Matchday 1 - Quick Round Up

Match Day 1 Round Up



Friday 21st August


Arsenal 3-0 Coventry City

A comfortable start to the season for the reigning Premier League champions over last season's winners of the Championship, in a match that emphasised the gulf between the two divisions. Coventry strolled the Championship despite being wide open at the back and conceding goals for fun, Arsenal just showed them that you cannot get away with it in at Premier League level. You have to make it hard for the opposition, as scoring goals is more difficult. Lampard will need to work on that or Coventry will sink without trace if they carry on being this open. You also have to have fears over their recruitment, which seems to consist of signing players who have not quite made it at Premier League level, rather than looking for players who are up and coming. For Arsenal, it was simply a case of carrying on where they left off last season, added to an impressive performance from the new boy Tzolis. The only potential issue from this game for them is overconfidence, after such an easy win. That can be the biggest obstacle to overcome for a team that is reigning champions.

Starmen:
Tzolis - could really have been any of the attacking players for Arsenal, but as it was his debut, I think it was particularly impressive. His workrate is excellent and he looked to be a major upgrade on Trossard, with his pace and ability to run with the ball.
Odegaard - the Arsenal captain looked to be back to his best and scored as well.

Flops:
Lampard - got it all wrong, trying to continue playing like they did last season. They were lucky to get up last season, even when they had a rough patch, the other teams around them faltered as well. He should have realised that they would need to be better at the back if they are to stay up. Maybe they can fix it over the season, but their recruitment does not fill me with confidence overall.
Rushworth - he did make some decent saves, but also some bad errors. He will need to learn from this experience quickly.
van Ewijk - I had not seen him play before, but he clearly is going to have a steep learning curve as he was miles off the level required.
Onyenka - a very good Championship player but not good enough at this level.



Saturday 22nd August


Hull City 2-0 Manchester United

United were caught cold by a team that were up for it, in front of a vociferous home crowd and that were much more physically prepared for the new season. It was usual, before Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp raised the bar on points, for teams to start the season undercooked and use the first few weeks of a new season to get fully match fit. It seemed like a match where one team is still looking to use the first few games to get up to speed up against a Hull team that was much further along the line in terms of match sharpness. Both teams showed moments of slack defending, but the Tigers were not punished by a Red Devils team that lacked a genuine goalscorer up front. The physicality of the Hull team saw them bully United at times. That physicality could be a major boon to them this season.

Starmen:
Tzolakis - Hull's new keeper looks a very good find on this performance, though I am sure he will come under closer scrutiny during the season.
Ajayi - scored the opener and looked very solid.

Flops:
Dorgu - an extremely poor performance, it was little surprise that he got the hook at half time.
Cunha - played far too deep most of the match.
Tielemans - one of the worst debuts of all time. He looked weak, slow and cowardly, shirking out of a couple of physical battles.
Heaven - got bullied by McBurnie at times.
Maguire - made a horrendous error of man-marking team-mate Mazraoui at a corner, allowing Hull to score the second under no challenge. Then spent the rest of the match trying to make amends by running about aimlessly.


Everton 2-0 Crystal Palace

The Toffees picked up a deserved three points against a Palace side in transition from Glasner's ultra-defensive, quick counterattack team, into a slicker, fast passing and incisive attacking set up. Palace do look a much better side to watch than last time, but they badly lack quality to play this way, especially in the shape of McNeill and Nketiah behind the striker. Neither look anywhere near good enough on the ball and off it for that role. Everton look solid and well-drilled but lack a player to make runs in behind. George, in particular, was guilty of waiting for a ball into feet when there was plenty of space for a ball in behind for him to get at the Palace backline.

Starmen:
Ndiaye - it is astonishing that they are not having to fend off major interest in him, considering the paucity of options in the market for wingers.
Dewsbury-Hall - lacks a bit of quality on the ball in terms of passing, but works hard, is full of running and got a well-taken goal.

Flops:
Mateta - had the chances to change this game in the first half, before Everton opened the scoring.
McNeill - a really strange signing, offered nothing.
Munoz - a more open style has left him exposed and showed up his weaknesses this time out.


Ipswich Town 2-1 Sunderland

A real shock to the system for Sunderland, who started last season so well and used it as a foundation for an amazing season. This is the kind of game they really needed to pick up points from if they are to have anything like as good a season this time around. Ipswich will be hoping the win gives them a similar launch to the one the Mackems enjoyed last season. Ipswich look a genuine threat going forward, with Enciso offering a threat running with the ball, while Sunderland looked far too reliant on Brobbey's physicality.

