Running analysis of opening weekend of new Premier League season

The 2026-27 Premier League season is here! Our soccer writers are sharing their observations and insights throughout the opening weekend.

Sunday, Aug. 23

Liverpool's midfield hole

Transition defense was a recurring issue for Liverpool last season, and it looks like the problem that plagued Arne Slot didn't simply disappear with the appointment of his successor, Andoni Iraola.

The two goals that the Reds conceded in Sunday's 2-2 draw against Newcastle were carbon copies of one another, with Liverpool's midfield getting badly exposed in transition and giving the Magpies a free run through the middle of the pitch on the counter. It's a familiar scene.

There's obviously a lot of on-ball value that comes with having Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai as your double-pivot in midfield, but neither one is a true No. 6 with natural defensive instincts. Plus, it makes Liverpool too vulnerable in transition when they lose possession.

To add greater balance to his team, Iraola could consider giving teen midfielder Trey Nyoni more opportunities after an encouraging preseason, or he could try to address the issue in the final week of the transfer window.

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Despite the manager's insistence after the match that this isn't just a personnel problem, surely the most obvious solution - bringing in a traditional holding midfielder who can cover space and shield the backline in transition - is a no-brainer. Sometimes the simple answer is the best one.

Iraola should be encouraged by the resilience that his team showed to twice come from behind and eventually earn a draw at a very hostile St. James' Park, but you can't pull off stoppage-time comebacks every week. Until Liverpool find a solution for this glaring problem, they're going to struggle to keep clean sheets and, by extension, win games consistently.

Message to the board?

Was Enzo Maresca trying to send a message to the Manchester City hierarchy with his surprising decision to start Marc Guehi in central midfield for his team's Premier League opener against Bournemouth on Sunday?

The Italian manager had other natural midfielders at his disposal who could've slotted into the No. 6 role alongside Elliot Anderson, but opted instead for Guehi. The English center-back performed admirably in the unfamiliar role - he scored Man City's equalizer from a corner kick, though he also missed an absolute sitter before that. But his limitations were obvious when he was in possession, as Guehi often opted for safe passes around the pitch. That's not really his fault, of course, considering his natural position.

Removing Guehi from the backline also had the knock-on effect of sowing some defensive confusion for Maresca's team, which was especially clear on Bournemouth's first-half goal.

Man City have reportedly reached an agreement with Lille to sign 18-year-old phenom Ayyoub Bouaddi for €100 million, and the Moroccan international should slot in beside Anderson to create what could be a special long-term midfield partnership that drives City forward in the post-Rodri era.

But starting Guehi on Sunday seems to indicate that Maresca believes his team needs even more reinforcement in midfield - and probably elsewhere once Savinho and Omar Marmoush depart - to try and keep pace with reigning champions and title favorites Arsenal.

Man City didn't look sharp Sunday despite their late 2-1 comeback win. Erling Haaland, sporting a startling new buzz cut, couldn't find top gear, and without the injured Jeremy Doku, the attack lacked inventiveness until French playmaker Rayan Cherki came off the bench to set up both late goals.

Ultimately, Maresca's message - if that was his intent - was correct. Man City's squad, as currently constructed, is lacking.

Disastrous debut

On a weekend where multiple clubs with high expectations fell flat on their face in their respective openers - hello, Manchester United and Tottenham - perhaps no team had a worse outing than Aston Villa.

Despite some smart offseason signings that should eventually pay dividends, Unai Emery's team has lost several key stalwarts in the summer. The absences of Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans, and Morgan Rogers - along with the uncertainty surrounding Ollie Watkins' future - loomed large in their 4-0 hammering at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion.

Joao Gomes, acquired to help solidify the midfield, gifted Brighton a goal with a horrendous giveaway in his own box, and then got sent off in the 40th minute. Debuts don't come much worse.

Aston Villa were already trailing 4-0 when the Brazilian received his red card - they conceded four goals in just 31 minutes - so that was hardly the reason they got dismantled Sunday.

Brighton and Villa are two clubs considered to be in similar tiers in England's top flight, both in the ascendancy and arguably the most capable of becoming the "new" team that will consistently push for top-four finishes (something Villa has already accomplished multiple times in recent years). On this evidence, though, the Seagulls are the ones more likely to soar.

Saturday, Aug. 22

New season, same Spurs

After finishing 17th last season and avoiding what would've been a catastrophic relegation by the skin of their teeth, everyone assumed that Tottenham could only go up. Well, about that ...

Spurs, who've spent opulently in the summer transfer window to avoid replicating last year's nightmare, started the new campaign by delivering arguably their worst performance yet under Roberto De Zerbi, losing 3-0 to Brentford. It should've been more, but Igor Thiago smacked the post with a second-half penalty.

