The 2023/24 Premier League campaign has kicked off in style and we can expect a lot of thrills and spills coming up in recent weeks. Matchday 1 served up a feast of goals, saves, action and late drama.
The opening weekend fixtures produced a total of 28 goals and just four out of the 20 teams failed to score. The likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Newcastle United and Manchester United all opened their accounts with victories, while Chelsea and Liverpool played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
With that being said, here are 10 things to look forward to in matchweek 2 of the new Premier League season.
#Can James Maddison deliver the goods for Spurs against Man United?
James Maddison was directly involved in both Tottenham goals as they drew 2-2 with Brentford on Sunday. The England international made six key passes and registered assists for Cristian Romero and Emerson Royal.
The summer signing was everywhere on the pitch in what was a superb debut for Spurs. With Manchester United in town on Saturday, Ange Postecoglou will heavily rely on Maddison’s creativity and flair to breach the visitors’ backline. After impressing on his debut, Maddison must be raring to build on that performance and deliver the goods against Erik ten Hag’s Man United.
#Can Bournemouth sting Liverpool?
Liverpool will play their first home game of the season on Saturday when they welcome Bournemouth to Anfield.
Bournemouth fans will not have fond memories of visiting Anfield, having witnessed an unforgettable 9-0 of their team at the hands of Liverpool. Scott Parker was in charge of the Cherries then, and while a lot has changed since that harrowing afternoon in Merseyside and the fans have collected revenge with a 1-0 success at the Vitality Stadium in March, Bournemouth will want to exercise their Anfield demons this time around.
Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth drew 1-1 with West Ham at home last weekend. They gave glimpses of attacking and pressing football in their season opener, and if Iraola’s side can be compact, disciplined and stick to their plan at Anfield, they can earn a major scalp at the weekend.
#Can Erling Haaland score for the second weekend running?
Erling Haaland was heavily criticised for his lack of involvement in Manchester City’s Community Shield defeat to Arsenal but he answered his naysayers in style on the opening day of the new season.
The Norwegian kicked off the new season with a brace in the 3-0 win over newly-promoted Burnley. It took him just four minutes to open the scoring for City before doubling his tally in the 36th minute. Before City play host to Newcastle United on Saturday, they are in action against Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday evening.
Haaland will be determined to get on the scoresheet against Sevilla and lead City to another piece of silverware. If Guardiola decides to rest him and start Julian Alvarez up top in midweek, the Norway international will be fit and fresh to torment the Newcastle backline.
#Can Kai Havertz find his mojo?
Upon his £65 million transfer from Chelsea to Arsenal, Kai Havertz has had a slow start to life at the Emirates Stadium. In the two competitive games for Arsenal, the German has essayed two very different roles.
In Gabriel Jesus’ absence, Havertz played as a false 9 against Man City in the Community Shield before dropping into midfield in the 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday. He has already been criticised and a quieter against Forest didn’t help his cause.
This has raised concerns about Arsenal’s decision to splash big money to sign Havertz. The game against Forest was an opportunity lost for the Germany international to showcase his talent and get off the mark. With the Gunners’ next game away at Crystal Palace, Havertz needs to find his rhythm and prove his immediate doubters wrong.
#Aston Villa’s response to Newcastle trouncing
Aston Villa endured a tough start to the new season last weekend, losing 5-1 to Newcastle United at St James’ Park. The last seven days couldn’t have gone much worse for Unai Emery, who has also lost two key players Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings for a significant period of time due to injury.
The defeat on Tyneside has dampened the mood of the Aston Villa fans, who were expecting a fast start to the season after qualifying for the Europa Conference League last time out. Up next against Everton at home on Sunday, Emery could make a couple of changes to the team which were trounced by Newcastle.
The manager as well as the fans will expect a rousing response from the players against Everton at Villa Park. But will the boys in Claret and Blue deliver the goods?
#Can Erik ten Hag fix Man United’s midfield against Spurs?
Raphael Varane’s second-half header got Manchester United off to a winning start, but they were very fortunate to beat an excellent, bold Wolves side, who cut through the hosts’ midfield multiple times and created chances at regular intervals. In addition, Wolves were denied a penalty for Andre Onana’s challenge on Sasa Kalajdzic.
There weren’t many positives to take home for Erik ten Hag from United’s performance against Wolves. Certainly not from his midfield unit’s display, with Casemiro, Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes being torn to shreds by Wolves. The visitors were fitter, faster and stronger and overran United in the middle of the park.
Operating as a single pivot, Casemiro struggled to do everything on his own while Mount and Fernandes never really looked on the same wavelength. Ten Hag needs to get a grip on his disjointed midfield as playing like this against Spurs will spell nothing but disaster for United on Saturday.
#David Moyes’ plan against Chelsea
The way Chelsea dominated Liverpool for large parts of the game at Stamford Bridge has focused West Ham fans’ minds on David Moyes’ likely plan in their first home fixture of the season.
In the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth, Moyes started in a 4-2-3-1 shape with Tomas Soucek essaying the No. 6 role next to Lucas Paqueta. However, with Man City stepping up their efforts to sign Paqueta, Moyes could be forced to tinker personnel in midfield, which perhaps sees new signing James Ward-Prowse start alongside Soucek at the weekend.
By looking at how Chelsea—through their wing-backs and forwards caused problems to the Liverpool backline—does Moyes change to a pragmatic back three system and look to match the visitors’ shape? Or persist with the 4-2-3-1 system that he used at Bournemouth?
#Can Everton break their duck?
Everton are among the seven clubs to have failed to register a point from the new season’s opening weekend fixtures. Despite creating some big chances, having 19 attempts and hitting the target with nine efforts, they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat to Fulham at Goodison Park which in itself was a case of déjà vu.
The same old problems came to the fore. Everton’s sluggish approach to bringing in attacking reinforcements proved costly, as the Sean Dyche-managed side could not find the back of the net, spurning a glut of big chances.
The Toffees have signed youngster Youssef Chermiti from Sporting CP, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin has got to come back in from injury. This should give Dyche a glimmer of hope to bounce back immediately against Aston Villa, who will be keen to put in a resounding display after being hammered by Newcastle last weekend.
#Eyes on Matheus Nunes
Gary O’Neil’s Wolves almost stunned Manchester United at Old Trafford on Monday. While they missed many opportunities to score and were not awarded a penalty in stoppage time, Gary O’Neil would have been proud of his team’s performance against United.
Matheus Nunes was among Wolves’ best performers at Old Trafford. With five interceptions, six dribbles, two aerial duels and three tackles completed, Nunes pulled off an all-action midfield masterclass. Having started out wide on the left, the Portugal international played a big role in helping Wolves nullify United’s midfield for large parts of the game.
After an eye-catching performance against the Red Devils, it’ll be interesting to see where Nunes starts against Brighton at Molineux and how he performs.