Starmen:
Enciso - looks like he is going to be a real handful this season.
Emersonn - looks a real find for the Tractor Boys and scored a goal.
Xhaka - you have to wonder how much more the veteran midfielder has in the tank, they will need his knowhow more than ever this season.

Flops:
Diop - silly challenge to give away a free kick on the edge of the box which led to the Sunderland goal.
Brobbey - got a lot of the ball but always did the same thing, attempting to smash through the Ipswich defence. Needs to vary it at times.
Le Fee - struggled to get into the game.
O'Nien - looked out of his depth in the Prem.


Nottingham Forest 0-1 Leeds United

A battle between two similar systems, though Glasner's is a lot more defensively minded. The main difference is that one team, Leeds, is set up to play the way that suits the players they have whereas Forest still need to build the team to play the back three system. Which makes Glasner a very strange choice, as one thing they were fairly strong in is wingers, which Glasner does not use. The main difference between the two teams was simply that extra time that Leeds have had to develop into the system, other than that it was a very tight affair.

Starmen:
Murillo - one player that is perfectly suited to Glasner's system.
Stach - once again was Leeds' standout player and he was the scorer of the goal.

Flops:
Cunha - looked nervous on the ball in particular.
Ndoye - I am not sure what he actually offers when in a Forest shirt. Always seems to be a dangerous player for his country but looks lost at club level.
Calvert-Lewin - never really got into the game.


Brentford 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur

A game that Brentford dominated and won deservedly, with the much vaunted de Zerbi left scratching his head with no idea how to change things. Spurs still look a very poor side with an extremely porous defence and it is clear de Zerbi has a massive job on his hands, despite the big spending. It is impossible to judge the Bees, as Spurs were simply so bad that they were never pushed.

Starmen:
Lewis-Potter - scored a goal and raided forward at will.
Kayode - pretty much the same as Lewis-Potter.
Sangare - a debut to remember for a player that very much looks like a coup.
Janelt - had an excellent game, with Sangare's presence giving him a lot more freedom to roam.

Flops:
Richarlison - far too busy looking for cheap free kicks to really effect the match.
Bergvall - absolutely abysmal performance.
Tonali - he and Gallagher were extremely poor, but I am picking him to single out due to being the big new signing who looking lost.
van Hecke - he is not a good defender, a very strange buy and he was pulled all over the place far too easily.



Sunday 23rd August


Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 Aston Villa

A depleted Villa side were put to the sword in the first half, before Gomes got himself sent off in the 40th minute they were already 4-0 down. They have been ripped apart in the transfer window and most of their new signings were not risked to start. Brighton clearly fancied their chances from the off and put Villa under pressure constantly. After a bright start for the Villans, Brighton got on the ball and pressurised them into mistakes. The kind of mistakes that often occur in the early games of the season, as players get back to their full match sharpness after the summer break. Once they took the lead courtesy of a terrible error from Torres and then a bit of horrible luck for Lindelof as the ball ricocheted off the post and in off him, the Seagulls turned it up and went at Villa looking to take advantage before they could recover. And boy did they take advantage, picking up another three goals and effectively ended the game as a contest.

Starmen:
De Cuyper - scored and hit the woodwork in a very good performance.
Hinshelwood - scored two from his excellent forward runs.

Flops:
Gomes - a disastrous Premier League debut for the former Wolves man. Such a stupid initial booking for waving an imaginary yellow card at the referee, telling him to book Gross (who did also get booked). Rather than being careful afterwards, he continued to throw himself in and it was one of those cards that you could see coming a mile off.
Torres - an awful performance from the Spanish defender.


Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth

Bournemouth gave themselves something to hold on to in the first half and managed to frustrate Citeh until late in the second half, but were unable to hold out. City's bizarre set up, with Guehi in midfield, and Maresca's set up of passing the opposition to death does not look to get the most from this team. The best moments came when the ball moved forward quickly, which is probably why they improved so much after Cherki came on. His tendency to always try and move the ball forwards made a big difference to Man City, who had looked like they were running out of ideas up until then. Bournemouth looked very similar to last season, apart from trying to hold onto 1-0, which is rarely a good idea against a team as strong as City's.

Starmen:
Gvardiol - scored the winner and had a good game.
Cherki - came off the bench to create both of City's goals.
Tavernier - got the Cherries goal.

