EPL 2021 Gameweek 1: Manchester United, Chelsea FC, Spurs, Liverpool off to a flyer; Arsenal suffers defeat

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English Premier League- Review of Gameweek 1

The Premier League 2021/22 is well on the way and Gameweek 1 was quite exceptional. There was a lot of excitement in every game as the teams went for all three points. All the games had results and none of them ended in a stalemate.

 So let’s have a review of the results from Gameweek 1:

Gameweek 1 Results:
Brentford 2-0 Arsenal
Man. United 5-1 Leeds United
Burnley 1-2 Brighton
Chelsea 3-0 Crystal Palace
Everton 3-1 Southampton
Leicester 1-0 Wolves
Watford 3-2 Aston Villa
Norwich 0-3 Liverpool
Newcastle 2-4 West Ham
Tottenham 1-0 Man. City

Brentford 2-0 Arsenal

Brentford shock Arsenal in their debut: The Premier League kicked off too much fanfare at the Brentford community stadium, the home of The Bees. Brentford who was making their debut in the Premier League shocked a depleted Gunners side 2-0 at home. Brentford scored goals in each half with Canos and Nørgaard providing the finish.

Arsenal who were without the services of Aubameyang and Lacazette failed to make the most of their chances and couldn’t score even after attempting a total of 22 shots, 14 of which were off target.

StatsBrentfordArsenal
Possession (%)3565
Shots (on target)8 (3)22 (4)
Accurate passes (pass success)201 (65%)488 (86%)
Corners25
Fouls128

Man. United 5-1 Leeds United

Bruno Fernandez, Pogba star in Manchester United rout: Saturday’s fixtures started out with a match between rivals Manchester United and Leeds United at Old Trafford. The first half of the game was quite balanced as Bruno Fernandez scored a goal in the 30th minute.

Marcelo Bielsa’s men pulled the goal back early in the second half through Luke Ayling. But it was for no avail as Manchester United then scored 4 times in quick succession through Fernandez (x2), Greenwood, and Fred. Paul Pogba starred from the midfield role providing 4 assists in the matchup.

The game ended 5-1 for Man. United with Bruno Fernandez being awarded the player of the match for his scintillating hat-trick.

StatsMan. UnitedLeeds United
Possession (%)4951
Shots (on target)16 (8)10 (3)
Accurate passes (pass success)334 (79%)343 (78%)
Corners54
Fouls119

Chelsea 3-0 Crystal Palace

Chelsea cruise at the Bridge: Chelsea kicked off their Premier League campaign with a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace at the Stamford Bridge stadium.

The Blues controlled the match throughout with a 62 percent Possession stat scoring Goals at the right times. Marcos Alonso scored first with a curling freekick in the 27th minute. This was followed by Pulisics’ close-range goal in the 40th minute to close out the first half with a firm advantage.

Chelsea, who played without big names like Kante, Ziyech, and new summer signing Romelu Lukaku then scored a third through Chalobah (58′) to round off the game. Such a dominant performance puts the club as one of the firm favorites for the title this season.

StatsChelseaCrystal Palace
Possession (%)6238
Shots (on target)13 (6)4 (1)
Accurate passes (pass success)623 (92%)363 (86%)
Corners52
Fouls1511

Liverpool 3-0 Norwich City

Liverpool wins at Norwich: Liverpool started their premier league campaign at the Carrow road with a dominant attacking performance over the canaries. Mohammed Salah who kept up his run of scoring in the first game of the Premier League season was the player of the match with 2 assists to go with his goal in the 74th minute.

Jota (26′) and Firmino (65′) scored the other two goals for the Reds. Defensively, Liverpool started with Virgil Van Djik who came back after a long injury layoff. Van Djik was partnered with Joel Matip and the duo played a key part in getting Liverpool their Clean Sheet. Liverpool ended the game with a 0-3 away win against Norwich City.

StatsNorwich CityLiverpool
Possession (%)5050
Shots (on target)14 (3)19 (8)
Accurate passes (pass success)439 (85%)432 (84%)
Corners311
Fouls414

Leicester 1-0 Wolves

Leicester holds on against Wolves: Leicester City kicked off the Premier League campaign with a 1-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester dominated the first half with talisman Jamie Vardy scoring in the 41st minute after another strike from the former England international was ruled out for being offside. Wolves did think they had made a comeback in the second half with Conor Coady scoring, only to be denied for an offside. Apart from this, Wolves didn’t have many attempts on the attack front.

