The Premier League season returned this weekend with lots of goals and lots of action. But who were the biggest winners, and who were unfortunate enough to be the biggest losers?
Winner: Chelsea
On Sunday, Chelsea faced off against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. Considering Chelsea's 12th-place finish last season, the injury to new star Christopher Nkunku, and the delayed transfer of Moises Caicedo, a draw against Liverpool seems a decent result. However, after a very strong (verging on dominant) performance against a full-strength Liverpool side, Chelsea fans will be feeling optimistic about their future with Mauricio Pochettino at the helm.
Despite going 1-0, and almost 2-0, down, Chelsea responded excellently - dominating possession after Salah's 29th-minute goal was ruled out by VAR. The West London club found an equaliser, and had a second goal marginally ruled out for offside, before the break.
For the final 35 minutes, Chelsea took control of the game and held momentum and possession. According to Opta Stats, the Blues had two big chances missed and managed 3 shots inside Liverpool's box. Their expected goals (XG) from open play came out at 0.35, double that of Liverpool's.
This second-half dominance was no coincidence. Chelsea's fitness levels appeared to cope with the high intensity much better than Liverpool's. Jurgen Klopp substituted off his entire forward line, including his most dangerous attackers: Luis Díaz and Mohamed Salah. Conversely, Pochettino made his first (non-injury-related) substitution after 81 minutes. This gap in fitness levels will allow Chelsea to manage games and outplay the opposition in the latter stages of matches. One of the potential reasons for this gap may be credited to Chelsea's participation in the PL Summer Series. Playing pre-season matches against other Premier League teams will have certainly given Chelsea a higher and more intense level of preparation.
Whilst both sides had great opportunities, and had goals ruled out by VAR, Chelsea were clearly the more dominant team - showing promising signs for the season ahead of them. The Blues were much more of a threat on the attack and had an impressive 65% of the ball. Should Chelsea, or more specifically Nicolas Jackson, improve their clinicality in front of goal, they will become a strong force in the Premier League. Chelsea fans should be excited for the 2023/24 season, and their greatest worry at current is surely only their injury problems.
Winner: Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace's 2022/23 season was recovered after the board decided to sack Patrick Vieira and bring in an experienced Roy Hodgson to steer the ship. The elderly English manager was kept on for the 2023/24 season and has been backed with the arrivals of highly rated Matheus Franca and Jefferson Lerma. Crystal Palace began this season with a comfortable 1-0 victory over newly-promoted Sheffield United.
Whilst a 1-0 win against Sheffield United (favourites to be relegated) may seem unimpressive, the Eagles' performance was one of dominance and attacking flair. Palace accumulated an XG of 1.89 and enjoyed 24 shots - with 17 of those coming inside the box. They dominated momentum for a large majority of both halves, only facing two shots from open play inside their box. This comfortable victory will fill Palace fans with confidence, and securing all three points will be important with difficult fixtures against Arsenal, Brentford and Aston Villa on the horizon.
Another fact that will fill the fans with confidence is that of Odsonne Édouard finding the back of the net. The Frenchman managed seven shots, all inside the box, with three of those on target. He also created two chances.
This great performance bodes well for Crystal Palace, but his ability to score is even more significant. The 25-year-old only managed five goals last term, with fellow strikers Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew only managing two and four respectively. The Eagles often have struggled to produce great output from their centre-forwards in recent years: Edouard, Ayew, Christian Benteke, and Michy Batshuayi all failed to score as many as Palace's main talisman Wilfried Zaha. With the Ivorian departing this summer to Galatasaray, following the conclusion of his contract, Hodgson needs somebody to replicate his goal numbers. With a very involved performance against Sheffield United, and an important goal to show for it, Edouard could be Hodgson's man.
With a very comfortable and assuring victory against Sheffield United, and a potential new talisman, Crystal Palace fans will be feeling one of the most positive in the Premier League.
Loser: Wolves
Wolves suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat on Monday night, away at Old Trafford. However, Wolves are not our biggest losers because of a poor game. The Midlands side put in an excellent performance, and so this loss will hurt more and may be critical come the end of the season.
The match was a tight one throughout, with both sides having excellent chances. Wolves had 2.27 expected goals and had numerous great chances that narrowly missed the target. Wolves managed to keep Manchester United at bay, until the 76th minute when Raphaël Varane put the Red Devils in front. After the winning goal, O'Neil's side dominated the final minutes and were unlucky not to come away with an equaliser. The new manager will be feeling hard done by to leave Manchester with no points.
To rub salt in the wound, during stoppage time Wolves were denied a stonewall penalty when VAR declared it as no foul. André Onana, United's new goalkeeper, clattered into Saša Kalajdžić whilst attempting to claim a high cross. Despite a lengthy VAR check, the penalty was not given and O'Neil was even booked for dissent. The travelling Wolves fans will be feeling very unlucky - especially after Jon Moss (of PGMOL) apologised to O'Neil and admitted that it was a clear and blatant penalty.
Therefore Wolverhampton Wanderers are our biggest losers after an excellent attacking display ended in a loss, despite them deserving a penalty.
Loser: Luton Town
Luton Town are our second loser of the weekend, following a 4-1 defeat away at the Amex Stadium. As a newly promoted team, a loss to highly respected Brighton is not the end of the world. However, the manner of the defeat was not promising: Luton were quite frankly walked over by De Zerbi's men.
The Premier League newcomers were dominated, only managing 29% possession against a side who have recently lost their two best central midfielders: Moisés Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister. Rob Edwards' side allowed Brighton to have a total of 27 shots, 20 inside the box and 12 on target; the Seagulls even hit the woodwork three times. It's safe to say that the scoreline could've easily been worse for Luton.
The game really was like men against boys, with Luton making numerous mistakes in their own third attempting to play out from the back - with one leading to Brighton's fourth goal. The quality of Luton Town was not up to Premier League standard and will need to drastically improve if they want to pick up any points in the near future. Fortunately, Luton have no game this coming weekend with their fixture against Burnley postponed due to stadium upgrades. The team should take this opportunity to reflect on their first-ever Premier League match and improve on their performance.
A similar tale could be told about the attack. Despite Carlton Morris finding the back of the net, Luton only had an XG of 0.48 from open play. Even their goal, a calmly converted penalty, is contentious: a controversial handball was awarded after a cross struck the trailing elbow of a sliding Lewis Dunk. The Hatters lacked any sort of attacking threat, with the only notable chance headed far wide of the post after a dangerous first-half counterattack.
Luton's performance was not one of promise, and their wing-back system left them very exposed - especially to a team with fast wingers like Brighton. We expect Luton to have a tough start to life in the Premier League, with a difficult fixture at Stamford Bridge next week. We also predict them to concede a lot of goals: Rob Edwards will be relying on his forward players (for example new signing Ross Barkley) to combat this. If anything is certain, it is that Luton Town will have to improve on their opening fixture to stand any chance of survival in the Premier League.
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