After Arsenal got the Premier League back underway on Friday with a 2-0 win over Crystal, the leagues first full day of action Saturday had all the action you could want. It started with an upset, proceeded to Americans making waves, a defender scoring an absolute peach of a goal, and ended, well, maybe the less said about the way it ended the better as Everton and Chelsea played out a sour, grinding 1-0 win for Thomas Tuchel's side. Let's get to some takeaways.
The Premier League got back underway in typical style on Saturday with a 2-2 draw between Fulham and Liverpool at Craven Cottage. Nunez hit the ground running in his full debut registering a goal and an assist with Mohamed Salah on the other end of each but it was a mistake from Virgil van Dijk that would prove costly.
Jurgen Klopp's men took their time to get going and it was the newly promoted hosts who went ahead through Aleksandar Mitrovic's header. Part of an early second half double change for Liverpool saw Darwin Nunez make his debut and the Uruguayan did not need long to pull the Reds level. Parity only lasted less than 10 minutes, though, as Mitrovic doubled his tally from the penalty spot and left the visitors facing defeat. Mitrovic was losing the ball but a penalty was awarded and confirmed after a VAR review.
Nunez came to the rescue with nine minutes remaining as he teed up Mo Salah to level and keep up his incredible opening day record of scoring in all six fixtures with Liverpool. Ultimately, it was a point gained by Klopp's men as Fulham outfought them on many occasions while Marco Silva's Cottagers will be heartened by their spirited showing. With most of their new signings on the bench from the start, it's a great result to kick off the season, and quite a building block moving forward.
After the unexpected result, it's possible Jurgen Klopp will need to make some adjustments going forward.
A clumsy penalty conceded by Abdoulaye Doucouré was the difference in the match as Chelsea defeated Everton 1-0 on opening day. Frank Lampard's side lined up well and despite being short on forwards, they were able to hang with Chelsea as the Blues struggled to get their season going. Everton were hit with another injury blow only 18 minutes into the match as Ben Godfrey left the match on a stretcher after a lengthy delay. Considering that he had his leg immobilized, it doesn't look good. He was eventually replaced by Mason Holgate.
From there, both teams were missing a true number nine, but it was Everton who did better coping with that as Anthony Gordon led the attack. Everton were able to create chances on the counter but the final ball wasn't there. Ben Chilwell drew a penalty before the half as Doucouré put both hands on his shirt while he was going down in the box. Jorginho didn't mess around as he drove the penalty home to give Chelsea the advantage.
The second half went similarly to the first but Everton will be the happier team about that. Amadou Onana was in the crowd watching as he'll be in the Everton midfield sooner than later after they agreed to a deal with Lille but for Chelsea, even with Armando Broja on the pitch they were missing a proper nine. Raheem Sterling filled the role but he's better from the wing despite his strong work rate in the box.
He was bright along with Kalidou Koulibaly in making their debuts Saturday but most of the team didn't shine along with them. Nathan Patterson also created a good chance for Dele Alli when he entered but Dele didn't know what to do with the ball in the box as he fluffed his chance. Plenty of work to be done for each side in a game that ended up going almost 110 minutes due to various stoppages in each half.
Bournemouth picked up three unexpected points on Premier League opening day with a 2-0 win over an abject Aston Villa side at Vitality Stadium. The Cherries were ahead after just three minutes as Jefferson Lerma fired home after Marcus Tavernier's corner was headed down by Lloyd Kelly while Lucas Digne was off the pitch of Villa.
Bournemouth could have been two goals up by the break had Kieffer Moore connected with Adam Smith's low cross after Dominic Solanke had played him in. Eventually, it was two when the Wales international headed home a Kelly cross with 10 minutes remaining to give Scott Parker the ideal start to the new campaign and Steven Gerrard a nightmarish one.
Villa were barely at the races and rarely threatened with Danny Ings, John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara going closest without really threatening for the away side. While Aston Villa had 15 shots, and two-thirds of the possession, they only managed 0.66 expectedgoals. Not great all around. Next up for Bournemouth are defending champions Manchester City while Villa are at home to Everton with much better expected after an impressive summer transfer window.
Thanks to a strong performance from Dean Henderson, the match couldn't get completely out of hand but Ryan Yates was missed as Steve Cooper's side struggled to maintain a presence in midfield. The Tricky Trees only took five shots and were the only promoted side to not pick up at least a point on Saturday. Brennan Johnson was isolated only touching the ball 20 times while Newcastle rolled. The Magpies took 20 shots with Callum Wilson and Fabian Schar scoring goals and Schar's was quite a belter.
Americans took center stage for Leeds as they came back after conceding to Wolverhampton early, and walked away with a 2-1 win. Brenden Aaronson might not officially get credit for the goal, but it's not going to stop him from claiming it as Jesse Marsch's team starts the season off the right way.