Flops:
Lewis - offered very little.
O'Reilly - faded out of the game after a bright first couple of minutes.
Hill - could not cope with Haaland at all, who bullied him.



Newcastle United 2-2 Liverpool

One of those games where you could see two new managers were trying to work with a team and the lack of understanding caused a number of errors. The Toon had been stripped fairly bare and it showed, but their makeshift side was able to get a draw and will probably feel unlucky to not hold on for the win. Overall though, Liverpool did dominate the play and it was bad errors on their own part which gave Newcastle the freedom to counter and poor defending made it worse. A draw was probably a fair result, in a game that showed a lot to both worry and be excited for amongst the fans. Both teams will have a lot to work on based on this game, with Newcastle's bare bones midfield struggling to get into the game and Wissa not looking natural playing behind Osula. Liverpool's right side was particularly weak and van Dijk looks like a shadow of the great player he once was.

Starmen:
Elanga - finally got his first Prem goal for Newcastle using his blistering pace.
Willock - came on and scored Newcastle's second, he also provided a burst of energy in midfield which they needed.
Gakpo - was Liverpool's main goal threat all game and scored their first.

Flops:
Steur - looked a way off the level needed right now.
Isak - never got into the game and was weak when attempting to press.
Ngumoha - refused to do anything when Liverpool had the ball, other than stand and wait for the ball to go into his feet so he could wave his foot over it before passing it back most of the time. He looks a mile off being a Premier League player at the moment.
Gravenberch - his lack of positional discipline, added to his abysmal passing, turned the play over repeatedly and left a huge space in behind him. His assist did not make up for his wandering.
van Dijk - his refusal to engage with any players attacking was a real problem and left Newcastle to run straight through the middle easily. He is beginning to look like the biggest problem to solve for Iraola.



Monday 24th August

Fulham 2-3 Chelsea

An exciting game made better by neither team being good defensively and stronger going forward. Fulham were absolutely horrendous at the back, with the two centre-backs constantly so far apart they were in different postcodes. There was absolutely no partnership there at all as they never got near enough to be able to see or hear each other to have any kind of communication. I have never seen such a poorly configured defensive set up before, which was very well exploited by Chelsea's attacking trio and even Lacroix at one point. They are going to concede an enormous amount of goals if they do not figure it out and learn to keep the centre-backs within the width of the penalty area as much as possible. Either that or change the system to play with a solid defensive midfielder, which I am not sure they have in their squad. Having Bassey and Cuenca split so far apart and then push upfield as fast as possible was suicidal, especially with Iwobi having no defensive instinct and Berge being too slow to read the play and position himself accordingly. Chelsea should have run out comfortable winners, but their defence was shakey, Lacroix is an exceptional footballer, but not always the best defensively and they missed Caicedo's presence in front of them to protect them. James is simply not a top class midfielder at all. They desperately need a goalkeeper as well, Sanchez is the worst in the Prem right now and that is saying a lot as the current crop is not the best.

Starmen:
Castagne - worked extremely hard down Fulham's right flank.
King - looks a couple of levels above the rest of the Fulham team.
Palmer - looked to be back to full fitness and was constantly attacking with pace, there was never any slow jogging while waving his foot over the ball. He picked it up and sprinted at Fulham. A goal and assist and clearly man of the match.
Rogers - a very good Premier League debut for the former Villan. Like Palmer, he attacked with pace.
Pedro - like the other two members of Chelsea's attacking triumvirate, he was excellent and scored a goal.

Flops:
Cuenca - looked slow and turned like an oil tanker. Positionally he kept going too far wide and too far forward.
Bassey - he has never normally looked comfortable playing on the right of the central defence, but this time that was not the issue. It is clear that has confidence has risen enough to be overconfident in his ability on the ball, causing him to keep trying to break forward with the ball and losing it.
Berge - looked like a lumbering truck, slow on the turn, unable to pick up any speed to get forward and even worse when getting back.
Palacios - looked like a child out there who had wandered into the middle of the game. Except a child getting loose and onto the pitch would have had more effect.
Charles - came on with the score at 3-2 and constantly blunted attacks by slowing the play down.
Colwill - very lucky to escape a second yellow.
Sanchez - hopeless. He needs to cost his team a goal before he wakes up and begins to show any kind of concentration. Added to that, his distribution is abysmal.

Written by Tris Burke August 25 2026 22:56:43