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If Matchday 1 has taught us anything, it’s that this season could be pretty unpredictable. Seven home teams picked up wins, two of the promoted sides started with victories, and a few of the bigger clubs already gave us plenty to talk about. Obviously, it’s way too early to make any big predictions, but there are already a few teams that have caught my attention.
Arsenal look like a serious title contender. Their 3–0 win over Coventry wasn’t exactly a blockbuster performance, but they did what you’d expect from a team that wants to win the league.
They controlled the game, stayed composed and got the three points without making things difficult for themselves. The real test will come when they start facing the bigger teams and have to juggle the Premier League with European football.
Brighton were probably the biggest surprise of the weekend for me. A 4–0 win over Aston Villa immediately puts them on everyone's radar. Villa's red card obviously played a part, so I wouldn’t get carried away and start calling Brighton title contenders, but they looked confident, aggressive and dangerous.
If they can keep playing with that kind of intensity, they could definitely be in the mix for European football.
Manchester United are probably the team I'd be most worried about right now. Losing 2–0 to newly promoted Hull is bad enough, but the bigger concern was how little United created going forward.
They struggled to turn possession into real chances, while Hull looked comfortable defending their lead. Carrick now needs a reaction quickly because another poor performance could put serious pressure on him and the team very early in the season.
Tottenham also have plenty of questions to answer after their 3–0 defeat to Brentford. Considering how much they spent in the summer, that’s about as bad a start as they could have imagined.
Brentford were excellent, especially in midfield, while Spurs looked disjointed and struggled to cope with the pace and intensity of the game. I expect Tottenham to improve, but their next few matches will tell us whether this was simply a terrible opening day or a sign of deeper problems.
Chelsea are probably the most interesting team to me at the moment. Their 3–2 win over Fulham showed just how much attacking quality they have, with João Pedro scoring almost immediately and Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer also getting on the scoresheet.
At the same time, conceding twice shows that there’s still plenty for Alonso to work on defensively. If they can get that balance right, Chelsea could be a really dangerous team this season.
Manchester City and Liverpool both gave us a bit of everything. City showed plenty of character by coming from behind to beat Bournemouth 2–1, although they weren’t completely convincing.
Liverpool's 2–2 draw with Newcastle was just as dramatic, with Dominik Szoboszlai's very late penalty rescuing a point. Both teams have enough quality to challenge Arsenal, but after one game, I’m still not completely sold on either of them.
Matchday 2 is where things start getting really interesting because we’ll get to see whether some of those Matchday 1 results were just one-off surprises or the beginning of a genuine trend.
Manchester United have an immediate chance to respond against Ipswich, while Arsenal face Aston Villa, Chelsea take on Brighton, Manchester City travel to Crystal Palace and Liverpool host Nottingham Forest.
For me, Manchester United vs Ipswich is the game to watch. If United win comfortably, we can start treating the Hull result as a really bad day at the office. But if they struggle again, the questions around Carrick and the squad are going to get much louder.
Ipswich will also arrive full of confidence after their opening-day win, so United certainly shouldn't expect an easy game.
Chelsea have plenty of attacking momentum, while Brighton are coming off that huge 4–0 win. I wouldn't be surprised if we see another game with plenty of goals.
More importantly, it should give us a better idea of whether Brighton are genuinely as good as they looked against Villa or whether the red card made the result look more impressive than it really was.
Villa will want to bounce back immediately after that heavy defeat, while Arsenal will go into the game full of confidence.
If Arsenal win convincingly again, I’ll be even more confident in them as early title favourites. If Villa put in a strong performance and get a result, we can probably start putting the Brighton defeat down to a combination of a bad day and the red card.
Overall, I still expect Arsenal and Manchester City to be near the top, with Liverpool and Chelsea challenging them. Brighton could be one of the really interesting outsiders, while Manchester United and Tottenham are the two teams I'm watching most closely at the other end.
One bad result doesn't tell us much, but another poor performance from either side could turn those Matchday 1 concerns into a much bigger story.