Visiting Brentford is far from an easy opening match for anyone. The Bees, an established Premier League side, are organized and very well-coached.

But Tottenham were completely listless Saturday despite rolling out many of the new faces expected to help turn things around. Four of their shiny new signings, including £100-million man Sandro Tonali, started the lopsided match, and fellow high-priced acquisition Mateus Fernandes came off the bench at halftime. Neither midfielder made much of an impact.

Tottenham are still awaiting the return of influential right-back Pedro Porro, while none of Micky van de Ven, Xavi Simons, Mohammed Kudus, or Dejan Kulusevski were available for the opener. The attack also looks set to get a boost in the form of Savinho and Omar Marmoush, who are both expected to complete transfers from Manchester City imminently. There are some clear mitigating factors here, and Spurs' lineup will soon look very different from the one that fell flat against the Bees.

Still, none of that will matter if De Zerbi doesn't find a way to make Tottenham more resilient and more difficult to play against. Look how Brentford, led by shrewd summer signing Mamadou Sangare, just waltzed right through Spurs' midfield and defense for their opening goal:

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Not until they were down 3-0 did Tottenham show any sign of life - barely, however - and by that point it was far too late to turn the game around; Spurs haven't won a Premier League match when trailing by two or more goals at halftime in 16 years.

Unless De Zerbi can fix Tottenham's mentality, throwing more and more money at the squad won't fix the problem.

Grass not always greener

With nine Premier League clubs starting the season under new managers, this campaign has unprecedented turnover and, as a result, unpredictability. Outside of the proverbial Big Six, two of the league's most intriguing appointments came at Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace.

Oliver Glasner, who left Palace after leading the club to memorable FA Cup and Conference League triumphs, began his tenure at Forest with a home defeat to Leeds United. His replacement at Selhurst Park, Pierre Sage, didn't fare any better, losing to Everton on Saturday.

Both Forest and Palace sold crucial players in the transfer window - Elliot Anderson and Maxence Lacroix - and could be fringe candidates to get dragged into a relegation battle if they don't adapt to their new tactics quickly.

Glasner, in particular, could eventually regret leaving the stability of Palace for the volatility of Forest and infamous owner Evangelos Marinakis, who isn't shy about firing coaches on a whim if results (or working relationships) aren't to his liking.

It's early - literally the first game of the campaign - but these points in August count just the same as those later in the season. We'll be watching both these teams, and their new managers, with interest.

Goal of the weekend?

It came in a losing effort for Sunderland on Saturday, but that doesn't diminish this sensational free-kick from Ecuadorian winger Nilson Angulo.

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Brutal start for Red Devils

A new season brings renewed hope and optimism for every club and fan base - it's a promise of better things to come.

At least, it's supposed to be.

It took all of 45 minutes for that air to come out of Manchester United's balloon Saturday, as the Red Devils conceded from a pair of set-pieces in the first half and then mustered little fight en route to a 2-0 loss to Hull City in their opening contest of the campaign.

Michael Carrick, who was handed the permanent coaching job after seemingly getting Manchester United back on track in the second half of last season, will already be feeling the increased pressure following his team's disastrous performance at the MKM Stadium.

Every team is entitled to have poor games, especially early in the season as the kinks get worked out, but hunger, energy, and a willingness to match the opponent's effort and desire should be nonnegotiable. Man United looked totally incapable of doing that and badly lost the physical battle against the Tigers.

Hull, playing their first Premier League match since 2017, were always going to be fired up for this encounter. And yet, their enthusiasm somehow seemed to catch a sleepy Man United by surprise. That's not acceptable.

Manchester United had all the ball after going down 2-0, but that didn't translate into consistent pressure. Hull were largely comfortable, staying deep and repelling the visitors' meek attacks. Marcus Rashford, back at the club, looked bright after coming off the bench in the second half, but United were otherwise short on ideas. Though they launched 39 crosses into the penalty area, they didn't parlay that into a single headed shot on target.

The biggest indictment: center-back Harry Maguire, thrown up front as an auxiliary forward in the latter stages, had the most completed dribbles of any Man United player in the match. You couldn't script a more abject start.

"It was never going to be perfect today," Carrick explained after the defeat.

He's not wrong. But it shouldn't have been this bad, either.

Man United getting worked

This isn't what Michael Carrick had in mind.

On paper, Manchester United were handed a relatively straightforward fixture for their season opener, playing away against newly promoted Hull City. But the Tigers, spurred on by a boisterous home crowd, showed off their set-piece prowess to score twice in the opening half against the Red Devils.

After Semi Ajayi broke the deadlock in the 17th minute following a scramble from a corner kick, fellow defender Nobel Mendy doubled the advantage with a close-range header in the 38th minute.

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It's the first game of the season, and Carrick already needs to produce an inspired halftime team talk.

