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Manchester United-Leeds United is a great way to start your SaturdayVisionhaus/Getty Images
We have finally reached the first week of the English Premier League season.
After a summer that has flown by and was filled with international tournaments, transfer sagas and everything in between, we can return to the familiar comforts of domestic play in the United Kingdom.
The most popular football league in the world begins its latest campaign in the days ahead with Arsenal and Brentford first up on Friday. Manchester City, as you may have read in Bleacher Report’s season preview, are going for its fourth title in five seasons, an impressive feat in any competition. Trying to prevent that from happening are Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Co., with 38 matches to do so.
To start the season, we will be treated to a strong set of matches throughout the weekend. In this piece and each week going forward, we’ll be running through the top three of the upcoming matchday, with predictions for all fixtures to get you set for the action.
We’ll start at Old Trafford to kick things off.
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The Red Devils will want to see big things from Mr. Sancho this season.Ash Donelon/Getty Images
Saturday, Aug. 14, 7:30am ET
TV/Streaming: NBCSN
Saturday’s early match may be the best of the day as Manchester United welcome old rivals Leeds to Old Trafford in what should be a thrilling contest.
United has been one of most active teams in the league during this summer with Jadon Sancho finally completing his $100 million transfer with Raphael Varane’s $57 million move closing imminently. Two impactful additions that may be the missing pieces in the club’s title push. The Red Devils haven’t been Premier League champions in nearly a decade (2012-13). That’s well below the standard that the fans of the team have come to expect. Bringing in this pair, however, is a definitive statement of intent and the club will want to start the season with big victory at home.
This is the first time fans will be in attendance for this historic rivalry since 2004, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will want his team to jump out of the gates and be aggressive to start the campaign. A preseason that had its share of goals, including a 4-0 win in the club’s last match vs. Everton, will give them confidence entering the year. If Paul Pogba is able to go from the start, he’ll have Bruno Fernandes to join him in midfield and should see a good amount of the ball as they work to break down Kalvin Phillips in his roving position across the Leeds central areas.
It’s unlikely that we’ll see Varane from the start, but Sancho could certainly contribute, particularly with Marcus Rashford sidelined for the opening two months of the season as he recovers from shoulder surgery.
Leeds were relatively quiet in the transfer market and will be relying on another season under master tactician Marcelo Bielsa to guide them to an improvement on their impressive 9th-place finish in 20-21.
That climb will have to wait another week though as Man Utd will be too powerful for the visitors from Yorkshire.
Match Prediction: Man Utd 3, Leeds 1
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This is what good momentum to start the season looks like.Charles McQuillan – UEFA/Getty Images
Saturday, Aug. 14, 10:00am ET
TV/Streaming: Peacock Premium
Fresh off of another trophy triumph in the UEFA Super Cup, which they won Wednesday against Villarreal, Chelsea will want to begin their quest to unseat Manchester City atop the Premier League on a high note against fellow Londoners Crystal Palace.
Chelsea weren’t their typical assertive selves with transfers this summer as they only added Romelu Lukaku for a cool $135 million. This is on the heels of a very busy summer last season with the Belgian’s addition looking like the cherry on top for a completely reworked squad, now under Thomas Tuchel. Balanced, deep and motivated, winning the Champions League is just the beginning for the latest iteration of Roman Abramovich’s franchise.
Against Palace, who is now managed by Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira, Tuchel’s men should feel confident about getting the season started on the right foot. They are just too strong in all areas of the pitch to get caught out this early in the season. Like Man Utd, Chelsea had a very impressive preseason run, going undefeated in five matches.
Palace, whose main addition was defender and Fulham loanee Joachim Andersen from Olympique Lyonnais, may have a bit more trouble gaining a foothold in the hyper-competitive top flight this season. As noted in the B/R season preview, Vieira could be the first manager sacked as the squad may really struggle to stay afloat over the course of the year. They, too, had an undefeated preseason but a trip to Stamford Bridge with fans back in the seats on the first day of the year against the European champions will be a bit too much to ask.
Match Prediction: Chelsea 2, Crystal Palace 0
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So much to fawn over in one photoJames Baylis – AMA/Getty Images
Sunday, Aug. 15, 11:30am ET
TV/Streaming: NBCSN
And this leaves us with the marquee match of the opening matchday of the season. Champions Man City traveling south to London to take on Nuno Espirito Santo’s Tottenham Hotspur.
Will Harry Kane, subject of much transfer speculation over the summer, play for the home side? His team seems to think so, but the England captain didn’t return to London until this week and will have little or no time to train before Sunday’s match.
Either way, we should be in for a cracker of a match as Spurs have strengthened their squad and City will want to start its title defense with a positive result.
Fresh from a somewhat disappointing 1-0 loss in the FA Community Shield against Leicester (it’s just a glorified preseason match, depending who you ask), Pep Guardiola’s charges will be eager to restate their claim as the best team in the land against Tottenham. Record signing Jack Grealish only made a cameo appearance against the Foxes, but don’t expect the same against Spurs, where he’ll likely get the nod from the opening whistle in Pep’s system that currently lacks a true no.9 presence.
Grealish will look to combine with the likes of Riyad Mahrez (still very good), Ferran Torres (becoming very good) and Ilkay Gundogan (always very good) to create the opportunities in the Spurs’ area. We’re still a few weeks away from seeing Jack working with Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne, but the City side Guardiola trots out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium won’t be anything to scoff at.
On Nuno’s side, most of the talk has been about the action off the pitch with captain and talisman Harry Kane squarely top of mind for all Spurs fans. His transfer saga has gone the full length of the summer with that run to the Euro 2020 final with England prolonging the drama. Reports are currently wavering between Kane being open to a new contract to a move to Man City as the only option. Very fun for all those in white or cosmic galaxy.
Whether Kane is in the squad or not remains to be seen, but Spurs have other firepower besides the Englishman. Fan favorite (that’s all fans, to be clear) Heung-Min Son has had a productive preseason with three goals in four matches. He’ll be tasked with breaking down Ruben Dias and the rest of City’s typically stingy backline. We could also see new Tottenham signing Bryan Gil, though the exciting attacking option will likely come off the bench given that he only joined the team this week.
Expect a tight contest that could be broken wide open with an individual display or two by one of the match’s many stars. Should that happen, the game will obviously change, and we will be the beneficiaries of this. Spurs will want a result at home against the champions, and the Kane undertones will keep the emotions high throughout.
In the end, the points are shared in an exciting match with positives for both sides.
Match Prediction: Tottenham 1, Manchester City 1
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A big seasons coming for this group of FoxesVisionhaus/Getty Images
Brentford vs. Arsenal: 2-1 Arsenal win
Burnley vs. Brighton & Hove Albion: 2-2 Draw
Everton vs. Southampton: 2-1 Everton win
Leicester City vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers: 2-1 Leicester City win
Watford vs. Aston Villa: 3-1 Aston Villa win
Norwich vs. Liverpool: 2-0 Liverpool win
Newcastle vs. West Ham: 2-2 draw
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