Premier League Roundup: Week 1

The highly anticipated first weekend of the English Premier League is in the books. Highlighted by the managerial debuts of Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte, and Jose Mourinho, the opening weekend featured a grab bag of surprises, wonder goals, and disappointments.

Defending league champion Leicester City christened the new season with a 2-1 upset loss to newly promoted, and future relegation favorites, Hull City in a less than inspiring performance to kick off their title defense.

In Pep Guardiola's Manchester City debut, his side struggled to generate offense and were lucky to escape a pesky Sunderland team 2-1, thanks to an 87th minute Paddy McNair own goal. Expectations are astronomical for Guardiola and City and he will need to improve his team's offensive cohesiveness if they want to challenge for the EPL title. It is apparent that Pep is looking to off load keeper Joe Hardt and City mainstay Yaya Toure before the transfer window closes as he left both veterans off of the team sheet. 

Reigning third place finishers Spurs looked out of sync as they were thoroughly outplayed by a Lukakuless Everton, and were lucky to snag a point in a 1-1 draw after conceding a Ross Barkley free kick in the 5th minute. Harry Kane was invisible and Tottenham struggled to maintain possession under an organized and energetic Everton press. Everton's spirited effort was personified by the play of Senegal international and recent acquisition Idrissa Gueye, who made countless crucial tackles and harassed Spurs' attackers all afternoon.

Southampton and Stoke City struggled to 1-1 come from behind draws to Watford and newly promoted Middlesbrough, respectively. Both teams have European aspirations, but will need to do more against projected lower table teams to make that dream a reality.

The marquee matchup of the weekend featured Liverpool vs Arsenal in a titanic match up of EPL bluebloods. The game did not disappoint as Liverpool defeated the undermanned Gunners 4-3. Arsenal struck first on a Theo Walcott 31st minute goal, right after his penalty was saved by Simon Mignolet. The Red's offense was ignited by a Coutinho wonder goal free kick in stoppage time to tie the game at 1 just before the half. Liverpool's attack looked confident and threatening as they stretched their lead to 4-1 by the 64th minute with goals from Adam Lallana, summer acquisition Sadio Mane, and another by Coutinho. Arsenal responded less than 2 minutes later with an Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain goal and drew within one off a set piece Callum Chambers header to make the final 15 minutes of the game excruciating for both sets of supporters. Even without injured Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool's attack was dangerous, thanks largely to Mane's engine and ability to wreak havoc on the rookie Gunner's defense - they will be an exciting unit to watch this season. Arsenal gaffer Arsene Wenger will need to right the ship and quiet his critics quickly before the North London media storm starts calling for his head on a spike.

Jose Mourinho's Manchester United debut went according to plan as his Red Devils handled Bournemouth 3-1. Star Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic didn't miss a beat as he scored a long distance goal in his first official match with United. To many fans' dismay, newly acquired Frenchman Paul Pogba was not featured in the match, so we will have to wait at least another week to see his return to Old Trafford.

In the final contest of the opening weekend, Antonio Conte's Chelsea defeated giant killers and London rival West Ham 2-1 thanks to an 89th minute winner from Diego Costa. The Blues dictated play and looked impressive for most of the game, limiting the Hammers to just 3 shots on goal. Even though Eden Hazard didn't look world class, the rest of the Chelsea attack looked more threatening than in recent years. Look for Willian to be the catalyst of the Blues' offense this season.

Here is a complete list of EPL results from this past weekend:

Hull City 2 - 1 Leicester City

Swansea City 1 - 0 Burnley

West Brom 1 - 0 Crystal Palace

Everton 1 -1 Spurs

Middlesbrough 1 - 1 Stoke City

Southampton 1 - 1 Watford

Manchester City 2- 1 Sunderland

Liverpool 4 - 3 Arsenal

Manchester United 3 - 1 Bournemouth

Chelsea 2 - 1 West Ham