watford, where he tapped in to level the game before Diego Costa’s second winning goal in as many weeks.

In his brief time as a Premier League player, Batshuayi has shown the devastating affect he can have from the bench. His pace, power and ability in the air caused nightmares for the Watford defence, and his contributions have been a very significant factor in both of Chelsea’s opening two wins.

Not bad for a substitute.

Up: Shaun Maloney

When your club only has 13 senior outfield players, it must be fairly disappointing to be left on the bench. But despite failing to get on against Leicester last week and having to wait for his opportunity against Swansea, Hull City’s Shaun Maloney didn’t let it stop him from making a vital contribution to a remarkable second straight win for the Tigers.

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The diminutive midfielder changed the shape of a game that looked as if it was going Swansea’s way rather than Hull’s. His positivity caused the Swans defence no end of problems, and it was no surprise when he was in the right place at the right time to flick his slide into the lead.

Maloney’s day got even better when he cooly laid off Abel Hernandez to finish off an excellent passing move and secure the three points for Hull. It may be premature to start comparing them to Leicester, but if players like Maloney keep putting performances like this, they may just defy the odds and stay up.