Game 1: Burnley 0 – 3 Manchester City

Manchester City don’t look to be settling into complacency anytime soon. Erling Haaland opened his account for the season just 4 minutes into the match at Turf Moor. A de Bruyne cross from wide was headed back centrally by Rodri to be smashed into the bottom corner by Haaland. The Norwegian added his second off a first time finish from a Julian Alvarez pass, off the crossbar and in. Burnley were by no means a defeated team, and fought all game valiantly to break through the City defense. Substitutions of Zaroury and Bruun Larsen in the second half energized Burnley and led to some chances created, but in the end the final touch was not there. Josko Gvardiol made his debut as a substitute in the second half, on at LB, but did not get much time to show his quality. Rodri added City’s third of the game off a bouncing ball in the box that he was in the right position to slot home calmly. Zaroury was dismissed late in the second half for a bad challenge on Kyle Walker, who left the game after the tackle. Overall, Burnley showed promising signs, but there is still a significant ways to go before they can challenge Manchester City.

Game 2: Arsenal 2-1 Nottingham Forest

Arsenal started off their season strong in the first half, with intricate passing in build-up, and several chances generated. Mikel Arteta surprised again with his lineup, starting Thomas Partey at RB, playing him in the “John Stones” role from last season. The midfield was composed of Odegaard, Rice, and Havertz, with Eddie Nketiah starting between Martinelli and Saka up front. Nketiah struck first in the 26′, after a beautiful spin into a back-heel assist from Martinelli. Arsenal kept up the pressure, and Saka struck a beautiful ball from outside the box into the top left corner. In the second half, Arsenal started to let up towards the 70′, and after a corner Anthony Elanga and Taiwo Awoniyi broke the length of the field against Arsenal’s defence and scored to make the Gunners nervous for the final 15 minutes. However, there would be no shock result in the end, and Arsenal grab 3 points to get started.

Game 3: Bournemouth 1 – 1 West Ham

Bournemouth showed a new side of their game today, holding 63% of possession against the Hammers. However, chances created were similar, and although Bournemouth had more shots on target, they were unable to make the result show for it. West Ham got off to a great start to the second half with Jarrod Bowen scoring a beautiful curler into the top corner to go ahead. The Hammers were unable to hold their lead, and Dominic Solanke equalised for Bournemouth in the 82′, leading to a draw. New signing Milos Kerkez had a strong game, with a 77% pass completion rate, and 8 passes played into the final third. Had it not been for a wonderstrike from Bowen, Bournemouth might have gotten away with 3 points here, but they weren’t robbed by any means.

Game 4: Brighton 4 – 1 Luton Town

It was a bit of a baptism by fire for Luton Town on their trip to the South Coast to start their Premier League campaign. The xG created was 4.10 – 1.45 in Brighton’s favour, with the Seagulls accumulating 27 total shots, 12 of them on target. Kaoru Mitoma found Solly March with a tricky right-footed cross to put Brighton ahead in the 36′. Most of Brighton’s shots in the first half were off target, and the score was only 1-0 at halftime. In the second half, Brighton turned it up another notch. Joao Pedro won a penalty after being bowled over by Tom Lockyer, and then converted it himself to make the lead 2. In the 81′, Luton Town were given a glimpse of hope, converting their own penalty to draw within 1, but the hope was short-lived. New arrival Simon Adingra struck in the 85′ to add to Brighton’s lead, and Evan Ferguson finished off the game with a 95′ goal. New signings James Milner and Mahmoud Dahoud had strong first games for Brighton, and the Seagulls don’t appear to have lost a step without Caicedo and Mac Allister.

Game 5: Everton 0 – 1 Fulham

The story of this game was the German keeper, Bernd Leno. Although his side had 59% possession, this was due to Everton’s direct counter-attacking approach, which was able to generate 2.93xG to Fulham’s 1.48 over the game. Leno made 9 saves, and Fulham struck on their own counter-attack, with Mitrovic and Pereira combining before Bobby Decordova-Reid slotted home the cross from inside the 6 yard box. After being under pressure for the majority of the game, Fulham were able to grab a goal against the run of play, and fans will surely be happy to see Aleksandar Mitrovic playing, even if only as a substitute. Still a promising start for Everton, who surely deserved more from this game.

