<\/p>\n
Aston Villa kicked off its season by holding European champion Paris Saint-Germain to a respectable 2-1 win in the UEFA Super Cup, so expectations for the Midlands side were high as it kicked off its Premier League campaign. Yes, the team looked significantly weakened from its best days \u2014 and two of its best remaining players, goalkeeper Emi Martinez and striker Ollie Watkins, were absent from the team sheet, putting their own futures in doubt \u2014 but still. That weakened Villa side made the European champions sweat. Surely it could hold up to the challenge of Brighton & Hove Albion.<\/p>\n
Not exactly. Villa went 4-0 down in the opening 32 minutes then lost new midfielder Joao Gomes to a needless red card. It was the most calamitous Premier League display in a weekend full of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Villa fans shouldn’t panic \u2014 the team lost 5-1 to Newcastle in the opening match of the 2023\/-4 season and went on to do quite well \u2014 but they should definitely be asking big questions about who, if anyone, is coming in to give this team some backbone.<\/p>\n
Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, was very, very lucky that Villa played the game it did \u2014 that 4-0 hammering largely took the focus of its own embarrassing 3-0 defeat away to Brentford. Spurs finished last season just one spot above the relegation zone but vowed to rebuild under former Marseille coach Roberto de Zerbi. So far, that rebuild is looking just as shaky as the initial structure.<\/p>\n
\n“I think we are not a team yet,” de Zerbi said<\/a>. “We lost too many duels, we made too many mistakes in the timing when we wanted to push the pressure higher. We arrived second for the second ball, we didn’t win one second ball, one duel, one tackle, and it’s tough.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Arsenal hit cruise control on day one<\/h2>\n
Anyone who seriously believed Arsenal might fluff its chance to become a repeat Premier League title winner must’ve seen the light during its 3-0 demolition of Coventry City on the opening night of the season. Arsenal was professional, efficient and utterly dominant from the opening whistle, and its new winger \u2014 Leandro Trossard replacement Christos Tzolis \u2014 looked like an excellent fit for the side<\/a>. Arsenal’s squad is hungrier, deeper and more experienced than any other squad in the Premier League. It wants a dynasty … and it’s playing like it’s going to get one.<\/p>\n
New-look Liverpool showed some grit<\/h2>\n
Several of the Premier League’s biggest teams are in transition this season, from Manchester City (moving on from Pep Guardiola) to Chelsea (moving on from … whatever happened last season with Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior.) But Liverpool, entering its first season under former Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola, is changing too\u2014and it’s learning how to earn points without the magic of winger Mo Salah.<\/p>\n
Liverpool managed to do just that against Newcastle by hanging on when the going got tough. It pushed Newcastle until the final minute and earned itself a last-gasp penalty; attacker Dominik Szoboszlai\u00a0<\/a>sank like he’d been personally offended by Newcastle goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek. It was a bullet of a penalty kick, and by the time the Premier League wraps up next May it will still<\/em> stand as one of the season’s best.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n