The first weekend of the new Premier League season is in the books. As top-flight club football returned to grounds around the country we saw a little bit of everything. There were spectacular goals, such as Fabian Schar’s screamer against Nottingham Forest. We were treated to dramatic shocks, like Fulham giving Liverpool all they could handle at Craven Cottage. We also got debuts on the field and in the dugout. But what did we learn? Here are The Sportsman’s five takeaways from the first weekend of The Best League In The World™.
Haaland and Nunez Hit The Ground Running
Manchester City and Liverpool both bolstered their already-successful sides with some added firepower this summer. While Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez have been pitched against each other already in a battle for Premier League supremacy, many thought at least one of them would perhaps struggle in their new surroundings.
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That was not the case as the league kicked off. Nunez scored a vital equaliser from the bench in his side’s exciting 2-2 draw with Fulham. Meanwhile, Haaland scored both goals as City eased past West Ham 2-0. With no signs of a slow start for either of these young strikers, it looks like the promised battle for the Golden Boot is on.
Money Can’t Buy Me Love (Or Three Points)
The Sportsman recently warned that signing more players does not equate to having a better transfer window. We got some early evidence of that over the opening weekend. Nottingham Forest, who have signed 12 new players and started six of them, lost 2-0 and never really got going against Newcastle United.
Fellow promoted side Bournemouth, who have only signed one player for a transfer fee this summer, beat Aston Villa in their season opener. Obviously it’s early days, but the Cherries seemed to benefit from continuity while you feel it will take Steve Cooper a while to knit his new-look Forest together.
Kulusevski Is A Serious Player
Not so much a new lesson as an affirmation, Dejan Kulusevski once again proved he is the missing piece of the Tottenham Hotspur puzzle. The 22-year-old notched a goal and an assist in his side’s 4-1 thrashing of Southampton on Saturday.
The Sweden international joined last January and managed five goals and eight assists in 18 games. The young star is on an 18 month loan deal from Juventus, and is likely to attract no shortage of suitors when that term is up. For now though, Spurs fans can enjoy a player who likes right at home next to stars like Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane.
Arsenal Are Learning From Their Mistakes
The Gunners lost their opening game of last season 2-1 to Brentford. They also lost 3-0 to Crystal Palace 3-0 at Selhurst Park last season. Mikel Arteta’s men put both of those defeats to bed on friday night, looking solid in a 2-0 victory away at Patrick Vieira’s Eagles.
Fans have been given an insight into some of Arteta’s more unusual methods thanks to Prime Video’s Arsenal: All Or Nothing documentary series. Despite the off-the-wall nature of some of his motivational techniques, the approach seems to be working. Just don’t play ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ on the training pitch again before you face Liverpool, Mik.
Manchester United Aren’t Learning From Their Mistakes
Despite the addition of Christian Eriksen, new manager Erik ten Hag still decided to commit what many Red Devils fan view as a cardinal sin; starting Fred and McTominay in central midfield.
Brighton & Hove Albion proceeded to dominate at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, with the duo known as ‘McFred’ constantly giving the ball away from deep and Eriksen toiling in an unnatural false 9 role. United cannot afford to field this wasteful combo in midfield again, something they seem to have acknowledged by pursuing Juventus’ Adrien Rabiot.
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