The highly anticipated first weekend of the Premier League season has almost drawn to a close and we've had a look into some of the key takeaways from the first round of fixtures.

From Arsenal's flat attacking display to Sunderland's superb return to the top-flight, all the important takeaways from Matchday 1 are below.

These takeaways may help you with your 1-20 prediction, have your shot at the jackpot with your 2025/26 1-20 in Andy's £1M Premier League Predictor Game - it's completely free to play.

⭐ Liverpool and Man City Still Very Strong Offensively

It looks like Liverpool and Manchester City once again have the best attacking talent in the league which could be the genesis of another of their famous title races over the last few years.

Liverpool put four past Bournemouth with goals coming from Cody Gakpo, Hugo Ekitike, Federico Chiesa and Mohamed Salah, while City also put four past their opponents in Wolves with debut goals from Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders as well as Erling Haaland getting his obligatory brace on the opening day. 

What was particularly notable was the attacking depth that these sides have. Both Liverpool and City saw goals off the bench from their substitutes, with Chiesa and Cherki scoring quickly after coming on, which is a weapon that few sides in the Premier League can match.

The most standout performance from the entire Premier League weekend came from Tijjani Reijnders as he scored and got an assist against Wolves. It was one of the best Premier League debuts I've seen, and the Dutchman looks a perfect replacement for Ilkay Gundogan.

My only slight concern with Liverpool is in the full back areas. I thought Jeremie Frimpong may struggle at times, but it was actually Milos Kerkez who struggled to deal with Antoine Semenyo, who scored both of Bournemouth’s goals. Expect opposition sides to target his side in the coming weeks as the defensive balance still looks wrong for Liverpool.

We’ll need to see how City fare against their usual bogey team, Tottenham, next week to fully ascertain how close they may be to the title this season.

You can edit your 1-20 or submit for the first time up until Friday 19th September (4pm).

📉 Brentford and West Ham Are in Trouble

Graham Potter’s odds to be the first manager sacked have been slashed from 10/1 before the season started to just 2/1 after their opening day 3-0 defeat to newly-promoted Sunderland. West Ham were alright in the first half, but caved after Eliezer Mayenda’s header gave Sunderland the lead.

The West Ham squad is a bit of a mess. You had a midfield partnership of Guido Rodriguez and James Ward-Prowse, who didn’t play together in pre-season and are too lightweight a duo for the Premier League. This was evidenced by Granit Xhaka, Habib Diarra and Noah Sadiki bullying the pair for the 70 minutes they were on the pitch. The one shining light for West Ham was Malick Diouf, who looked bright from left wing back on his Premier League debut.

Potter looks like a man who is struggling to save this squad, and the lack of leadership above him at boardroom level could make him the earliest casualty of the season.

We shouldn’t be in a rush to think Keith Andrews will get sacked. Brentford tend to stick with managers and have only sacked a manager midway through a season once in their history. However, this was a rude awakening for the former set-piece coach, and I'm a little worried that he will struggle with the ruthlessness of the Premier League.

Brentford looked a little lost in the final third without Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo, with their only goal in the game coming from the penalty spot. Rumours of Nathan Collins being linked with a move away may put the final nail in the coffin for Brentford and Keith Andrews could make them serious relegation candidates this season - I do think Brentford will improve, especially at home, but losing your manager, club captain, two best attackers and possibly best defender all in the same window is a recipe for disaster.

⚡ We Need to Keep an Eye on Forest and Sunderland

It was brilliant to see the Stadium of Light rocking again in the Premier League with goals from Wilson Isidor, Mayenda and Dan Ballard enough to see the newly-promoted side beat West Ham 3-0 on the opening day. There were so many impressive performances for Sunderland, but the one who really stood out to me was Dan Ballard:

4 shots (all headers)
1 goal 
4 fouls won
100% ground duels won
7 long balls attempted
Most duels won (10)
17 fantasy points

This is the performance of a Premier League centre back; he’s got all the attributes to be a consistent defender at this level, and is also worth watching for shots. The midfield was also impressive, but it was more the lack of fight in the middle of the park from West Ham which allowed the Black Cats to dominate with Diarra and Xhaka offering a steely partnership. Sadiki was also a standout performer in the middle of the park; between those three, Sunderland have a real workmanlike core.

What is clear from Sunderland’s performance is that they are going about staying up in the right way. They aren’t going to try to be over-expansive and instead look to take their chances when they come on the break and from set pieces, which they did expertly here. It should be noted that Sunderland scored these goals from an xG of just 0.68, but I’m not going to be the one to pop the Sunderland bubble of joy just yet. 

Forest really blew me away in their opening game against Brentford. I thought they would be a bit more sluggish, seeing as Nuno Espírito Santo came out a few days before and said that he didn’t think his side were ready for the Premier League season.

Chris Wood notched a brace, continuing his trend from last season of overachieving his xG of 0.95. New signing Dan Ndoye also got on the scoresheet. Forest have added Omari Hutchinson and James McAtee to this squad, so they are assembling an exciting young side that could compete on multiple fronts this year. Forest are a side to watch in the cup competitions especially this season.

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