Opening fixture of the season and a big one at that! With LVG signing half a team, big things were expected. The surprise wasn't that De Gea wasn't in the squad, but the fact that LVG chose new boy Memphis and not so young Ashley Young but credit where credits due, Ashley Young looked lively throughout the match and threatened, must have something to do with the new contract he just signed. Vorm only had one shot on target against him so it's difficult to tell if he is Spurs number 1 or should Hugo Lloris still be there. Unfortunately for Vorm, his own player (Kyle Walker) slid one past him while trying to stop Wayne Rooney from scoring. With David De Gea, Victor Valdez and Lindegaard in the reserves, waiting to leave, who will still be there on 1st September, and who will be 2nd in charge to Romero for Manchester United because Van Gaal has already said, Johnstone is not good enough. And for Tottenham, they'll be looking to get their first win against Man U since 2012 in the reverse fixture.
Bournemouth vs Aston Villa
I actually was surprised by this result, I wasn't expecting the villains to come out with a win against the newly promoted Bournemouth especially not away from home but they did. Routine set piece header. 1 nil victory, typical match, not much to comment. Villa now entertain Manchester United at home and the villains have not beaten them since 2009, and the last time they beat them at home was in 1999 in the Worthington cup, who remembers that? Bournemouth will be away to Liverpool who they've met 6 times since 1927 and still never beaten. Will we see a first?
Everton vs Watford
What a game this was! Watford went to Goodison Park and showed the hunger that most newly promoted teams do for the first few weeks; eg: Leicester last season. Hopefulky Watford can play like that all season, well actually no their defence was horrendous for evertons second, probably want to fix that up a bit. Good to see Gomes in goal, the old Spurs boy looks like he'll be Watfords number 1 for the season and if you haven't seen Ross Barkleys goal yet, google it! That is how you hit a football perfectly! And even Kone got his second goal in an Everton shirt which was just before the end of the game and just after Watford thought they'd snuck a victory in. I would definitely watch that game again. Everton did have John Stones in the backline but that was the last time since he finally completed his move to Chelsea the following day. He's supposedly the next John Terry......we'll see.
Leicester vs Sunderland
This result caught a lot of people off guard, but Leicester fans will tell you otherwise. It was a contender for shock of the weekend. Sunderland did themselves no favours in the first half, allowing the Homeside to go up 3 nil in 25 minutes which included a needless penalty. I'm not getting too excited about Leicester yet, nor am I worried about Sunderland, it's a long season ahead. But then again the last time Sunderland lost to Leicester was in 2001, now let's see how they go against Norwich who they haven't actually beaten since 2012 when they won 3 - 0 at home, can they repeat that next weekend?
Norwich vs Crystal Palace
Alan Pardew's boys upset a newly promoted Norwich side with Cabaye making his presence felt in the premier league once again after his spell with French champions PSG, netting in a goal to seal it on the 90 and team mates Wilfred Zaha and Damien Delaney grabbed two each side of the half respectively. Nathan Redmonds goal did make things interesting at 2-1 but things are not looking good for Norwich. They'll be facing a bruised up Sunderland while Alan Pardew looks to make Arsene Wenger miserable in their clash next weekend.
Chelsea vs Swansea
Courtois was a doubt pregame as he seemed to have injured his wrist in warm up but he started, and Chelsea started strong! It was an attacking and high pressure Chelsea with what seemed like Barcelonaesque passing. Oscar had popped in a dangerous freekick the first chance he got and looked bemused when no one was at the end of his dangerous ball in so when he got a second freekick on the other side of the pitch, he sent another dangerous ball in, Cahill and Ivanovic both missed it which left Fabianski no chance to save it as it just went straight in because he was waiting on a Chelsea player to touch it in the other direction. Ayew then equalised on his debut but it took a while as courtois made a brilliant save against Gomis and then Ayew was denied by both centre backs of Chelsea but he kept trying and it find nestled the back of the net. Then 90seconds later the third goal came off a Willian low cross that deflected off Hernandes which no one could do anything about. Second half Courtois got red carded rightly by Michael Oliver and Gomis made sure the game ended 2-2 with his spot kick. Last year they beat Manchester United at Old Trafford on opening day and went to finish 8th, they will be looking for better this year while Chelsea will be looking to bounce back against Manchester City as the two favourites for the EPL go head to head next weekend.
Arsenal vs West Ham
Oh Peter Cech had a EPL debut to forget in an Arsenal shirt. West Ham had not won against their London neighbours since 2007 and that was also at the Emirates. It's hard to blame all of the loss an individual player as Arsenals attack was almost as bad as Cech's goal keeping but a lot of improvement is needed from the Gunners as they face Crystal Palace who have only beaten Arsenal 3 times in 37 attempts since 1934 and the last was in 1994. West Ham under the guidance of Croatian Slaven Billic will look to buy some more players and potentially get rid of Mark Noble or Steven Nolan and they will be going up against a fired up Leicester next weekend and will be second favourites but will look to prove that the win against Arsenal wasn't just Cech having an off day.
Newcastle vs Southampton
Both goal keepers would've been furious with their defenders by the time the 90minute whistle blew. It was an attacking show, exciting stuff for the almost 50000 crowd at St James Park. Graziano Pelle and Shane Long will be dangerous attack for Southampton this season and will definitely surprise a few teams again. Newcastle will be second favourites to a game Swansea who have not lost to Newcastle in 3 years. And Southampton vs Everton is a must watch especially if Pelle and Barkley are both on the pitch for their respective teams.
Stoke vs Liverpool
This game had big expectations as Stoke were looking to redo their decimation of Liverpool as they did in the last EPL match of the season of 14/15 season and Liverpool with a new look outfit were looking to play like title contenders but it was an out of nowhere Coutinho strike and a half that decided the game. Hopefully Liverpool back at Anfield will mean a bit more exciting in the whole match! Stoke got the premier league double against Spurs last season and they'll be hoping to do it once again next weekend!
West Brom vs Manchester City
I am telling you that Manchester City have one of the most prolific goal scorers in our time Sergio Aguero and you cannot say so otherwise! This game he was a doubt for but he did start on the bench but look out for last years golden boot winner to shine once again and still be called second best! A man who did start like he does every season, Yaya Toure got himself a brace in the 3 nil comfortable win which was topped off by captain Vincent Kompany who was missed most of last season with niggling injuries and trying to recover while still playing. These three mentioned will play a key part in City's effort to lift the EPL trophy once again and they've had a good start but next week they meet Chelsea at the Etihad. Two seasons ago they lost both fixtures against Chelsea, and the previous season they improved with both being draws, will they finally beat them in their tie this weekend. West Brom will be glad that their next fixture is against a team they haven't lost to in a league game since 1995, Watford. But I think there could be an upset there if West Brom don't pick it up.
Goal of the week, Evertons Ross Barkley's Golazo takes it out for me, with Yaya's and Countinhos strikes being honourable mentions.
Top of the week, Leicester with Manchester City and Andre Ayew honourable mentions.
Flop of the week, Peter Cech with dishonourable mentions going to the two teams facing each other this week Norwich and Sunderland plus Montero from Swansea who at one point managed to give the ball away 5 times in his own half in less than 2 minutes.
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