The 2026/27 campaign officially kicked off on Friday, August 21, with defending champions Arsenal welcoming newly promoted Coventry City to the Emirates Stadium. From the opening whistle, the Gunners looked every inch a side ready to defend their crown, cruising to a comfortable 3–0 victory.
Kai Havertz opened the scoring in the 15th minute before Bukayo Saka doubled Arsenal’s advantage eight minutes later. Captain Martin Ødegaard completed the scoring in the 49th minute to give Arsenal a perfect start to their title defence.
Saturday brought plenty of surprises, especially for some of the league’s traditional big names. Newly promoted Hull City produced one of the biggest shocks of the opening weekend by defeating Manchester United 2–0. Semi Ajayi opened the scoring before Nobel Mendy added a second, handing Hull a memorable return to the Premier League and leaving United with plenty to think about.
Everton also enjoyed a winning start, defeating Crystal Palace 2–0. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall put the Toffees ahead before Thierno Barry added the second to secure all three points.
Another promoted side, Ipswich Town, also celebrated victory on their Premier League return. Ipswich defeated Sunderland 2–1 in a dramatic encounter. Emersonn gave Ipswich the lead, Nilson Angulo brought Sunderland level, but substitute Jack Clarke struck late to seal the win for Ipswich.
Leeds United then stunned Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, with Anton Stach scoring an 88th-minute winner to give Leeds a narrow 1–0 victory.
The final Saturday fixture produced another eye-catching result as Brentford ran riot against Tottenham Hotspur. Brentford recorded a convincing 3–0 victory, with Keane Lewis-Potter, Vitaly Janelt and Michael Kayode all finding the net.
On Sunday, Brighton produced one of the most dominant displays of the opening weekend, dismantling Aston Villa 4–0. Victor Lindelöf’s own goal gave Brighton an early advantage before Maxim De Cuyper added another. Jack Hinshelwood then scored twice to complete a stunning 4–0 victory.
Manchester City, meanwhile, had to fight until the very end to secure three points against Bournemouth. Bournemouth stunned the home crowd when Marcus Tavernier opened the scoring in the 26th minute. City, however, refused to surrender. Marc Guéhi equalised in the 84th minute before Joško Gvardiol completed the comeback with a dramatic stoppage-time winner to give City a 2–1 victory.
At St James’ Park, Newcastle United and Liverpool produced one of the most entertaining matches of the opening weekend. Anthony Elanga gave Newcastle an early lead in the fifth minute before Cody Gakpo levelled for Liverpool in the second half. Joe Willock restored Newcastle’s advantage, but Liverpool found a way back once again. Dominik Szoboszlai converted a penalty deep into stoppage time to rescue a 2–2 draw for the visitors.
Monday evening brought the curtain down on an exciting opening round with a London derby between Fulham and Chelsea.
Chelsea got off to a dream start when João Pedro found the net after just 31 seconds. Fulham responded through Josh King, but Chelsea regained the lead through Morgan Rogers before Cole Palmer added a third early in the second half. Fulham refused to give up and Gonzalo García pulled one back, but Chelsea held on to claim a 3–2 victory and give new manager Xabi Alonso a winning start to his Premier League career.
The opening round produced 29 goals across the 10 matches, 1 red card and 33 yellow cards.
By: Victoria Kwofie
