Premier League weekend recap – Northwest clubs (Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Burnley) throw down early markers
What a weekend for the Northwest.
Liverpool kickstarted the new Premier League season with four goals, while Manchester City (five), Manchester United (four), and even Burnley (three) had clean sheet routs of their opposition. Manchester outscored London 9-0, to show which city is clearly the best in England, after 90 minutes, of course.
It seems like there is a clear strata to the Premier League. At the top are the two teams that battled for the title last season, with Manchester City ahead of Liverpool. Tottenham might be right there with Liverpool, battling it out to be the second best side behind the Cityzens.
Below that tier looks to be Arsenal and Manchester United, although if Unai Emery is going to continue to be cryptic about his lineups, the optimism of the Gunners' fans could soon melt away. much like it does each year around February.
The next tier probably has Chelsea, Everton, Leicester City, and Wolverhampton battling it out to see which two teams will get the two Europa League spots.
There is then a large group ahead of the bottom four or five squads, which at this point looks likely to be Newcastle United, Norwich City, Sheffield United, and Southampton. But Crystal Palace, Brighton, and Burnley could all fall back towards the bottom of the table.
It is going to be an interesting season up and down the table.
RESULT OF THE WEEK
Manchester United 4-0 Chelsea
Who could have seen this coming, especially after the way the first half played out for both teams. Chelsea could have been up 2-1 at the break, but two shots rocketed off the post, and Marcus Rashford's penalty gave the hosts a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.
While everyone was focused on the first few minutes of game action for the savior of American soccer, Manchester United struck for two goals in two minutes, then added a fourth in the 81st minute through new signing Daniel James.
Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan Bissaka have improved the Manchester United defense so much, but there will still be problems until a left back comes in to replace Luke Shaw. However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will take the four-goal win over Chelsea to start the new campaign, and now the Red Devils have until next Monday to prepare for a tough match at Wolverhampton, which was a bogey team for them last season. Win that, though, and then it's Crystal Palace at home and Southampton away before the international break.
For Chelsea, which was playing without some key people, the match was a disaster. Now, the Blues have to get ready for Leicester City, before two matches against newly-promoted sides. So there is some hope, but if Chelsea does not get some good results before the break, this could get ugly.
OTHER RESULTS
Liverpool 4-1 Norwich City
West Ham United 0-5
Bournemouth 1-1 Sheffield United
Burnley 3-0 Southampton
Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton
Watford 0-3 Brighton & Hove Albion
Tottenham 3-1 Aston Villa
Leicester City 0-0 Wolverhampton
Newcastle United 0-1 Arsenal
THREE STARS OF THE WEEKEND
Ashley Barnes, Burnley
The forward had a brace, as Burnley rolled past Southampton 3-0.
Shane Duffy, Brighton & Hove Albion
Clean sheet for the center back and Brighton, as the Seagulls stunned Watford 3-0
Raheem Sterling, Manchester City
Last season's Player of the Year got his new campaign off to a sterling start, with a hat trick in the 5-0 City win.
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE
(Check Fubo.tv listings for game channels)
UEFA Super Cup
Wednesday, August 14
Liverpool vs. Chelsea, 2:45 p.m. EDT (TNT, Univision, and Fubo.tv)
UEFA Europa League
Thursday, August 15
Wolverhampton vs. Pyunik, 2:45 p.m. EDT (Wolves lead 4-0 on aggregate)
Premier League
Saturday, August 17
Arsenal (-333) vs. Burnley (+1000), draw (+425), 7:30 a.m. EDT (NBCSN and Fubo.tv)
Southampton (+700) vs. Liverpool (-250), draw +370), 10 a.m. EDT (NBCSN, Universo, and Fubo.tv)
Aston Villa (+135) vs. Bournemouth (+200), draw (+240), 10 a.m. EDT (CNBC and Fubo.tv)
Brighton (+155) vs. West Ham (+188), draw (+220), 10 a.m. EDT (NBC Sports Gold)
Everton (-137) vs. Watford (+375), draw (+280), 10 a.m. EDT (NBC Sports Gold)
Norwich City (+120) vs. Newcastle United (+235), draw (+240), 10 a.m. EDT (NBC Sports Gold)
Manchester City (-286) vs. Tottenham (+750), draw (+425), 12:30 p.m. EDT (NBC, Telemundo, and Fubo.tv)
Sunday, August 18
Sheffield United (+155) vs. Crystal Palace (+200), draw (+205), 9 a.m. EDT (NBCSN and Fubo.tv)
Chelsea (-125) vs. Leicester City (+360), draw (+250), 11:30 a.m. EDT (NBCSN and Fubo.tv)
Monday, August 19
Wolverhampton (+240) vs. Manchester United (+120), draw (+235), 3 p.m. EDT (NBCSN and Fubo.tv)
FUBOT.TV MATCH OF THE WEEK
Just like the opening weekend, this one is pretty easy to pick. While some fans might disagree, Manchester City and Tottenham could very well be the top two teams in the league, and they will battle it out in the final match of the day Saturday (12:30 p.m. EDT NBC, Telemundo, and Fubo.tv). It is a massive game, and a rematch of last season's epic UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie and Premier League game, when the two teams played three times in 11 days.
City won two of those games: 1-0 in the league, and 4-3 in the Champions League. With the firepower on display for both teams, expect the latter here. The over is set at 3.5 goals +125, with the under 3.5 -154. Raheem Sterling is priced at -105 to score anytime, and after his hat trick, that is good value.
CURRENT ODDS TO WIN PREMIER LEAGUE
Manchester City (-250)
Liverpool (+300)
Tottenham (+1800)
Manchester United (+2500)
Arsenal (+4000)
Chelsea (+6600)
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