Premier League Review - Manchester reigns victorious over London while Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverp

The return of the Premier League has been one of the most anticipated moments in football over the summer and following the closure of the transfer window in England, it's finally back. Liverpool entertained newly promoted Norwich City on the opening day while match day one ended on a cracker with Chelsea travelling to Old Trafford for Frank Lampard's first experience of Premier League life as a manager. The champions Manchester City made the trip down to London to face West Ham while two of the busiest clubs on deadline day in Arsenal and Tottenham faced Newcastle and Aston Villa respectively.

Football's back

The top flight of English football returned with a goal-fest as Liverpool dismantled Norwich City, putting four goals past them in just the first half. Liverpool produced a clinical first half display as through goals from Salah, Van Dijk, Origi and an own goal, Norwich were simply blown away by the pace and intensity of the European champions.

However the 4-1 scoreline doesn't tell the whole story with Norwich making a big statement on how they want to play in the Premier League, creating numerous chances against the best defence in England last year. Daniel Farke, who joined the club as manager in 2017, surprised many with his confident, free-flowing style of football at one of the hardest places to visit in Europe as they played out the back with assurance and efficiency against a notoriously vicious Liverpool press, something that most Premier League teams struggled to do last season. While it may have left their defence exposed, it's good to see a young, newly promoted team play with such determination and confidence on the big stage.

Manchester 2-0 London

The two Manchester clubs had resounding results this weekend as they finish match day one in first and second in the table. Manchester City kicked off their Premier League campaign against West Ham where they ran out 5-0 winners with Raheem Sterling bagging himself a hattrick, while Manchester United sent out a big signal of intent as they dismantled Lampard's Chelsea side 4-0 despite a poor opening 15 minutes.

New Manchester United signings Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire impressed with the latter being described as a "colossus" by the official United twitter page after putting in a commanding performance at the back. Manchester City also gave Rodri his Premier League debut where despite playing in a system that relies so heavily on the midfielders dropping back and bringing the ball up, Rodri never shied away and provided a performance that will encourage City fans that he will be a good replacement for the ageing Fernandinho.

North London starts strong

Two clubs who had very strong transfer windows in Arsenal and Tottenham started their campaigns with winning form away at Newcastle and home to Aston Villa respectively with the latter making their return to the top flight. Despite neither London club seeming to be fully sharp, eventually their quality showed as both began to grow into the game, getting back to pace with Premier League football.

Thanks to a debut goal from Tanguy N'Dombele after John McGinn's shock opening goal, Spurs began to play more like themselves, running away as eventual 3-1 winners with prolific striker Harry Kane grabbing a late double. The Arsenal lineup meanwhile showed Arsenal's intentions of taking advantage of their highly talented crop of youngsters as they were the only team on match day one to field three teenagers, being Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson and new signing Gabriel Martinelli, signed from Ituano for a rumoured £6m.

Arsenal's first half, similar to Tottenham's, lacked energy and direction however in the second half they stepped up with Ainsley Maitland-Niles intercepting the ball on the half way line after hesitation from Newcastle new boy Jetro Willems to drive forward and find Aubameyang who calmly lofted the ball over the onrushing Dubravka. Likewise with Tottenham, Arsenal's record signing Nicolas Pepe also made his debut for the club and showed promise with a few neat touches and feints that left Arsenal fans in anticipation of his full league debut.

Brighton and Burnley start in winning fashion

The other results on the opening weekend lead to two wins for Burnley and Brighton while the remaining teams all drew their respective games. Many, including myself, were impressed with Graham Potter's start to the season as Brighton only tallied up two away wins last season, so a 3-0 win at Watford seems like a start in the right direction. Potter's reputation only continues to grow and grow after making a big mark in Sweden with Ostersunds, winning away at the Emirates in the Europa League being a very noticeable achievement for the former Hull university coach.

For Burnley, it was a 12 minute period of madness for Sean Dyche's team who scored three goals during that time in the second half to blow Southampton away. Ashley Barnes was the scorer of the first two, leading on from his form at the back end of last season while Guðmunds­son added the third 15 minutes before the end.

Leicester and Wolves were involved in a very tight affair at the King Power in a game that ended 0-0, making it clear from the off that the battle for 7th will be very tightly contested between the two teams. However, a big talking point, no surprise involving VAR, was the disallowed goal of Leander Dendoncker for handball as although he was completely unaware of the ball's position, the ball hit his hand in the lead up to a goal and was therefore chalked off.

Sheffield United scored a very dramatic late equaliser away at Bournemouth with "Mr Sheffield United" Billy Sharp scoring to send the away fans into delirium. It was a moment that the Sheffield fans certainly won't forget and one that they hope will be a regular occurrence as the season goes on.

Finally, Everton's game with Crystal Palace ended in a 0-0 draw with the main talking point being Wilfred Zaha starting on the bench for the home side. After having a very action packed transfer window with moves to Arsenal and Everton failing to materialise before handing in a transfer request on the penultimate day of the window, there were doubts about how much Zaha would play this season and how the fans would treat him. However, one of those questions was answered when Zaha was applauded back when substituted on midway through the second half. His performances and attitude will certainly be something to keep a keen eye on this season.

Player of the Week

For me, my player of the week has to be Raheem Sterling. When some players might take a little while to get back up to pace with competitive football, this certainly wasn't a problem for Sterling who bagged himself a hattrick on the opening weekend. The English forward produced three clinical finishes including a volleyed chip over Fabianski that helped push City towards a very convincing opening day victory.

Moment of the week

While some may point to a long range debut goal from N'Dombele or United's quickfire double against Chelsea, my personal favourite moment of the week is the late equaliser from Sheffield United against Bournemouth. The scene of shear euphoria in the away end when Sharp scored was excellent to see and I love to see fans celebrating so passionately when their team scores. It's evident to see how happy the Sheffield United fans are to be back in the Premier League after a long time away and I love the passion that they've brought.