There is absolutely no debate about the standout match of the weekend. It is the Manchester derby.

It is also a fixture that could act as a useful measure of where both sides really are, which would honestly be quite helpful because, as things stand, there is still no clear sense of whether either of them is genuinely any good.

Arsenal, and their captain Martin Odegaard, are unquestionably good. And across North London, evidence is needed soon that Spurs can at least push towards basic competence, otherwise Roberto De Zerbi could soon find himself under real pressure. Even a goal would be a start, lads.

Game to watch: Manchester United v Manchester City The first proper derby of the Premier League season arrives at a fascinating point for football in Manchester.

It is a contest that ought to reveal quite a lot about what these two teams are this season, and that is welcome because right now nobody is remotely certain what the answer is for either of them.

City have three wins from three in the Premier League and are up and running with three points away from home against Porto in the Champions League. That is a strong opening for Enzo Maresca and his players, and there is no point pretending otherwise. We have tried, but it cannot really be denied.

Yet it still does not quite feel convincing, does it? It has not been wholly persuasive.

It is not quite the same as Liverpool’s deceptive early-season run last year, but there is still a sense that this start may be giving a slightly misleading impression.

The only time they have truly looked good was against a Crystal Palace side hovering right on the brink of full-on You Fear For Them territory, and perhaps only staying out of it because of the fortune of playing a Fulham side that are already there.

City got away with a great deal against Coventry, and then did something rather similar in midweek, easing off in a pretty unsettling fashion after taking a 1-0 lead against an ordinary version of Porto.

And there is even less certainty about what United might be capable of this season. They have let in two goals in each of their three Premier League matches so far, which would be worrying enough even if those games had not come against two promoted teams and a David Moyes Everton side from which almost all joy appears to have been surgically removed.

They also won in midweek, thrashing Sabah 4-0 on their return to the Champions League. It was exactly the sort of routine and uncomplicated night United required – not least to mitigate the 48-hour headstart City had in their derby preparations – but against such limited opponents it would be just as meaningless to declare United in form as it would be to say the same about a team coasting through round two of the Carabao Cup.

All of which means the stage is perfectly set for sweeping and wildly confident conclusions to be drawn about these two sides full of question marks, only for the rest of the season to prove those conclusions increasingly inaccurate. Cannot wait.

Team to watch: Coventry City Ever since the Premier League fixtures were released, the question has been whether facing Arsenal and Manchester City in the first three games was actually helpful because it got those matches out of the way while a new squad was still trying to come together, or whether it was a problem because it all but removed any chance of a fast start that might have generated enough momentum to fuel an unlikely survival push.

It is beginning to look very much like the latter, despite a commendable display in defeat at City. Losing to Hull, who had begun the season with a flourish against United rather than Coventry’s whimper at Arsenal, felt like confirmation that an easier opening can be a major advantage if it allows you to build a wave early.

There is little point dwelling on it now, though. Coventry are where they are, and they need to avoid becoming the kind of team discussed in anxious tones involving words like ‘adrift’ and ‘gap’ and ‘absolute sh*t but it’s definitely not Frank’s fault’.

Brighton are next, which is far from straightforward, but it is a home game against non-elite opposition and Coventry are going to have to start taking something from matches like this before too long.

Manager to watch: Roberto De Zerbi It already feels as though he may be close to boiling over after Spurs’ winless and frustratingly lifeless beginning to the season.

The news of Mykhailo Mudryk’s ankle injury will not have done anything to brighten his mood, with De Zerbi’s public statements about accepting that he has to follow the instructions of the medical staff already beginning to sound rather unconvincing.

Spurs have spent much of the last two years in a near-constant injury crisis, and during that same period they have also found themselves caught up in almost every other kind of crisis as well. That does at least make it understandable that the club have erred on the side of caution with virtually every player through the summer and now into the season.

But there is also a suspicion that it may have been counterproductive. There is something slightly self-fulfilling about the whole thing. Spurs have been so careful with so many players that they have almost created their own crisis. It is a self-crisising. They are clearly a new-look team, but they also look collectively and individually well short of Premier League readiness. They look as though they need a pre-season, because during pre-season they were too afraid to select the players who actually needed one often enough and for long enough.

How, for example, does Sandro Tonali – a player who had no World Cup exertions to drain him over the summer – end up looking so much more exhausted than those whose summers were not spent on the beach?

And Spurs have still suffered injuries anyway. James Maddison hurt himself on the opening day of the season. Mudryk is now out until, according to reports, the far side of the international break. We all wait eagerly to discover which international break that means. Savio played 20 minutes against Charlton in the Carabao Cup and then had to sit out a Premier League match because of muscle fatigue.

It all feels confused, overly cautious and reflective of a club that is deeply fearful. And De Zerbi is not doing much to change that impression.

He secured Spurs’ frankly improbable survival last season with a tense and narrow 1-0 win over Everton, and both he and the club could do with exactly the same outcome this weekend just to inject some life into a campaign in which Spurs currently seem frightened of their own shadows.

Player to watch: Martin OdegaardThe Premier League’s best player this season and, together with Kai Havertz in absurdly inventive and impish mood, the main reason Arsenal already appear to be a far more entertaining side this season while remaining just as effective.

Odegaard, who attracted plenty of criticism last season at a time when he was clearly not fully fit, has looked a transformed player this year.

Everything Arsenal do in attack runs through him. And now he has started scoring every week as well, which we should say is something we would very much encourage him to keep doing. More players should, to be fair.

This weekend he and Arsenal travel to Sunderland aiming to maintain their flawless start to the season at the site of one of last campaign’s few blemishes. They have already erased one such annoyance this season with a win at Villa, and you would expect something similar again here.

Football League game to watch: West Brom v QPR With no early Premier League kick-off on Saturday, the Championship has a chance to take centre stage, and a meeting between two sides in the early-season top four looks just about ideal.

West Brom head into matchday seven, though they may already have been overtaken by West Ham on Friday night, before perhaps looking to continue their own recent habit of 1-0 wins.

European game to watch: Levante v Barcelona When in doubt, pick Barcelona. That is very much the guiding principle for this section right now. Entertainment and goals are never guaranteed anywhere, of course, but Barca are presently about as close as you can get.

They have played five matches this season and scored five goals in four of them, with Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and a thoroughly delighted Anthony Gordon all starting the campaign in tremendous fashion.

Gordon has not scored yet but already has five assists only four games into his La Liga career, while Raphinha and Lamine Yamal have between them already scored a faintly ridiculous 13 goals this season.