Game 6: Sheffield United 0 – 1 Crystal Palace

The home-field advantage of Bramall Lane wasn’t enough to help Sheffield United to any points on their opening match vs Palace. With no Olise in the lineup due to injury, and new signing Matheus França not available yet, Schlupp and Ayew started on either side of Eberechi Eze on the wings. Eze had a player of the match performance, looking cool under pressure and helping Crystal Palace to 67% possession in this match. The Blades could not create much in terms of chances, being outshot 3 to 1 by Palace, and only managing a lone shot on target. Palace created 2.01xG from 8 shots on target, and could have won by more had it not been for a few goals that were fractionally offside and rightly called back. A strong start for Crystal Palace, even if the scoreline does not reflect that.

Game 7: Newcastle 5 – 1 Aston Villa

In the most intriguing match of the day, Newcastle hosted Unai Emery’s rising Aston Villa squad. The early game was a story of new signings, with Sandro Tonali putting Newcastle ahead early before Moussa Diaby equalized for Villa inside 11 minutes played. Just after a quarter of an hour, Alexander Isak put the Geordies back in front, stabbing home a centred ball from Botman. Newcastle predictably held the majority of the possession, with their midfield trio of Tonali, Guimaraes, and Joelinton all being extremely press-resistant. Newcastle were vulnerable on the counterattack, especially if Dan Burn ever pushed up on the left flank. The speed of Diaby, Watkins, and Bailey caused problems on the counter-attack, with Villa playing a direct game in the first half. Soon after kick-off in the second half, Alexander Isak grabbed his brace in the 58′, and Newcastle started to run away with the game. Callum Wilson added another in the 77′, assisted by new signing Harvey Barnes, who himself scored in the 91′ to cap off a 5-1 emphatic home victory to start their campaign. Emery will have some lessons to learn from this game, but alarm bells shouldn’t be ringing after game 1.

Game 8: Brentford 2 – 2 Tottenham

The start of a new era of Tottenham Hotspur began with a trip to West London. Ange-ball in full-effect, Spurs held 70% possession in the match, and completed more passes in the opposition half (455) than they had in nearly 20 months of football under Antonio Conte. This was a fresh, exciting look on Spurs, who are no longer playing the dreadfully boring low-block counter approach that Mourinho and Conte insisted on. With this increased focus on attacking though, Spurs are bound to concede goals this season, especially until more centre-back reinforcements arrive. The lack of depth at CB was exposed early, with Cristian Romero having to leave in the 15′ due to a precautionary concussion check, being replaced by Davinson Sanchez. Romero left immediately after scoring a header from a Maddison set piece to put Spurs ahead. There was an immediate drop-off in the stability in which Spurs could play out from the back, and combined with Oliver Skipp having the least notable performance of the Spurs midfield on the right side, there was immediate pressure invited on this half of the pitch. New signing Micky Van de Ven was a sight for sore eyes for Spurs fans, who have been longing for a centreback with his explosive pace and defensive ability to pair with Romero for ages. Brentford was able to take the lead after winning a questionable penalty that was converted by Mbeumo to tie the game, then adding another from Yoane Wissa in the 36′. Spurs tied the game just before halftime, with Maddison dribbling around his marker and slipping the ball to Emerson before being fouled, who took a first time volley into the bottom-left corner. In Postecoglu’s system, the RB Emerson is drifting inside and acting as another centre midfielder in possession, while the #8’s (Maddison and Skipp today) attack the box. The second half was a story of Spurs attacking and generating by far more chances, but with the best chance only being worth 0.12xG. Kevin Schade had Brentford’s best chance of the second half, but missed his attempt in the 87′ that could’ve seen Brentford stealing all 3 points. In the end, it was a very promising start for Ange Postecoglu at Spurs, with his team looking to be one of the most exciting to watch for a neutral fan this season. There will be goals. Lots of goals. Who will score them? We’ll find out.

