It’s official… The Premier League Is BACK

Every season we are treated to some of the best football England has to offer and we are sure this season will be no different.

But every season has to start somewhere.

This year the opening day is set to be an intriguing matchup between Manchester United and Fulham at Old Trafford. But what have the last 5 opening days looked like?

In this article we are going to take a look back at the last 5 Premier League opening days to see what we might expect from tonight’s game.

After 89 days away, Premier League football is back 😎#TheKickOff is here, with @ManUtd 🆚 @FulhamFC pic.twitter.com/wa5TXzsa5g

— Premier League (@premierleague) August 16, 2024

2023/24 - Burnley 0 - 3 Manchester City

While it is the red half of Manchester opening the league campaign this year last year the responsibility fell on the blue half.

City travelled to newly promoted Burnley to take on their former player Vincent Kompany’s side.

And this game ended exactly as expected. Manchester City dominated creating 17 chances throughout the game and having 66% possession of the ball.

By the end, Man City came away with a 3-0 win starting their title defence off in style. This thanks to an Erling Haaland double and a goal from Rodri as well.

One year ago today, we opened our 2023/24 @premierleague season with a 3-0 win over Burnley! 💪 pic.twitter.com/7WhJ6Og7oW

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 11, 2024

2022/23 - Crystal Palace 0 - 2 Arsenal

Interestingly the year before that saw another former player take on their former club as manager. This time it was Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace hosting Arsenal.

And similarly to how it went for Kompany against City, Vieira’s side suffered defeat to Arsenal.

This game was a lot closer than the one a year later with both sides creating a similar number of chances and struggling to get a grip on the game.

However a goal from Gabriel Martinelli as well as an own goal from Marc Guehi saw Arsenal come away with a 2-0 win to kick start their title challenge. We all know how that ended but it was a good start at least for Arteta’s men.

Ao contrário da temporada passada, Arsenal começa sua caminha na Premier League 2022/23 com vitória fora de casa sobre o Crystal Palace por 2-0 com gol de Gabriel Martinelli 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/JwXbCsih3X

— Vitor Soares (@vitorbarso) August 5, 2022

2021/22 - Brentford 2 - 0 Arsenal

Arsenal would take the opening game as well the year before that but this time it didn’t end as well.

Newly promoted Brentford came to the Premier League in style. Their fans certainly brought the noise and ended up coming away with a historic 2-0 victory despite Arsenal domination.

Arsenal had 22 shots on goal in the game and had 65% of the ball but it wasn’t enough to stop Thomas Frank’s men who eventually got the win thanks to goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Nørgaard.

2. Brentford 2-0 Arsenal (2021/22).
74 years of waiting, and Brentford returned to the top flight in style! A historic 2-0 win over Arsenal to kickstart the 2021/22 season. 🐝⚽ #BrentfordFC #AFC #PL #PLF2025 pic.twitter.com/wAbCoSTtYH

— 𝕐𝔼𝕄𝕄𝔼𝕐 (@Yemmart202) August 16, 2024

2020/21 - Fulham 0 - 3 Arsenal

Another year and another Arsenal opening day. And another year another newly promoted side.

In 2020/21 Fulham took on Arsenal on the opening matchday.

This one went as expected though with Arsenal managing to come away with a comfortable win.

Dominating the play, it was goals from Alexandre Lacazette, Gabriel Magalhães and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that made the difference. Arsenal started this season in style. It’s a shame they only managed an 8th placed finish come the end of it.

Hopefully for Fulham’s sake they can start this year a little bit better.

#AFC | Arsenal will face Fulham (A) on the opening day of the 2020/21 Premier League season. pic.twitter.com/gZSAlfYVTr

— Chris Davison (@cdavison_afc) August 20, 2020

2019/20 - Liverpool 4 - 1 Norwich City

The final game on our list and yet only the second to not include Arsenal. Unbelievably it is the fourth appearance in 5 years for a newly promoted team though.

The responsibility in 2019/20 fell on Liverpool and Norwich City to get the season started.

In the season that Liverpool went on to win their first Premier League title, Liverpool started the season with a crushing 4-1 victory against Daniel Farke’s side.

An own goal from Grant Hanley before Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Divock Origi got on the score sheet was enough to see off the Canaries. Teemu Pukki scoring a second half consolation goal.

At that point in time nobody knew what the season had to hold with a few months later seeing COVID-19 breaking out and the season being stopped and eventually ended behind closed doors. Let’s hope a similar thing doesn’t happen this time around.

#OTD in 2019:
Liverpool beat Norwich 4-1 in the first Premier League game of the season. An own goal, Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Divock Origi all score. Adrian makes his debut after a first-half Alisson injury
pic.twitter.com/kdsbMlSKVW

— Liverpool On This Day (@OnThisDayReds) August 9, 2024

So those are the last 5 opening day games. And one thing is always for certain… The opening day fixtures always bring a lot of entertainment.

But what will be the score this year as Manchester United host Fulham?