The Premier League is back and while Matchday 1 hasn’t provided many surprises, there were some matches to watch as Brighton are top of the table for now following a 3-0 victory over Everton, while Arsenal are off to a winning start. Two of the three promoted clubs played a failed to pick up wins but with it being so early, this doesn’t mean that they’re all going back to the Championship yet. Manchester United showed improvement and got a strong contribution from their latest forward:
Check out what has happened around the league so far:
Premier League scores and schedule
Friday, Aug. 16
Manchester United 1, Fulham 0
Saturday, Aug. 17
Liverpool 2, Ipswich 0
Arsenal 2, Wolverhampton 0
Brighton 3, Everton 0
Newcastle 1, Southampton 0
Nottingham Forest 1, Bournemouth 1
Aston Villa 2, West Ham 1
Sunday, Aug. 18
Brentford vs. Crystal Palace, 9 a.m. ET (TV: USA | Live stream:Fubo)
Chelsea vs. Manchester City, 11:30 a.m. ET (TV: NBC| Live stream:Fubo)
Monday, Aug. 19
Leicester vs. Tottenham, 3 p.m. ET (TV: USA | Live stream:Fubo)
Arsenal come out strong
There’s no margin for error in the Premier League title race, something that Arsenal learned the hard way by missing out on the title by two points last season, but following another offseason of Mikel Arteta preaching mentality, it showed in a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers. Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka found the back of the net for the Gunners but this match is as much about how they finished against a tricky Wolves side.
Arsenal limited Wolves to only two shots on target in the second half despite Gary O’Neil’s side pushing for a winner late. Being able to sub on a healthy Jurrien Timber while Saka made a goal out of nothing made all the difference. Wolves had a few chances but they were mostly on Arsenal’s terms which is exactly what Arteta will want to see.
Teams around the league have had slow starts due to disjointed preseason preparation because of so many international tournaments but that’s where Arsenal’s depth comes in handy. The Gunners are fresher than most teams and it showed out of the gate. It’s momentum that they’ll need for their next match, a tougher challenge against Aston Villa.
Don’t sleep on Brighton
Brighton’s 31-year-old coach Fabian Hurzeler may have started five players older than him, but his side was still able to hang three goals on Everton in a 3-0 victory. Replacing Roberto De Zerbi and multiple players left Hurzeler with big shoes to fill following his arrival from FC St. Pauli in Germany but the early returns are quite good. Everton may have been down to 10 men at the 66th minute but by then, the Seagulls were already ahead by two goals thanks to Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck. They’d go on to score three goals from only 10 shots in quite an efficient showing.
Integrating new signings like Yankuba Minteh and Mats Wieffer, it would’ve been fair if Brighton took a step back. Instead, they kicked things off with a statement victory.
Manchester United show growth
It may have been a slow start for the Red Devils in a 1-0 victory over Fulham to kick off the Premier League season on Friday but it was a result that never was in doubt. Controlling the match from start to finish, while the finishing wasn’t there, the Red Devils did enough to deserve the result. It’s one that’s extra sweet when it was a debut goal from Joshua Zirkzee following his substitution into the match.
Last season, the Red Devils would’ve lost this game by letting Andre Onana’s net get peppered, but instead, their press kept Fulham’s build-up play from working and only allowed an xG of 0.44. It’s early in the season and Fulham made numerous chances to their XI but this also wasn’t the best side that Erik ten Hag will have available to him either. Nossair Mazaroui made his Manchester United debut in the starting XI but Zirkzee, Alejandro Garnacho, and Matthijs de Ligt all had to come off the bench in the match while they’ll be regular starters moving forward.
Garnacho specifically changed the match upon coming in assisting the winning goal and almost scoring another of his own. As he takes the next step toward being a star, these are the kinds of things that he needs to do consistently for Manchester United. he’s already adept at creating his own shot but appropriate situations to shoot versus passing to others will be the next step in becoming a complete winger. United will need to prove that they can do this against better teams in the Premier League but winning when they aren’t at their best is a step in the right direction.
