Premier League Matchday 1: Seagulls out to ruin Ten Hag's Old Trafford opener

The Premier League is back and the action gets under way with Arsenal’s trip to Crystal Palace on Friday night.

Liverpool face newly-promoted Fulham on Saturday before the Erik ten Hag era at Manchester United kicks off against Brighton on Sunday.

Champions Manchester City’s visit to West Ham ends the first weekend of the new season and we have it all covered.

Crystal Palace vs Arsenal (Friday, 8pm, Sky Sports)

Crystal Palace and Arsenal kick off the 2022-23 Premier League campaign with the Gunners desperate to avoid a similar fate to last year.

They lost 2-0 at Brentford in the season opener, and have only beaten Palace in one of their last eight league meetings.

But with Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabio Vieira part of a new-look side, Mikel Arteta will be confident of a better start this time around.

Palace ended last term with an eight-game unbeaten run at home and Patrick Vieira will hope Cheick Doucoure quickly fills the shoes of the departed loanee midfielder Conor Gallagher.

Fulham vs Liverpool (Saturday, 12.30pm, BT Sport)

Fulham begin life back in the top flight with a daunting clash with Liverpool, who are fresh off winning the Community Shield last Saturday.

The Cottagers did take four points off Jurgen Klopp’s men two seasons ago, yet have never won their first game back in the top tier after earning promotion.

Though they did not lift the title, Liverpool went on a 19-game unbeaten run to end the 2021-22 campaign as they pushed Manchester City all the way.

While all eyes will be on new Reds signing Darwin Nunez, Fabio Carvalho could also make his competitive debut against the club he left in the summer.

Bournemouth vs Aston Villa (Saturday, 3pm)

Bournemouth and Aston Villa meet on the South Coast with differing ambitions for both clubs.

Scott Parker has bemoaned the lack of signings since the Cherries won automatic promotion in May and is clearly apprehensive about the upcoming months.

Steven Gerrard enters his first full campaign as Villa boss after a raft of early business strengthened his squad and emphasised the need for a top-half finish as a minimum.

An unwelcome stat for both sides is that in four of Bournemouth’s five Premier League campaigns, one of the sides involved in their opening match have gone on to be relegated, including Villa in 2015-16 and the hosts in 2019-20.

Leeds vs Wolves (Saturday, 3pm)

Wolves’ trip to Leeds sees two managers with plenty still to prove in the dugouts at Elland Road.

Jesse Marsch has seen Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha depart this summer, but an influx of signings means his squad is not short of quality.

For Bruno Lage, a positive start gave way to a middling season last term and the seven game winless run to end the campaign did not sit well with the Molineux faithful.

Wolves are not known for their goals, but with no clean sheet in nine games and Leeds not keeping a clean sheet in 12 home league matches, there could be plenty of final-third action on the menu in West Yorkshire.

Newcastle vs Nottingham Forest (Saturday, 3pm)

Nottingham Forest are back in the big time for the first time since 1999 and visit ambitious Newcastle to kick off their return.

The 23 years and 82 days between their last game — a 1-0 win over Leicester — and the visit to St James’ Park is the longest gap between matches in Premier League history.

But it will be a tough test on Tyneside with Newcastle winning 12 of their 19 league games in 2022, a record only bettered by Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham.

If Forest are to avoid a relegation battle, new boy Taiwo Awoniyi will need to show the form that saw him net 15 goals for Union Berlin in last season’s Bundesliga.

Tottenham vs Southampton (Saturday, 3pm)

If Tottenham are to catapult themselves into an unlikely title race under Antonio Conte, games like their first one against Southampton must result in victories.

Saints have lost more away games (17) at Spurs than any other Premier League opponent, but one of their three wins did come last February.

Conte has overseen a busy summer in North London though, with Richarlison and Yves Bissouma, who is an injury doubt, the standouts of their eight new arrivals.

And having won just one of their final 13 games last term, Ralph Hasenhuttl knows the likes of Joe Aribo and Armel Bella-Kotchap need to hit the ground running if they want to avoid a scrap at the bottom.

Everton vs Chelsea (Saturday, 5.30pm, Sky Sports)

There is little optimism to be found at either Everton or Chelsea ahead of their meeting at Goodison Park.

The visitors’ signings of Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly are exciting, yet Thomas Tuchel has warned they desperately need more new faces.

Frank Lampard’s Toffees, meanwhile, go into their opening game without a recognised striker following Richarlison’s sale, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin injured and Salomon Rondon suspended.

There are still some positives, with the Merseysiders winning four of their last six home games and Chelsea only losing four of Tuchel’s 28 league away games.

Leicester vs Brentford (Sunday, 2pm)

While Brentford have splashed some cash since the end of last season, vultures are circling over the most valuable players at Leicester.

Keane Lewis-Potter will be the man tasked with replacing Christian Eriksen’s creativity at the Bees, who won seven of their last 11 games with the Dane in the side.

There are no new recruits at the King Power Stadium and with skipper Kasper Schmeichel — who had started 151 of their past 152 league games — no longer at the club, times could be tough for the Foxes this term.

One shining light remains Jamie Vardy, who will equal Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney’s record of eight opening weekend goals if he finds the back of the net.

Manchester United vs Brighton (Sunday, 2pm, Sky Sports)

Ten Hag must wait until Sunday to kick off his Premier League tenure – and Brighton will provide tough opponents at Old Trafford.

A 4-0 defeat at the Amex last term was the nadir of Ralf Rangnick’s short reign as fans turned on players and management, but optimism is abound this time around.

The Seagulls have never won at United and despite recent struggles, 10 of the last 13 seasons have seen United win their first match.

United have plenty of business left to do, yet new signings Eriksen, Tyrell Malacia and Lisandro Martinez will want to impress if they make their debuts.

West Ham vs Manchester City (Sunday, 4.30pm, Sky Sports)

Pep Guardiola's league champions have to wait until the final game of the weekend to kick off their defence at West Ham.

But the Catalan coach will be thrilled to face the Hammers, with the Citizens winning 10 and drawing three of their past 13 league meetings.

City have also beaten the Hammers on the three occasions they have met in a top-flight opener, scoring 11 goals and conceding none.

New boy Erling Haaland scored two goals in each of his two opening weekend games for Borussia Dortmund and will want to do the same on his City debut.

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