This weekend saw the 2020-21 Premier League season kick off with a bang as Arsenal and Leicester immediately set the early pace.
Alexandre Lacazette put Arsenal in front with an eighth minute strike against Fulham, who returned to the top flight after an one season absence after clinching promotion via the Championship Play-Offs.
Willian then made two early second half assists as Arsenal clinched a three goal away win, with Gabriel flicking in from his Brazilian compatriot’s corner before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang met Willian’s overhead kick and fired into top right corner on cut in from left wing.
The Gunners however were joined at the top by Leicester after Timothy Castagne’s header and a penalty brace from Jamie Vardy helped Leicester thrash West Bromwich Albion, who returned to the division after two seasons in the Championship.
Leeds completed an opening weekend of defeats for promoted clubs after their first Premier League match since May 2004 ended in defeat, despite contesting a seven goal thriller against reigning champions – Liverpool at Anfield.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the fourth minute after Robin Koch handballed his shot, although Jack Harrison fired in an equaliser eight minutes later from Pascal Struijk’s long ball.
Virgil van Dijk however put the Reds back ahead just eight minutes later after Pablo Hernandez blocked Andrew Robertson’s cross, before gifting Patrick Bamford Leeds’ second goal from a fumbled loose ball just ten minutes later.
Salah restored Liverpool’s lead in 33rd minute after rifling in from Struijk deflection of Robertson’s free-kick, which fell for the Egyptian to calmly fire in to give the Reds a 3-2 lead at half-time.
Mateusz Klich pulled Leeds level again midway through the second half but Salah clinched a 4-3 victory from the penalty spot, following Rodrigo’s foul on Fabinho during a corner as Liverpool extended their unbeaten home league run to 60 matches.
Chelsea went third after defeating Brighton 3-1 at the Amex as the Blues preserved their unbeaten opening Monday Night Football start to a new season, with three wins from three Monday Night Football clashes on the opening weekend of a new campaign.
Early goals from Raul Jimenez and Romain Saiss in the opening six minutes secured victory for Wolves at Sheffield United, with both teams expected to contend for European qualification throughout the season.
Newcastle newcomers, Callum Wilson and Jeff Hendrick scored for the Magpies in a two goal away win over West Ham, as both teams battled hard in a scrappy encounter as the Steve Bruce’s men went fourth in the table ahead of Wolves by virtue of alphabetical order.
Everton clinched their first away win over Tottenham since November 2008 after Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed in from Lucas Digne’s 55th minute free-kick.
Wilfried Zaha’s tap-in from Andros Townsend’s cross secured Crystal Palace a narrow win over Southampton, ending a seven match winless run for the Eagles.
Finally, Burnley and Aston Villa saw their clashes against Manchester United and Manchester City respectively postponed, to allow the latter two clubs a full 30 day break due to European commitments last month.
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