Wins for Arsenal, Man City and Brighton see them sat amongst the top three in the PL following the end of the first gameweek of the new campaign.
It proved to be a tough weekend for the likes of Everton, Southampton and Chelsea, all of whom started their campaigns off with a loss.
All odds in this piece courtesy of bet365. Correct at time of publishing and subject to change.
Tough Starts for Toffees and Saints
Everton finished the weekend rooted to the bottom of the PL after suffering a 3-0 loss at home to Brighton, with the Toffees seemingly already up against it this season after just one match.
The Seagulls were comfortable and deserving winners in the end, with Everton’s performance showing exactly how much work needs to be done this season if they’re to avoid dropping down to the Championship come May.
The Toffees are just 9/4 to go down this term, a price that looks generous given their opening day performance.
A similar picture can be painted for Southampton, who stumbled to a 1-0 defeat away to Newcastle despite playing against 10 men for over an hour.
They did create a handful of good chances during the match, however their inability to break 10-man Newcastle down should be a slight cause for concern for the south coast side.
Southampton’s squad looks to be seriously lacking goals, and whilst their defence looks solid, they’ll need to add some firepower this summer if they’re to avoid dropping straight back down to the second division.
The bookies seem to agree with this, as the Saints’ relegation odds dropped to just 5/6 following their display on Saturday.
Tractor Boys in for a Tough Time
Ipswich couldn’t have asked for a harder task for their first game back in the Premier League, as the Tractor Boys had to deal with Liverpool at home in their first league outing of the season.
Whilst they only lost 2-0 thanks to two second half goals from Mo Salah and Diogo Jota, it was their overall performance that should worry fans.
They conceded just under four xG in the match whilst only creasing 0.3 themselves, numbers that’ll absolutely need to improve if they’re to avoid relegation this term.
It must be said that every game won’t be as hard as their opener, however it’s fair to say that Liverpool didn’t play particularly well throughout the first hour of the match and still found a way to win very comfortably.
Ipswich’s issue this season is most likely going to be conceding goals, with Kieran McKenna’s side showing this last season as they allowed 57 goals, more than the likes of Sunderland, Millwall and Bristol City, all of whom finished midtable.
They’re still just 4/5 to go down this term, a good price if their opening day performance is anything to go off.
Worrying times for Maresca’s Men
Chelsea opened their campaign with a 2-0 defeat to City on Sunday in a performance that wouldn’t have filled fans with too much optimism going forward.
They were unlucky not to score given the chances they created, as well as the fact they had two goals ruled out for offside.
However despite this, City were pretty much always in control of the match, and probably should’ve scored more than the two they did.
Chelsea fans made their annoyance at their side’s playstyle known throughout the game, with boos and moans aplenty whilst the Blues were trying to slowly build out from the back.
It remains to be seen how patient Chelsea fans are going to be this season, however should they end up turning on new boss Enzo Maresca, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him be the first manager sacked this term.
The former Leicester boss is now favourite at just 7/1 to go first with the bookies, a fair price given the uncertainty surrounding the Blues this term.