Premier League Winners and Losers: Liverpool, Arsene Wenger and Ryan Taylor

Although this weekend may not have had any bust-ups, drama or stunning debuts, it still had plenty of entertaining matches and, more than anything, we learned a lot about what we can expect from the 2011-12 Premier League season.

The most highly anticipated match was the clash between Arsenal and Liverpool, and it certainly revealed plenty of winners and losers. Sunderland and Newcastle faced off at the Stadium of Light in a Tyne-Wear derby, while Manchester United and Tottenham played out an entertaining 90 minutes of football.

This weekend had plenty of mouth-watering matchups, so without further ado, here are the Premier League winners and losers of Week 2.

Winner: Liverpool

Liverpool pulled off a surprising 2-0 win against Arsenal this weekend. It may not have been pretty, but a win is a win, and three points is three points.

After Kenny Dalglish's Red Army could only manage a draw against Sunderland at Anfield, some doubted that Liverpool's 100-million-pound signings could gel quickly enough to produce some good results in the league. They still haven't completely gelled, but enough so to beat Arsenal on their own ground.

Liverpool's victory was impressive, but I don't think it was impressive enough to send out a clear warning message to the other top five clubs (besides Arsenal). The Reds' goals were scrappy, and the win was against an Arsenal side that was ridden with injuries and suspensions.

Nonetheless, Liverpool is certainly a winner for this week, gaining their first ever win at the Emirates Stadium.

Winner: Ryan Taylor

In the Tyne-Wear derby, or any derby for that matter, pride is always on the line.

The winner will go home feeling on top of the world, while the loser will go home filled with humiliation.

So when a match of this calibre comes to a result of 1-0, the player who nabbed the winning goal gets all of the glory. And that's Ryan Taylor.

He may not be one of the most talked about players, and this very well may be the first and last time we mention his name this season, but he's definitely a winner this week for scoring the winning goal against rivals Sunderland.

Winner: Thomas Vermaelen

Even though Vermaelen was on the wrong end of a devastating defeat, he still had an outstanding performance against Liverpool. His superb defending of Andy Carroll and ability to keep a frail back line together reminded us all why he's called the Verminator, why he was in the PFA Team of the Year in his first season at Arsenal and why he remains to be one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League.

Many have argued that had he not been injured for the majority of the 2010-11 season, Arsenal could have finally won some silverware. And now that we're seeing him play again, it's true. His return to the first team was like a new signing for Arsenal, and his presence in the Gunners defense will be a huge boost to their trophy bids.

But for this week, he's proved that he should be ranked as one of the best centre-backs in the world, along with Nemanja Vidic and Gerrard Pique. If the Verminator can contain Andy Carroll for 90 minutes, he can contain just about anyone.

Winner: Manchester United Youth

In Manchester United's 3-0 whopping of Tottenham, it wasn't Wayne Rooney who shone throughout the match. Neither was it Nani. No, it was Danny Welbeck, the young English striker who's finally been given a chance in the first team by Sir Alex Ferguson.

And he certainly proved that he deserved that chance with a stunning performance at Old Trafford. However, he wasn't the only Manchester United youngster who impressed against Tottenham. Tom Cleverley continued to prove himself as a promising prospect, and he assisted Welbeck's glancing header goal.

The combination play of the two was a bit of a glimpse into the future of the Manchester club. We got another one of those glimpses later when Danny Welbeck executed a clever back heel in front of goal to Anderson, who cooly finished it into the back of the net.

Overall, Manchester United's youngsters played a big role in the club's win over Tottenham, so they're definitely winners for this week. If they can prove to be this sharp week-in and week-out, United's injury crisis might not be so bad after all.

Winner: Brad Friedel

Yes, he conceded three goals against Manchester United, but Brad Friedel still had an excellent debut. If it weren't for him, the score could've easily been five or six to nil.

The American had some superb saves, proving to Harry Redknapp that he should be Tottenham's No. 1 shot stopper over Heurelho Gomes.

It was a promising debut for the goalkeeper and he could be a key player in Tottenham's quest for European football.

Loser: David De Gea (again)

You're probably wondering, if the score was Manchester United 3-0 Tottenham, why is Friedel a winner and De Gea a loser?

David De Gea may have kept a clean sheet, but his performance against Tottenham was far from convincing. Spurs took a number of shots from far out, testing the Spanish keeper, and he handled those shots surprisingly well. However, he struggled when coming out and grabbing crosses (or at least attempting to), on one occasion completely missing the ball when trying to catch it.

Another error De Gea had was when he spilled an opposing shot, but once Jermaine Defoe pounced on the opportunity, De Gea made a save from close range.

David De Gea got lucky that none of his errors conceded a goal this week, but one of these days he's going to make an error that will cost him and Manchester United dearly. 

Loser: Arsene Wenger and Arsenal

Even as an Arsenal supporter, I have to admit that Arsene Wenger and the Gunners are major losers this week.

Their defeat to Liverpool at the Emirates was devastating and humiliating, and it looks like Arsenal just won't get a break. Their squad is filled with injured and suspended players; even Arsene Wenger himself now has a two-match touchline ban for Champions League games. I don't want to sound like a typical Gooner, but Arsenal have some rotten luck.

The Gunners desperately need to win and qualify for the Champions League on Wednesday night, or else Arsene Wenger's job will, for the first time, be under serious consideration.

It was only fitting that it poured in North London on Saturday. 

Conclusion

This week clearly had more winners than losers, but overall the 2011-12 season is getting off to a good start—especially good for some fans, but then downright bad for other fans (I'm talking to you, fellow Arsenal supporters).

Next weekend has a lot of anticipation, and it should be a great one. There are some mouth-watering matches that everyone's looking forward to watching, with Manchester United vs. Arsenal, and Tottenham vs. Manchester City.

See you next week and, as always, feel free to voice who you thought were the winners and losers this week.