Game 9: Chelsea 1 – 1 Liverpool

In the 1st edition of the Moises Caicedo derby, the result between Chelsea and Liverpool was the same as usual, but today wasn’t a goalless draw at least! While the Ecuadorian was not playing, just hours before the game he rejected Liverpool’s massive bid for him, telling Brighton that his intention is only to join Chelsea. Chelsea soon found a spare 115 million pounds lying around to sign arguably the hottest defensive midfield prospect in world football right now. This game started surprisingly, with Mauricio Pochettino opting for a 5-back formation for what seems like the first time ever. After using a 4-2-3-1 to great success in pre-season, Pochettino opted for somewhat of a 5-3-2 formation to face Liverpool. I’d guess that this was a reactionary approach to Liverpool’s expected tactics, as Pochettino rarely opts to diverge from his preferred 4-back systems. Liverpool were able to take advantage of the slow start from the Blues and scored 18′ in thanks to Luis Diaz tapping home a Mohamed Salah cross. Before the 30 minute mark, there was another scare for Chelsea, as Salah scored a goal that would be ruled offside after VAR. At this point, Poch seemed to convert his team into a 4-back system, with Levi Colwill acting as the LB, and Ben Chilwell acting more as a LM. Chelsea fared much better, and were clearly the better team for the rest of the game. New arrival (I know that doesn’t narrow it down much) Axel Disasi poked home a deflected ball in the box off a set-piece and equalised for Chelsea in the 38′. In the second half, Chelsea held 64% possession, and generated more chances than the Reds, with Mikhailo Mudryks run in alone on Alisson leading to a Nicolas Jackson chance being the best opportunity of the half. In the end, it is hard to argue either team deserved 3 points, but Chelsea certainly had the run of play for most of the game after their slow start. Liverpool desperately need a defensive midfielder, with Mac Allister acting as their most defensive midfielder in this match. It has been tough to sign one though, with bids for Caicedo and Lavia failing recently, and attempts to sign other players such as Sofyan Amrabat also failing. If Liverpool cannot get this key reinforcement, they could be in for a long season.

Game 10: Manchester United 1 – 0 Wolverhampton

In the final game of the week, Manchester United kick off their season hosting Wolves at Old Trafford. In the first half, Wolves held their own much better than expected, generating similar xG to United, with the 61% possession being the only thing to really separate the sides in the first half. Pedro Neto caused havoc down the right flank of Wolves, and yellow cards for Luke Shaw and Lisandro Martinez coming as a result. Wolves breaking with 3 forwards seemed to be enough to generate chances vs. United, which should be a concern for Erik Ten Hag. 5 minutes into the second half, Matheus Cunha missed a wide open top-half of the net as the ball was flicked across the 6-yard box to him in space that should have put Wolves in front. Pedro Neto looked unbelievably good this game, dribbling United’s defenders with ease time and time again. Nelson Semedo, a fullback not known for defending, was able to make Garnacho look near-invisible on the left-wing. Mason Mount’s United debut wasn’t the one he would’ve liked, and he was subbed off in the 67′ for Christian Eriksen. Garnacho’s night ended then as well, with Jadon Sancho getting his first minutes. Eriksen immediately made United more of a threat, threading a long ball over the top that was close to Rashford chance. Wolves were able to keep generating chances on the counter, with Cunha doing well to drive the ball forward through the middle of the pitch despite lacking the finish today. Sancho also aided United after coming on, being much more dangerous down the flank. United got a goal a bit out of nowhere, with a chipped ball over the top to Wan-Bissaka, who centred for Raphael Varane to head home and give United the lead despite having generating fewer chances in the game. After the goal, Wolves poured on the pressure, and Manchester United used everything they had to stop the ball from entering their net, including a pitch invader running on the pitch to add a man to the press on Wolves! Onana rushed out to try and meet a cross, missed the ball entirely and smashed into the Wolves player. After a VAR check, a penalty somehow wasn’t given, and Manchester United managed to escape with a 1-0 win against the run of play. A very strong start for Gary O’Neill’s Wolves, who will feel much more confident they can avoid relegation after such a performance. They certainly deserved as least a point from this game.

That makes for all of the matches on opening weekend! This looks to be one of the most interesting Premier League seasons in recent years, so be sure to stay tuned for what’s next! I’ll be providing regular updates as the season goes on.

Thanks,

LM