Premier League major talking points including Liverpool, Tottenham ‘dominance’ and Man Utd deja vu

The Premier League finally returned this weekend after what felt like a very long summer.

The transfer window has seen some of the world’s biggest names join the English top flight, while others have departed.

The new campaign once again kicked off with a Friday night away trip for Arsenal, however this time they managed to claim all three points from Crystal Palace - a year after they were embarrassed by Brentford in their first ever Premier League match.

The opening weekend certainly didn’t disappoint and, as usual, there was plenty of dramatics and surprises on show.

Here are four of the biggest talking points from the first round of fixtures...

Fulham frighten Liverpool

Liverpool were definitely one of the bankers to win at the weekend as they faced newly promoted Fulham, with the Cottagers hot favourites to get relegated this season.

However, Marco Silva’s team shocked the Reds when they dominated for most of the match.

They could have easily claimed the win at Craven Cottage, but it was the pure quality of Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez that prevented them from taking all three points.

While Liverpool avoided defeat, it was certainly a very worrying performance from the team.

Unchanged Tottenham dominate

Tottenham Hotspur raised a few eyebrows when they named a starting line-up that didn’t include a single one of their new signings.

Ivan Perisic, Djed Spence, Clement Lenglet and Yves Bissouma all started from the bench, while Richarlison was suspended after throwing a flare in the stands during Everton’s win over Chelsea last season.

Despite falling behind early on, Spurs went onto dominate and put on a stellar performance to enjoy a comfortable 4-1 victory.

Supporters were very excited at how far Spurs could go with their new signings, but yesterday’s match showed just how good they could be even without them.

Aston Villa fail to meet expectations

Aston Villa’s summer transfer window has been regarded as one of the best in the Premier League after completing five signings.

Philippe Coutinho and Robin Olsen’s moves were made permanent, while Diego Carlos, Ludwig Augustinsson and Boubacar Kamara joined the club.

The Villans’ squad was looking much stronger and with a team like that Steven Gerrard’s side had much higher expectations placed on their head.

With the owners clearing backing the boss with plenty of money, there will be a lot of pressure on Gerrard if he fails to deliver early on.

It definitely wasn’t a very good start for the Liverpudlian as Villa were beaten 2-0 by newly promoted Bournemouth.

Carlos’ arrival was meant to improve their defence, but instead their backline looked absolutely clueless - an arguably worse version of last season’s defence.

The Midlands club will have to beat Everton next weekend otherwise there will be early questions raised.

Red Devils’ deja-vu

Manchester United were hammered 4-0 by Brighton & Hove Albion back in May and fans were eager to quickly forget about the humiliating defeat.

They were all set up for redemption when they were paired with the Seagulls for their opening day fixture, with Erik ten Hag also looking for his first win.

Sporting a smart new home shirt and featuring Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen, the Red Devils will have been confident of securing a comfortable three points at Old Trafford.

However, it felt like we were back in the midst of the 2021/22 season when United failed to put on any kind of performance and were soon 2-0 down after only 40 minutes.

A second half Alexis Mac Allister own goal gave United a glimmer of hope, but they never really looked like clawing it back.

Supporters were left disappointed, while another poor result is raising questions as to whether anyone can actually turn their fortunes around.