The English Premier League made its highly-anticipated return over the past weekend, serving up a thrilling start to the season with plenty of talking points emerging from the opening fixtures.
Manchester United and Fulham kicked off the season on Friday with a 1-0 for the hosts, with eight matches following over the weekend, before Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur wrapped up the first matchday with a 1-1 draw on Monday night.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look at three things that we learned from Matchday 1 of the 2024-25 EPL season.
Man United appear more well-rounded
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Man United and Fulham competed in the curtain-raising game of the 2024-25 season, and the hosts kicked off their campaign in a much better fashion than their opening game against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2023-24.
While the Red Devils won both matches 1-0, with late goals being the difference in each, the difference in performances was clear to see.
Erik ten Hag's side conceded 23 shots and 2.35 expected goals (xG) to Wolves last year, marking the beginning of a campaign that saw them face 667 shots, including blocks, as they went on to record their lowest-ever Premier League finish in eighth.
Man United showed higher levels of control this time around, facing 10 shots, of which only two were on target, and conceding only 0.44xG.
Much of the criticism of Man United's defensive vulnerabilities last season was aimed at the midfield, which was faulted for being too immobile and easily bypassed, with Casemiro facing particularly heavy scrutiny.
The Brazilian midfielder, whose future at the club has been the subject of speculation throughout the summer, looked noticeably fitter than last year and was back to his best both defensively and in possession, winning five ground duels, two aerial duels and making four tackles, while also having the most touches of any player in the team.
Man United's defence has also been boosted by the arrival of summer signings Noussair Mazraoui, who produced a solid performance on his debut, and Matthijs de Ligt, and Lisandro Martinez has returned after an injury-hit 2023-24.
There were also clear signs of progression in the build-up and attacking play, with emphasis on Harry Maguire and Martinez moving the ball into the wide areas, while Joshua Zirkzee showed moments of quality when he was brought onto the pitch in the 61st minute, including scoring the winning goal with three minutes to play.
Bruno Fernandes, Mason Mount and Alejandro Garnacho all missed big chances to add to the scoreline, but Ten Hag will ultimately be pleased with the clear improvements from his side in both defence and attack.
Ipswich display promising signs
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Ipswich Town made their long-awaited return to the Premier League for the first time since their relegation in 2001-02 with the difficult task of taking on Liverpool at Portman Road.
While there was very little expected of the Tractor Boys against one of the league's juggernaut teams, Ipswich showed plenty of signs that suggest a potentially promising season in the top flight.
Despite seven of Kieran McKenna's starting XI remaining from the team that was promoted from League One two years ago, the hosts surprised the visitors in the first half, taking four shots to Liverpool's three and coming closest to opening the scoring when Jacob Greaves climbed high and headed towards goal from a Sam Morsy freekick.
McKenna's men showed their quality in building from the back and looked strong defensively, with Greaves looking particularly impressive on his debut for the club.
Omari Hutchinson, who re-joined the club in the summer on a permanent basis after his loan move last season, also looked sharp and had a great chance on the counter in the first half, while Liam Delap also demonstrated plenty of potential.
Liverpool did eventually find their feet after the half-time restart, dominating the second 45 minutes and securing a 2-0 win, but Ipswich, and McKenna, will be delighted with the performance.
Brighton deliver standout performance of matchday one
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A dismal second half of 2023-24 saw Brighton & Hove Albion win just four of their 19 league matches after the turn of the year, resulting in an 11th-place finish, their first bottom-half finish since placing 16th in 2020-21.
Roberto De Zerbi, who led the club to sixth place in 2022-23, their highest-ever top-flight finish and securing European qualification for the first time in their history, left the club at the end of the campaign, leaving big boots to fill on the south coast.
Doubts arose when Brighton opted to appoint Fabian Hurzeler, a 31-year-old with no top-flight management experience, who had previously been at St Pauli in the 2.Bundesliga.
Although it is early days with only one matchday completed, any suspicions of whether Hurzeler has what it takes to manage at this level were certainly dispelled as his side produced the standout performance of the weekend.
They had the difficult task of facing an Everton side that was playing an opening Premier League game at Goodison Park for the last time, ahead of their move to Bramley-Moore Dock at the end of this season, but Hurzeler's men ran out comfortable 3-0 winners.
Brighton weathered an uncomfortable opening 10 minutes but soon found their feet, exploiting Everton in the wide areas with Joao Pedro and James Milner moving into the channels to support Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh, who was especially impressive on his debut before being replaced just before half time due to a suspected concussion.
A daring approach from the new boss in their build-up play saw Pedro and Milner move wide, as previously mentioned, leaving new signing Mats Wieffer isolated in the middle of the park, with the occasional support from Danny Welbeck dropping deep.
Hurzeler's tactics clearly paid off, as the Seagulls consistently generated quality attacking moves through the middle and out wide, and 10-man Everton will count themselves lucky it only ended 3-0.
While there is still a long way to go and plenty more tests for Hurzeler to face, the performance will undoubtedly boost fan optimism for the campaign.
Ellis Stevens
