The Premier League is back and already providing intrigue in the first week of action. Manchester City sit atop the table for now, followed by Sunderland and Tottenham, just as everyone expected. Liverpool needed a late winner from Federico Chiesa to defeat Bournemouth, while Aston Villa and West Ham United are in trouble after only a week of play. New signings and managers have hit the ground running, and while the matchweek may not be completely over, it’s never too early to take a look at what can be gleaned from the matches that have already happened.
It’s time for some overreactions:
Premier League scores
- Liverpool 4, Bournemouth 2
- Aston Villa 0, Newcastle United 0
- Tottenham 3, Burnley 0
- Wolverhampton 0, Manchester City 4
- Brighton 1, Fulham 1
- Sunderland 3, West Ham United 0
Sunderland will stay up
There’s nothing better than starting off the Premier League season with a relegation six-pointer out of the way at home, and for the Black Cats, they marked their return to the top flight with a bang, defeating West Ham United 3-0. Hosting the first Premier League match at the Stadium of Light since 2017, when they were relegated to the Championship, Saturday could not have gone better. It has been a long road back that included bottoming out in League One, but this victory showed what can happen when Sunderland are at their best. Despite only holding possession for 37% of the match, Sunderland were able to score in different ways, taking advantage of set plays and counterattacks. Simon Adingra showed why he was a smart addition from Brighton, adding an assist, and players who helped get Sunderland to this point, like Danny Ballard, played critical roles in their success.
West Ham are a struggling side, and losing a game like this could mean more at the end of the season when the relegation race takes shape. For Sunderland, a fast start is critical since nothing is better than points out of the gate. Facing Burnley in their next match, the Black Cats have every chance to start life back in the Premier League with six points from two matches. That would be already 15% of the way to the 40-point target for safety with only 5% of the season played so far. There’s always a chance that they’ll hit bumps in the road, but it’s hard to ask for a better start.
Tottenham are on the rise
Richarlison already has a contender for the goal of the season, while being halfway to his total goals scored from last season with a brace in their defeat of Bournemouth. Only starting at striker because of Dominic Solanke’s own return to fitness, Richarlison showed why he should be in Thomas Frank’s plans.
Tottenham may have faced a Burnley side who have historically struggled to score in the Premier League, but the defense did their job, only allowing four shots on target, and most of those were easy saves for Gugliemo Vicario to make. After a season during which they struggled to defend against anyone, it was refreshing to see a calculated approach from Frank’s men. Tottenham will get a fast test to see where they are with Manchester City on the horizon, but there’s no reason why this team can’t finish in the top five of the Premier League.
Chasing Eberechi Eze, this team could get stronger before the window closes, at which point the question becomes, how high can Tottenham fly under Frank? Back in the Champions League this season, expectations will be high, but this may be a squad that can reach them.
Liverpool won’t win the title
A 4-2 victory over Bournemouth is exciting, and Chiesa’s winner made for great theater, but it’s also something that showed how vulnerable this iteration of the Reds are. Allowing 1.7 xG to a depleted Bournemouth side while creating 2.21 of their own, this is a match that could’ve ended in a draw. It’s good that Arne Slot’s men had resilience to come back in the match, but it’s not good how easy Bournemouth could create chances down their wings. Liverpool will need to patch their defensive holes quickly because one dropped result could be enough to lose the league. There were positives like Hugo Ekitike’s goal and assist in his debut match, but the attack won’t be enough to go wire to wire. Slot’s pragmatism and ability to manage games went a long way to Liverpool winning the league last season, and they’ll need more of the same to stay ahead of their competition with Arsenal and City both improving.
City’s back on track to win the league
In the first half against Wolves, City were far from their best, but it wouldn’t matter as with a few passes, they scored twice in three minutes and it’d ballon to a 4-0 victory. New signings Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki scored their first goals in a City shirt while Oscar Bobb marked his own return from injury with an assist. Oh, and Erling Haaland scored a brace. Simply put, City are back.
Ederson was left out of the squad as the goalkeeping situation is being worked out, but the defense only allowed nine shots to Wolves, so James Trafford was rarely tested during the match. Reijnders shined as a box-to-box midfielder with a goal and an assist, and if he can even do that half of the time, City will be in a good position. Regular starters like Rodri and Josko Gvardiol were unavailable, but that still wouldn’t stop Guardiola’s side from bossing the match. While they won’t celebrate defeating a team likely to be relegated in Wolves, it’s still good to see that City can win when expected and keep clean sheets. That wasn’t the case last season, and it cost them the title, so if they’ve put those issues in the past, the league will need to be on notice.
