The Premier League is back after a break of over 3 months and all 20 teams have now played their first game since returning.
The Premier League is back after a break of over 3 months and all 20 teams have now played their first game since returning.
The opening day saw a goalless draw between Aston Villa and Sheff Utd and Man City achieve a convincing 3-0 victory over London club Arsenal.
The most anticipated match of the return fixtures was the Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool which produced a disappointing 0-0 draw, meaning Liverpool still need 3 wins to secure their first Premier League title in 30 years. Despite Klopp’s side averaging 2.28 goals per game so far this season, history did hint towards a low scoring game. The last three matches between these two sides have now ended goalless at Goodison Park and there have been just three goals scored in the last 6 encounters. Many online bookmakers were running some good betting offers for this match and it’s probably safe to say that not many punters would have backed 0-0.
With Liverpool still having to line up against City, Arsenal and Chelsea, Klopp will want to pick up points against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night to ease the pressure of a nervy end to the season.
Premier League London clubs Chelsea and Crystal Palace both produced solid performances and came away from their first game back 3 points better off with victories against Aston Villa and Bournemouth. Chelsea, despite dominating the first half, found themselves 1-0 down at half time due to a goal from Villa defender Kortney Hause just before the break. However, Lampard’s men held their nerve and secured a 2-1 victory thanks to two goals in two minutes from Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud.
Palace inflicted more misery on Bournemouth and left them in the relegation zone after a 2-0 win at the Vitality Stadium. Two goals within the first 25 minutes from Luka Milivojević and Jordan Ayew gave The Glaziers a comfortable lead that they were able to retain until the final whistle to secure all three points.
Arsenal were the only top-flight London club to underperform in their opening games and after suffering a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday, fell again away to Brighton where Mikel Arteta’s side threw away a 1-0 lead in the final 15 minutes to lose the match 2-1.
In the Championship, we saw a London derby between 3rd placed Fulham and 4th placed Brentford at Craven Cottage end in a 2-0 away win. The game looked like it would end goalless until the 88th minute when Saïd Benrahma bundled in a cross at the far post followed by an injury time goal from Emiliano Marcondes after an excellent break from Brentford off a Fulham corner. That result wasn’t enough for Brentford to leapfrog Fulham in the table but it has taken Thomas Frank’s side a step closer to securing a play-off spot for the chance to become a Premier League club next season.
It’s great to see football back and even better that all remaining matches will be televised. You’ll be able to catch the games on either Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon Prime as well as freeview channel ‘Pick’. There will also be four matches televised on the BBC for the first time in Premier League history.