Fulham 2, Liverpool 2
Bournemouth 2, Aston Villa 0
Leeds United 2, Wolverhampton Wanderers 1
Newcastle United 2, Nottingham Forest 0
Tottenham 4, Southampton 1
Everton 0, Chelsea 1
It wasn't pretty but the points all count the same. Thomas Tuchel has a lot to work out with his team while Everton can take a lot of positives from the match.
After loans to West Brom and Crystal Palace, he's now back with Chelsea.
It's a lengthy finish to the match as everyone is running out of steam. Thiago Silva is down with an apparent hamstring injury.
Can Lampard throw everything forward since conceding a second goal doesn't matter much?
Medical staff have been mobilized and the match will resume when things are under control.
It's audition time for Armando Broja as he enters for Kai Havertz while Marc Cucurella makes his Chelsea debut replacing Koulibaly.
Patterson played Dele Alli into space and he didn't know what he wanted to do with the ball. He fumbles it and Chelsea are able to collect themselves to clear the chance with 20 minutes to go.
It's a double change as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic enter for Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount. Their introduction should bring a bit more directness to the match.
It was an alright shift for McNeil after moving from Burnley. It's hard for his role to work without a forward but Dele will now take up a spot centrally as a false nine.
Gray's corner is tipped by Mendy before he's forced into a double save by Holgate. The ball fell to Doucoure but he couldn't finish through the sea of Chelsea shirts either but Everton are knocking as the second half is going how the first finished.
It was an unfortunate first half for Everton who performed to the best of their abilities but still went into the break behind. Gray had an excellent chance on the counter but both teams are missing a traditional striker in the center.
No skips this time as he drives the penalty home.
Chilwell draws a penalty as Doucoure pulls him to the ground. There was no reason for it as Doucoure had help defense but Jorginho will take. Mina gets a yellow during things after trying to wind up the Chelsea players.
Kante stung Pickford's palms but Sterling was offside when he came back for the rebound. better for Chelsea but these initial shots need to come from inside the box and not outside of it.
Everton were on the break via Doucoure but Gordon's shot was blocked by a retreating Kante. Great awareness but still too much freedom for the Toffees.
The crosses from wide haven't caused massive issues yet but they're controlling the match when Raheem Sterling doesn't have the ball. If a cross connects with Gordon, this could get hairy.
Gray put an excellent cross into the box for Gordon but Koulibaly steps up to clear the chance. It was the best chance for either side so far as we're 20 minutes into the match.
It's concerning to see him leave on a stretcher as Godfrey is a talented young defender. The injury certainly looked bad but hopefully when the medical staff reviews things they will be better than expected.
After a lengthy delay Godfrey is stretchered off to applause with his right leg immobilized and Mason Holgate comes on and we're back underway.
After stopping a Chelsea chance, Godfrey had to call for. a trainer. As the stretcher is coming out, Mason Holgate is going through his paces to get warmed up.
Neither team is creating much of anything as no one wants to drive forward to push the issue. Everton will be okay with that as they'll be more than happy to leave with a point considering their injury concerns.
Chelsea will hope to get Raheem Sterling off the mark quickly against Everton.
Despite finishing third last season, bookmakers are picking Spurs to nip ahead of them this year. To some degree that's because of a rough preseason which as seen them put in a number of poor performances, most notably a 4-0 loss to Arsenal on their U.S. tour. It's also never wise to put too much stock in preseason though. For more on what Chelsea's season looks like, make sure to check out James Benge's preview, along with his bold predictions for this team's season.
With Dominic Calvert-Lewin out six weeks and Salomon Rondon suspended, Everton are making due with a front line of new acquisition Dwight McNeil, Anthony Gordon, and Demarai Gray making up the front three. And Everton's midfield business also isn't done leaving them with a makeshift pair of Alex Iwobi and Abdoulaye Doucoure.
Chelsea continue in their 3-4-3 formation with Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount flanking Kai Havertz up front. New defensive signing Kalidou Koulibaly starts as well with Marc Cucurella making the bench.
He's been knocking on the door all day and doubles Newcastle's lead. In a way this was expected as Nottingham Forest will need time to gel but Newcastle look ready to pick up where they left off.
Brenden Aaronson scores to not only mark his Leeds United debut but to also put them ahead in the 74th minute. An excellent cross from Patrick Bamford to play him in.
It would take an impressive effort to beat Dean Henderson today and this is quite a hit.
This time it's Dejan Kulusevski as Spurs are dominating. Royal assisted him this time as Spurs continue their impressive day. There won't be any letup for Southampton either as Ivan Perisic is about to enter for his debut.
Mohamed Salisu scored his first Premier League goal but it was for the wrong team as when Emerson Royal lost the ball, he turned it into his own net. This may be just out of reach now with Spurs ahead 3-1.