An early win is a very good start for the Foxes who have enjoyed a very good year 2021 capturing both the FA cup and the Community shield. They face West ham in next weekend’s Matchday.

StatsLeicester CityWolves
Possession (%)5644
Shots (on target)9 (5)17 (3)
Accurate passes (pass success)505 (86%)366 (83%)
Corners54
Fouls610

Tottenham 1-0 Man. City

Kane absent as Spurs beat City: Tottenham Hotspurs beat Manchester City 1-0 to start off their campaign in a wonderful manner. Hueng-Min Son’s delightful strike in the 55th minute as Pep Guardiola’s men couldn’t stage a comeback at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Man. City dominated the possession stats in the midfield anchored by their new signing Jack Grealish. Though they created chances, the Sky Blue’s lacked the finishing edge having just 4 shots on target in the match.

The biggest news out of the match though was the fact that Harry Kane did not play against Man. City. Spurs announced that it was due to lack of fitness but speculations are being made that Kane may be on his way out of the club, quite possibly to Manchester City. Manchester City parted ways with Aguero in the summer and it was quite evident against Spurs that they need a striker with a good Goalscoring record to retain their PL crown.

StatsTottenhamMan. City
Possession (%)3466
Shots (on target)13 (3)18 (4)
Accurate passes (pass success)227 (77%)469 (86%)
Corners311
Fouls118

Burnley 1-2 Brighton

Brighton edge out Burnley: Brighton pulled out a result in their favor on their visit to the Turf Moor. The game was very balanced but Brighton dominated the possession stats on the field making twice the number of passes than the hosts.

Maupay (73′)and Allister (78′) scored for the Seagulls in an important victory for them away at Burnley. Burnley did score early via Tarkowski (2′), but they couldn’t keep the lead as they fell 1-2 to Brighton.

StatsBurnleyBrighton
Possession (%)3664
Shots (on target)14 (3)14 (8)
Accurate passes (pass success)181 (70%)424 (84%)
Corners76
Fouls107

Everton 3-1 Southampton

Everton wins at Goodison Park: Rafael Benitez’s Everton cruised to a victory at home with goals scored from Olympic gold medal winner Richarlison (47′), Doucoure (76′), and Calvert-Lewin (81′) on Gameweek 1.

Southampton lacked the cutting edge, having just 6 shots on the Everton goal, even though they saw more of the ball. Armstrong (22′) opened the scoring for Southampton but Everton staged a strong comeback to win the game. In the end, it finished Everton 3-1 Southampton.

StatsEvertonSouthampton
Possession (%)4852
Shots (on target)14 (6)6 (3)
Accurate passes (pass success)235 (70%)256 (69%)
Corners68
Fouls1315

Watford 3-2 Aston Villa

Watford edge out Villa in a thriller: Watford’s return back to the premier league was very memorable as they managed to beat Aston Villa 3-2 at the Vicarage Road Stadium.

Dennis (10′), Sarr (42′), and Hernandez (67′) were on target for Watford as they beat Aston Villa by a goal. Villa dominated the possession stats and with McGinn (70′) and Danny Ings (90+7′) at the helm, tried to surge a late Villa comeback but it turned out to only be a consolation.

StatsWatfordAston Villa
Possession (%)3862
Shots (on target)13 (7)11 (2)
Accurate passes (pass success)234 (74%)435 (86%)
Corners24
Fouls1813

West Ham starts strong against Newcastle: A back and forth game in Tyneside ended up with a two-goal victory for West Ham in the end. Newcastle led twice via Wilson (5′) and Murphy (40′) to go in with a lead at halftime. But goals from Cresswell (18′), Benrahma (53′), Soucek (63′), and Antonio (66′) gave an important win to the Hammers.

In what was a very balanced game Stats-wise, West Ham had more shots on target which helped them edge out Newcastle 2-4 away.

StatsNewcastleWest Ham
Possession (%)4654
Shots (on target)17 (3)18 (9)
Accurate passes (pass success)340 (85%)404 (86%)
Corners76
Fouls43