While the opening weekend of Premier League fixtures didn’t produce too many shocks, it has provided us with a number of interesting insights into how some of the teams will perform this season. From easy wins and surprisingly strong performances to exciting recruiting this article will cover three main talking points from Gameweek 1 of the 2024/25 season.

Manchester City set for five in a row?

Premier League champions Manchester City are looking for their fifth league title in a row and they started their campaign with a trip to London where they faced Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The Blues are a real unknown this season with a number of new signings but most importantly a new manager in Enzo Maresca. No one really expected Chelsea to go out and dominate City in the opening game, but with the talent that they have at their disposal many expected more than they got.

Chelsea were out fought all over the pitch and looked poor in the final third, with the likes of Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez wasting a number of opportunities. The only shining light in their team was Romeo Lavia, who spent much of last season on the treatment table.

Our 🆕 Brazilian settling in 🇧🇷🌟 pic.twitter.com/mfCf7ZvXBo

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 19, 2024

Manchester City on the other hand were excellent. Erling Haaland got off the mark with his first goal of the season and Bernardo Silva wrapped up the game with his second half goal. Savinho, who they signed from Girona this summer, was very good however he was forced off through injury. For some clubs, losing a starter in the first game of the season may be a worry, but Manchester City had Phil Foden on the bench so I don’t see it being much of a problem.

City’s are currently an unstoppable team and they face Ipswich at home next so their form doesn’t look like faltering any time soon. It will take either a few poor games from the champions or an incredible season from another team, most likely Arsenal, for Manchester City to fail to win five Premier Leagues in a row.

Promising signs from Promoted sides

Of the three teams that were promoted from the Championship last season, only Leicester City managed to get anything from their opening game, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t good signs from all three teams. In fact Leicester looked the worst of the three despite rescuing a draw against Tottenham Hotspur. That is promising in itself as it shows that they can even get a result when not at their best.

Ipswich faced Liverpool at home, not an easy game for anyone, let alone a club that were in the third tier of English football not 18 months ago. They managed to stop Liverpool from scoring for the first hour and even created a few opportunities for themselves. In the second half Liverpool came out in full force and it seemed only inevitable that they would score. Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota scored the two goals for the Reds but there were plenty of positives for the Tractor Boys to take with them to the Etihad next weekend.

Encouraging #ITFC stats just shown on #MNF… pic.twitter.com/ALdnV5GEQY

— IPSWICH TOWN FANS (@IpswichTownFans) August 19, 2024

Southampton also had a tricky game to begin with as they travelled to St. James’ Park to face Newcastle. Despite playing much of the game against 10 men, they were unable to find a goal and ended up losing 1-0. Even so, some of their play was entertaining and promising, they just need to make sure that they don’t make the same mistake as Burnley last season and overplay out from the back. It could be a good season for the Saints, but it could equally be very painful for their fans.

Are Bournemouth becoming the next Brighton?

While from the outside, drawing 1-1 away against Nott’m Forest doesn’t look like the best result, I’m sure Bournemouth fans will take the point and move on to their next game. The Cherries were not at full strength as a few players were ill in the week and were only fit enough for the bench. Justin Kluivert and Ryan Christie, both of whom were pivotal to Andoni Iraola last season, had to settle for impact roles from the bench, and impactful they were, linking up to provide Antoine Semenyo with the goal.

With at least four starters missing, and no recognised centre forward, Bournemouth played quite well. The biggest standout player was 19 year old Dean Huijsen who was making his Premier League debut at centre back following his move from Juventus this summer. Even a number of Forest fans praised the youngster’s performance on social media after he was thrown into the starting line up following an injury to Marcos Senesi in their final preseason fixture.

Dean Huijsen. An impressive debut.

- 82% pass accuracy (54/66).
- 76 touches.
- 5 passes into the final third.
- 40% long ball accuracy (4/10).
- 1 block.
- 6 headed clearances.
- 2 interceptions.
- 4 recoveries.
- 69% of aerial duels won (9/13).

Just 19 years of age!💫#AFCB pic.twitter.com/hE14zYSy7Q

— Josh Wyatt (@JoshWyattJ) August 17, 2024

The Cherries are slowly building up a talented core of young players following in the footsteps of Brighton. In the last 20 minutes of the game, Bournemouth’s backline had an average age of under 21 with Julian Araujo (23), Illya Zabarnyi (21), Dean Huijsen (19) and Milos Kerkez (20) all performing very well. Add that to the likes of Alex Scott (20) and Dango Ouattara (22) and it is clear what Bournemouth’s recruiting strategy is. With the recent addition of a number nine in Evanilson and the possibility of Aaron Ramsdale rejoining the South Coast club, Bournemouth are definitely a team to watch this season. Remember, they didn’t win a game in their opening nine fixtures last season and still finished 12th…

It's still very early in the season so who knows, Manchester City could concede four against Ipswich next week and all of Bournemouth's new signings could get injured, but the Premier League is certainly starting to take shape as it promises to be another exciting year.