City Will Win The League; Liverpool To Hit Another 90 Points

Liverpool 4-1 Norwich City

An easy win for the greatest runners-up in Premier League history is the start their supporters could have hoped for, and Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool duly obliged. Finishing second with a usually league-winning 97 points is going to hurt at Anfield, and unfortunately, that's the region they have to aim for again in unseating the all-conquering Manchester City. They can do this only if they continue banging in the goals, and with the mystifying Divock Origi seemingly about to support Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah on this front, the Reds will most certainly seal another Top Two finish at the very least. However, the injury to Alisson Becker, Europe's best goalkeeper last season, will unsettle the defence, and Klopp will hope that Adrian San Miguel will step up in his absence. Norwich, the entertaining EFL Championship winners last season, were very naive in continuing their open, free-flowing style against the ultimate predators of the press-and-counter, and were staring down the barrel at 0-4 down before half-time. Good on them for tightening up and snatching the consolation goal, but they will need to adapt to the unforgiving nature of the Premier League if they hope to stay up.

West Ham 0-5 Manchester City

City is going to win the league. End of story. Next.

Spurs 3-1 Aston Villa

I expected Tottenham Hotspur to bury newly-promoted Aston Villa under an avalanche of goals, though you and I cannot be expected to be surprised that they made heavy weather of it against a hard-working but limited Villa side. Harry Kane continues to be as reliable as ever on the scoreboard, and was ably supported by Harry Winks and Tanguy Ndombele, with the latter announcing himself and justifying the hype to the Spurs fans with a cracker to tie the game. I believe that they won the transfer window among the Top Six teams, which is why general consensus has them finishing below Man City and Liverpool in third come next May, though there is no telling if they can go one, or indeed two places better. They will have to rely on the front-runners regularly dropping point AND then taking advantage, something still foreign to the nearly-men of north London. The Villans spent heavily and quite well in the off-season, so they should not worry too much about losing to a quality outfit like Spurs away. They must target a formidable home record this season though, as going back through the relegation trapdoor after spending so much will be embarrassing.

Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal

It is quite difficult to read much into this arm wrestle in the rain out on Tyneside, other than the fact that Arsenal gained three valuable points in their quest for a return to the Top Four. Everyone who plays Fantasy Premier League is excited at the prospect of adding Arsenal players to their forwards, considering the addition of the likes of Nicolas Pepe and Dani Ceballos to attacking riches like Alexander Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and will be slightly disappointed that it turned into a damp squib. Thankfully, Aubameyang lived up to his reputation as the joint Golden-Boot winner with a classy finish when a draw looked on the cards. That dodgy defence of theirs did nothing to allay fears about its susceptibility, and might undermine the firepower upfront. It was supposed to be a day of pride for the Toons as local legend Steve Bruce took the reigns, but the mood at the stadium matched the weather as a noticeable amount of fans stayed away in the brewing protest against Mike Ashley's amateurish ownership of the club. Notably, Newcastle did not win their opening game for a sixth straight season.

Manchester United 4-0 Chelsea 

There are lies, damned lies and statistics, the old adage goes. Neutrals, United and Chelsea fans are still stunned by how four goals were only scored by the home side, how it wasn't one of those famous 4-4 Premier League draws or how United kept a clean sheet. With regards to that last point, Harry Maguire is what Man United fans will pray Virgil van Dijk turned out to be for hated rivals Liverpool. On top of that, Aaron Wan-Bissaka seems like a steal for 55 million British pounds, adding some uncompromising sturdiness with pace on the right. It's just amazing how solidifying the defence can have a transformative effect on a team's go-forward, with United seeming to be a threat on the counter-attack again when they get the ball back. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will hope that everyone around a world-class Paul Pogba - including Pogba himself - will lift their game considerably, as the failure to add a midfielder after Ander Herrera's departure leaves them vulnerable in the middle. Furthermore, nothing less than 20 goals from Anthony Martial, with considerable support from Marcus Rashford, will do after maligned and proven goalscorer Romelu Lukaku left days ago. Frank Lampard has a job on his hands after the transfer ban tied his hands in the summer, leaving him with a team one can only succeed in FIFA on Manager Mode when it comes to potential! Chelsea, United and Arsenal are realistically all fighting for fourth place this time around, so points being taken from them by a direct rival will sting a lot. If only the Blues had converted one of the two shots which rattled the bar, because at that point, United was rattled with the crowd starting to get on their backs. Who knows how things might have turned out...