Friday, Aug. 21

Tzolis' instant impact

The Premier League champions are up and running, and while it's an extremely small sample size - only 76 minutes against a promoted side - summer signing Christos Tzolis could end up looking like a massive bargain this season.

The Greek winger signed for £34 million to replace Leandro Trossard - a relative pittance in today's market. Yet he was a constant menace in his Premier League debut, helping to fashion Arsenal's first two goals with industrious play on the left side.

There's a simplicity to his game that's refreshing, and he looks capable of creating something dangerous whenever he gets on the ball and drives toward the opposing penalty area.

There are 379 more Premier League matches to come this season, and in that time, many of the league's new faces will make a case for being the transfer window's best bargain. And, of course, Tzolis will have many tougher tests to come, with all due respect to Coventry City. Arsenal's next four games, for instance, are against Aston Villa, Chelsea, Sunderland, and Brighton.

But he easily passed his first test and looks capable of giving Arsenal the kind of attacking spark that can lift the Gunners to even greater heights.

No need to panic just yet

Frank Lampard and Coventry City were put in an almost impossible position to begin their first Premier League season in 25 years.

Coventry's long-awaited return to the top flight began at the home of the reigning champions and undisputed best team in the country. The 3-0 loss highlighted the enormous gulf in quality that exists between one of Europe's truly elite sides and a newly promoted outfit - despite Coventry finishing top of the table in the Championship last season.

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Coventry didn't have a shot on target until the 86th minute, and the absence of injured striker Haji Wright will have a big impact on the team's ability to find the net consistently until the American international returns.

But Coventry's season was never going to be defined by Friday's opener, and there's certainly no reason for Lampard to jump to any rash conclusions about his squad's Premier League status despite being outclassed at the Emirates. If anything, the fact that the Sky Blues managed to keep the contest respectable after conceding twice in the opening 23 minutes is something Lampard can spin into a positive inside his dressing room.

There were some encouraging signs for the visitors in the second half - granted, the match was decided by that point and Arsenal were content to take their foot off the gas - and the tests will only get easier from here.

Arsenal cruising early

The reigning champions didn't wait long to get the scoring started in the opening match of the Premier League. Kai Havertz slotted home a sweet left-footed finish in the 15th minute for the first goal of the new league campaign, and Bukayo Saka doubled the home side's lead over newly promoted Coventry City with an opportunistic finish just eight minutes later.

Mikel Arteta's men, obviously eager to showcase why they're so heavily favored to retain their title, are cruising at the Emirates.

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Injury bug bites early

Mikel Arteta has named his first starting XI of the new Premier League season, and there are already injury questions attached to his team. Star center-back William Saliba's absence was expected as he continues to recover from a back injury, but new signing Bruno Guimaraes is conspicuously not on the team sheet for the Gunners' season opener versus Coventry City.

There are already rumblings that the Brazilian midfielder, who was substituted during the Community Shield due to an apparent thigh problem, could miss multiple weeks to begin the new campaign.

Arsenal are obviously well-stocked in midfield, but part of the idea behind adding Guimaraes for £75 million was to take some of the burden off Declan Rice following his grueling 2025-26 season. An early injury to the former Newcastle captain immediately hinders those plans.

Who can stop Arsenal?

Reigning champions Arsenal, liberated after last season's long-awaited triumph, enter the new Premier League campaign as overwhelming favorites to retain their title and potentially begin building a dynasty under Mikel Arteta.

Having finally ended their agonizing 22-year wait for the league crown, the Gunners have returned all their key players and added one of the game's most well-rounded central midfielders in Bruno Guimaraes (though we may have to wait a few weeks to actually see him on the pitch in league action). Meanwhile, all of their proverbial title rivals either underwent major reconstructive surgery in the summer or still have glaring holes to address.

Friday's season opener, a home fixture against newly promoted Coventry City, should offer the holders a relatively comfortable way to kick things off.

Anything can happen during a 38-match campaign, of course.

Declan Rice and William Saliba, still hindered physically by last season's exhausting schedule and their World Cup exploits, may not be domineering forces once again. Arteta might struggle to find the right balance between maintaining defensive solidity and playing with more attacking flow and freedom. A clampdown on set-piece jostling could rob Arsenal of a consistent source of key goals. Having finally gotten over the hump last season - and being pushed to the limit to do so - this group of players may find it difficult to replicate the hunger that drove them to the title, or perhaps they'll put more emphasis on the Champions League this year. Man City, Chelsea, and Liverpool could immediately thrive under their new managers.

Still, you have to squint very hard to see a world where all those things come together to stop Arsenal's title march. Their supporters understandably don't want to get too far ahead of themselves, but this is very much Arsenal's trophy to lose in 2026-27.

Opening weekend fixtures

Check out the full slate of games for Matchday 1. All times in ET.

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