Opinion
The weekend saw the return of the Premier League.
Arsenal and Crystal Palace battled it out for the opening fixture of this World Cup-interrupted campaign, and the round was closed out by Manchester City’s victory over West Ham.
While it is the opening Matchweek and not much can be read into as teams are yet to fully integrate new signings, or even completely finalised their squads, there are still a few takeaways to be made from the opening weekend of action.
Don’t write off the promoted sides so easily
Many Premier League predictions, my own included, had two of the promoted sides – Fulham and Bournemouth – to go down quite easily. The opening day showed they were both here for the fight.
Bournemouth were impressive against Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa, a somewhat surprising 2-0 victory for the Cherries in their first game in the top flight since 2019.
Elsewhere, Fulham held off Liverpool at Craven Cottage – a brace from Aleksandar Mitrovic hinting that the Serbian may finally be able to carry his Championship form into the Premier League. A 2-2 draw deserved for Marco Silva’s men and shows that they may be able to resist the pull of their yo-yoing top-flight form.
Manchester City are the same animal, yet a different beast
When Erling Haaland’s burst in behind West Ham’s defence was picked out by a brilliant Kevin de Bruyne pass, it confirmed that Pep Guardiola’s side had levelled and dispelled any rumours that they would struggle playing with a true No.9.
Erling Haaland’s debut brace sent shivers down EPL defenders’ spines (Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
It helps that the man tasked with altering Manchester City’s attacking play is a striking thoroughbred, a Norwegian machine tasked with scoring goals and blasting defences, but nonetheless, if Haaland’s debut is anything to go off, he is going to have a delightful time sweeping up all kinds of chances served on a platter to him by the creative ensemble around him.
City were always going to tough to beat, but now, that feat may be nigh on impossible.
United’s problems exceed their striking limitations
“The enormity of the challenge laid bare” were the words from the Optus commentary in the 94th minute of the Red Devils’ defeat to Brighton at home. It is a far cry from the lofty expectations that Erik ten Hag’s arrival has brought.
Boos rang throughout the Theatre of Dreams after a Pascal Gross brace secured Brighton’s second consecutive win against United.
Ten Hag’s men dominated possession, but at times looked lazy, with the ball and without, a problem that the Dutchman will need to rectify quickly if they hope to achieve Champions League football.
Danny Welbeck was, on several occasions, allowed to wade in behind a backline, an issue that created a mountain of problems, and goals, while not even Ronaldo’s substitute appearance was enough to steady the ship and secure at least a point.
For the new boss, it is back to the drawing board. United lack goals against Brighton, but it wasn’t their only deficiency. The recovery project will be long at Old Trafford, not even Rome was built in a day – but I’m sure they got off to a better start.
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