Premier League Matchday 1: Arsenal and Leicester start off perfectly

Arsenal picks up where they left off while Leicester returns to top form with both sides kicking off their respective campaigns in flawless fashion.

Matchday 1 never disappointed with many Premier League debutants stealing the show for their individual clubs. From Gabriel Magalhaes’ clean sheet and debut goal to James Rodriguez’s attacking statement in their 1-0 over Spurs. It was a rewarding day for most clubs’ recruiting teams as they reap the rewards on the pitch.

No English side shared the points over the opening weekend of the Premier League. Six fixtures played out with six winners and six losers. Almost a perfect showing from all the winners of the matchday but the champions of English struggled to defend a goal despite a full-strength backline.

Five teams kept clean sheets while 17 goals were scored across the land. Of the six EPL clashes, who stole the show, what was the best watch, and what can we tell from all the open-day displays?

The best Premier League encounter

Liverpool 4-3 Leeds United

Who wouldn’t enjoy a seven-goal thriller? Who wouldn’t enjoy a Mo Salah hat-trick? This encounter really displayed the best and the worst of both champions playing each other. Entertainment? A 100% rating in this department.

Defending? A zero percentage for both Jurgen Klopp and Marcelo Bielsa. For every goal the Reds had in the bag, Leeds has an answer for. It took them 10 minutes or less after each Liverpool goal was scored to equalise, sadly falling victim to the never say die Anfield attitude and concede in the final minutes of the game.

This was the EPL champs third consecutive open-day victory and the fifth starting fixture where they have gone and scored three or more goals. They’ve now scored a total of 19 goals and conceded 10 goals in the past five seasons, drawing only once and winning the rest. A solid record under Klopp.

Leeds lost their first opener under the Argentine since being named the boss at Ellan Road but it wasn’t a performance they should be disheartened about, as they scored three goals at Anfield. A feature difficult for most top teams across Europe to achieve.

EPL Matchday results

Fulham 0-3 Arsenal
Crystal Palace 1-0 Southampton
Liverpool 4-3 Leeds
West Ham 0-2 Newcastle
West Brom 0-3 Leicester City
Tottenham 0-1 Everton 

Best performers of the weekend

Arsenal

It was hard to pick a top Gunner in their 3-0 victory. They had a great team showing but it was really the newcomers and captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who were the best of the bunch. at Craven Cottage. Their best were;

• Gabriel Magalhaes – A goal and a clean sheet on his debut, also had 121 touches, three clearances, and won one tackle. Good welcome for the Brazilian.
• Willian – He made Chelsea fans hurt after his London derby display. A hat-trick of assists who could have easily had his goal also but was just unlucky not to score in his first Arsenal appearance.

Newcastle

Newcastle on the trot with a 2-0 victory over West Ham United, returns home with a proud three points. Again, who shows up? The new arrivals! Fullback Jamal Lewis was good, Callum Wilson added a goal to the game to help his new club take all the points, and Jeff Hendricks scored a belter to seal the deal. Best players;

• Callum Wilson – He definitely is EPL ready and happy to be back in the big leagues. He shared the most shots at goal with partner Carrol (4) and Michail Antonio (4) from West Ham
• Jeff Hendricks – Besides his goal, he got an assist as well and he completed the most dribbles on the pitch. Their best player by far on the day. What amazing summer business by the Magpies!

Liverpool

• Mohamed Salah – Yes, there were two penalties to help achieve his trio of goals but he was an outstanding figure in an end-to-end, action-packed Anfield clash. Each goal was worth a point for Mo. His volley? A thumper and something not many could do! He has now scored 97 goals and got 41 assists in 154 games for the Anfield side. The king of Egypt!

Leeds

• Jack Harrison – He is here cause he was a constant threat against the Reds and finished off an amazing team goal consisting of a few touches and also exploiting the champions weakness to perfection.

Leicester City

• Timothy Castagne – Yes, Vardy scored a double but that was from the spot. Castagne is yet another Premier League debutant with a goal and a Man of the Match performance to start his life in England. Ben Chilwell who? An upgrade from the Englishman for Brendan Rodgers? Let’s wait for Ben and Chelsea in their EPL kick-off. But for now, it’s a hell yes!

Everton

• James Rodriguez – He made his impression felt on the game without having to score a goal or record an assist. Some would say Richarlison was their best player, but his misses in front of goal far too many times for an experienced player with his end product. Rodriguez created the most chances on the pitch with five chances created. No Toffee has done this since 2018.

Best goals of Matchday 1

Aubameyang’s goal, Hendricks’ find for the top 90, and Mo Salah’s world-class volley. These were the best goals of the weekend.

Now we wait for the mouth-watering clash between Sheffield United and Wolves, with Brighton and Chelsea soon after where we get to watch the new-look Lampard Blues take the pitch with their record signings. What team are you most excited to watch?