More than 300,000 fans returned to watch the Premier League action, scoring 34 goals. Manchester City were big losers in the opening race for the title as the champions were beaten 1–0 at Tottenham despite the absence of Harry Kane as speculation continued over their future. Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, on the other hand, all displayed their credentials to take City’s crown with a commanding win on Saturday.
AFP Sport looks at three key talking points from the opening weekend.
Fast and Furious return to fans
With the 2019/20 Premier League season kicking off 17 months for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic, the stands were packed and noise and color were added to the spectacle as well as making a difference on the field.
Last season a nearly full campaign behind closed doors saw the home advantage fading with more wins for the away sides.
It immediately returned to normalcy this weekend with three wins from seven home wins as the hosts drew inspiration from the encouragement of the home crowd.
“This atmosphere gives you that extra edge and energy,” said Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after the Red Devils beat Leeds 5-1 at Old Trafford.
“You can’t replicate it with the team-talk or the team spirit that it gives you. When you run to that end and you score four goals like we did in the second half, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
With the new guidelines for interference less than VAR, referees also did their part in an exciting weekend of action by being little involved to get the game flowing.
Fernandes-Pogba partnership allows Man Utd to dream
Expectations were already high for United, with the signatures of Jadon Sancho and Rafael Varane kicking a ball even before two problem positions on the right side of the attack and centre-back were resolved.
However, the game was won without him on Saturday as the club already had two star names coming out to defeat Leeds.
Bruno Fernandes scored his first hat-trick for the club, thanks to an exhibition of driving the ball from midfield with Paul Pogba providing ammunition.
Pogba scored a total of four assists as he set up Fernandes’ first two goals and second-half strikes for Mason Greenwood and Fred.
The Frenchman has often been flattered for cheating in the five years since returning to United for a world record fee at the time, but has every incentive to find his best form as he enters the final year of his contract this season. Is.
Toothless City Show Need for Cane
Kane’s future remained the subject of major discussion following the visit to Tottenham, despite the England captain not taking the field.
Spurs’ performance showed that they could be successful without it if they wisely invested their Premier League record fee for their prized possession.
Son Heung-min scored the only goal while deputizing as centre-forward, while the likes of Dele Alli and Steven Bergwijn have been reactivated with Nuno Espirito Santo coming in as manager.
Jack Grealish made his debut as England’s first £100 million player to cost City’s matchday team over £800 million.
Nevertheless, there is still a huge hole in Pep Guardiola’s squad with no natural goalscorer to step into the void left by the departure of Sergio Aguero.
City have often won the league last season by playing without a striker, thanks to an abundance of attacking midfielders and wingers.
Guardiola’s men have now lost their last three games, including last season’s Champions League final, 1–0.
United, a refreshed Liverpool with key players suffering a back injury, and European champions Chelsea with Romelu Lukaku returning to Stamford Bridge will face a tough challenge for the title this season.
If City want to retain their crown and end their wait for the Champions League, they may have to pay for Kane in the next two weeks.
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