Man City take the early title advantage on week one 

The reigning champions Manchester City began the defence of their 2021/22 title and wasted no time in showing they will be the team to beat once again this season, beating the Hammers away 2-0.

Erling Haaland made his Manchester City Premier League debut, scoring two goals and winning man of the match, demonstrating the huge threat he will pose this season. 

West Ham suffered an early blow as goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was substituted due to injury midway through the first half. New permanent signing Areola couldn’t react quick enough to Haaland’s dash, leading to a penalty for the blues. Haaland grabbed the ball, demanded he took it and slotted it home just nine minutes before half-time. 

The second goal came in the 65^th minute with a defence-splitting pass from Kevin De Bruyne into the feet of Haaland where he applied the finishing touch into the far corner. I’m sure we’ll be see that combination plenty of times this season and what looked like a difficult game on paper, was routine for City.

Liverpool drop points against newly promoted Fulham 

A frustrating afternoon for Liverpool as they failed to take the three points away at Craven Cottage leaving them with a 2-2 draw. 

Fulham played some splendid football, keeping the reds in their own half for the first 10 minutes of the game. Fulham opened the scoring as Aleksandar Mitrovic got the better of Trent Alexander-Arnold to head them ahead after meeting a superb cross by Kenny Tete.

In a thrilling match, Liverpool substitute Nunez marked his Premier League debut by equalising with a close-range flick before Fulham restored the lead from the penalty spot after Mitrovic was fouled by Virgil van Dijk.

This meant Liverpool had ended a run of 51 Premier League matches without conceding a penalty, the longest ongoing sequence in the competition.

A late leveller by Salah stopped Fulham from taking the win, but Klopp’s side will have plenty to work on if they want to get back to their top spot in the league table.

Arsenal can gain early momentum

Arsenal began the season with a solid victory at Selhurst Park on the opening night of the Premier League, securing a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace. After losing their opening three games last season (well documented on a certain TV series just released), the early indication is that Arsenal may gain some early momentum into the season.

Mikel Arteta’s team were rewarded for an excellent start as Gabriel Martinelli scored the opener 20 minutes in to the first half from a perfect cross from new Man City recruit, Oleksandr Zinchenko. 

Ramsdale had to be alert to divert Odsonne Edouard’s close-range header away from goal from what was Palace’s first attempt on goal just before half time. The home side put substantial palace on Arsenal’s defence, but Saliba and Gabriel in particular stood strong to keep them out.

Palace went on to concede an unfortunate own goal when Bukayo Saka’s cross was diverted past the keeper by Marc Guehi with a poor attempt at a clearance, giving Arsenal a 2-0 victory. 

Spurs could be the real deal this season

Tottenham won an impressive 4-1 to Southampton getting their Premier League off to a flying start. 

Spurs fell behind in the 12^th minute when Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse volleyed the ball into the ground and watched it bounce over Hugo Lloris. In previous seasons, Tottenham may have taken some time to bounce back from an early deficit, but from that moment it was all the North London side.

Ryan Sessegnon equalised from a header making his first Premier League goal for Spurs and then Eric Dier then went on to meet Son Heung-min’s cross with a low, flicked header into the far corner. 

Tottenham were playing with confidence in the second half where a shocking Mohammed Salisu own goal and a calm Kulusevski finish secured an easy 4-1 victory.

Were Tottenham that good or is it Southampton’s lack of quality that determined the rest? It’s Chelsea v Tottenham next week, a real test for both sides.

Early signs of struggle for Everton

Chelsea opened the Premier League season with a 1-0 win at Goodison Park after a penalty from Jorginho sealed the deal in the first half. 

Thomas Tuchel started both new summer signings Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Stirling, neither however could find the back of the net in their Chelsea debuts. 

Everton posed little threat in their attack, with the sale of Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin absent with injury they lacked a recognised striker. 

Ben Godfrey faced a serious early injury in the first half from a challenge by Kai Havertz leaving him with a fractured leg. 

Chelsea did not seem to cause Everton too many serious problems, but Thomas Tuchel’s side will be delighted to start the season off with a win. 

Change of management but no improvements from Man United

Manchester United have started the season off with a shocking 2-1 defeat at home to Brighton condemning Erik ten Hag to a losing start as manager. 

It was Pascal Gross’s first-half double that stunned Old Trafford giving the Seaguls a 2-0 lead. Not even the second-half introduction of Cristiano Ronaldo could deny Brighton, although United did threaten a comeback when a scramble inside the box ended with Alexis Mac Allister putting the ball into his own net after an under pressure pass from the goalkeeper. 

In nine previous league visits, Brighton had managed only one draw, so this victory was historic.

Bournemouth add further misery to Aston Villa’s poor form

Premier League newcomers Bournemouth got their season off to a dream start with a deserved 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at the Vitality Stadium. 

The game’s opening goal came only two minutes in as Jefferson Lerma scored the quickest goal on matchday one by a promoted side in Premier League history. With Villa temporarily down to ten men due to left-back Lucas Digne coming off the pitch due to a nosebleed, the Cherries were able to convert a corner and put them 1-0 up. 

After half time the second goal came in the 80^th minute from Kieffer Moore scoring his first top-flight goal to give them a comfortable lead. 

Leeds and Newcastle start with home wins, whilst Leicester draw against Brentford

After just surviving last season and losing Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha, Leeds were desperate to start off positively and they did just that, beating Wolves 2-1.

Newcastle saw off the long awaited Premier League return of Nottingham Forest 2-0 as Eddie Howe and the free-spending Georgie club look set to have a strong season.

Finally Leicester and Brentford shared the spoils with a 2-2 draw. Brentford made a terrific comeback from 2-0 down, whilst Leicester have clubs circling around their stars players as their financial struggles continue to be rumoured.

Join us for Premier League hospitality this season

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This weeks fixtures are: 

Aston Villa v Everton

Southampton v Leeds United

Arsenal v Leicester City

Brighton v Newcastle

Man City v Bournemouth

Wolves v Fulham

Brentford v Man United

Nottingham Forest v West Ham

Chelsea v Tottenham 

Liverpool v Crystal Palace