The Premier League opening weekend is one of the highlights of the 888 football prediction campaign. As soon as the fixtures are announced, fans clamour to see who they will face on the opening day of the season.
Premier League Odds fans have witnessed some phenomenal opening weekend matches in recent years, with Liverpool’s 4-3 victory at Arsenal instantly springing to mind.
Best Opening Weekend Matches:
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Wigan Athletic vs Blackpool (10/11)
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Manchester City vs Swansea City (11/12)
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Arsenal vs Aston Villa (13/14)
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Leicester City vs Sunderland (15/16)
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Arsenal vs Liverpool (16/17)
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Arsenal vs Leicester City (17/18)
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Chelsea vs Burnley (17/18)
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Manchester United vs Chelsea (19/20)
It has been an unusually short wait for the new Premier League season but supporters are ready for the return of the greatest league in European football.
Without further ado, it is time to look at 10 of the decade’s best opening weekend Premier League clashes. Fingers crossed we are treated to more drama when England’s top flight returns in 2020/21.
Wigan Athletic 0-4 Blackpool
Blackpool defied the football betting odds to record one of the greatest Premier League wins by a newly promoted team on the opening weekend of the 2010/11 season.
A clash between the two north west minnows wouldn’t usually be first up on Match of the Day but Ian Holloway’s side produced a stunning performance to send shockwaves across the Premier League.
For a few hours, the Tangerines sat at the top of the Premier League table. To this day, it is one of the club’s finest results in the modern era.
Manchester City 4-0 Swansea City
Man City hit the ground running on the opening day of the 2011/12 season, thrashing newly promoted Swansea 4-0 in front of a jubilant Etihad Stadium.
The visitors frustrated City early on but the floodgates opened once the hosts opened the scoring. An injury-time strike from Sergio Aguero made sure that City fans went home happy after a dominant opening weekend performance.
We didn’t know it at the time but Aguero would also score an injury-time goal nine months later that would go down as one of the Premier League’s greatest ever moments.
Arsenal 1-3 Aston Villa
The 2013/14 season got off to the worst possible start for Arsenal as the Gunners slumped to an embarrassing defeat against Aston Villa. Arsene Wenger was under scrutiny and this result did nothing to ease the pressure on his shoulders.
Olivier Giroud opened the scoring but Villa showed incredible resilience to respond, with Christian Benteke notching a brace.
Things got even worse for Arsenal as Laurent Koscielny was sent off before Villa sealed the three points with a third late on. Fortunately for Wenger, Arsenal’s slow start did not cost them a top four berth.
Manchester United 1-2 Swansea City
The most successful team in Premier League history, Manchester United slipped up at home to Swansea in Louis van Gaal’s first competitive match in charge of the Red Devils.
All of the 888 football predictions tips suggested a home win but the Welsh side produced one of the biggest opening weekend Premier League shocks to claim three points in front of a stunned Old Trafford.
Swansea had established themselves as a solid Premier League side by that point and Gylfi Sigurdsson’s late winner guaranteed a happy journey back to south Wales for the travelling fans.
Leicester City 4-2 Sunderland
Claudio Ranieri’s tenure got off to the perfect start as Leicester ran riot against a hapless Sunderland. The Black Cats scored two goals of their own but were second best throughout the contest.
Leicester flew out of the blocks, scoring three goals in the opening 30 minutes. The hosts took their foot off the gas in the second half but the damage had already been done.
It was a sign of things to come for the Foxes as Leicester completed one of the best seasons in Premier League history as they clinched a famous title triumph.
Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool
One of the most entertaining opening weekend Premier League matches, this seven-goal thriller had it all. While the Gunners were on the wrong side of the scoreline, the Emirates Stadium crowd went home having witnessed a sublime contest.
Sadio Mane was the star of the show, terrorising the Arsenal defence on his Reds debut. With Liverpool 4-1 up and less than 30 minutes to go, it looked like the game was won.
However, the Gunners rallied late on to put Liverpool under pressure but the Reds managed to hold on for a crazy victory.
Arsenal 4-3 Leicester City
12 months later, Arsenal were involved in another seven-goal thriller on the Premier League opening weekend – this time against Leicester City.
Both teams to score punters were rejoicing after five minutes while anyone who backed the overs for total goals were celebrating at half-time. It was a bonkers opening 45 minutes and the madness would continue in the second half.
Premier League star striker Jamie Vardy notched a brace as Leicester tormented Arsenal on the break but Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud struck in the last 10 minutes to snatch a famous win for the Gunners.
Chelsea 2-3 Burnley
Quite possibly the most eventful Premier League opening weekend contest, Chelsea fell to a shock defeat at home to Burnley just months after cruising to the title. In addition, the Blues had two men sent off in an ugly clash at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea found themselves down to 10 men early on and went into the break 3-0 down after a Sam Vokes double and a rare Stephen Ward strike.
Despite playing a man down for most of the match, Chelsea rallied to threaten a comeback but Cesc Fabregas’ red card ended any hopes of a dramatic draw.
Wolves 2-2 Everton
One of the best ever Championship teams, newly promoted Wolves were touted to thrive at the top table of English football. Inspired by their Portuguese stars, Wolves got the 2018/19 campaign underway with a thrilling affair.
A real end-to-end contest, this clash gave fans an insight into what to expect from Wolves in the Premier League. Richarlison’s brace was cancelled out by goals from Ruben Neves and the prolific Raul Jimenez – now one of the league’s deadliest strikers.
That late Jimenez strike turned out to be crucial, with Wolves qualifying for the Europa League ahead of the Toffees.
Manchester United 4-0 Chelsea
The 2019/20 Premier League opening weekend saw two former players in the dugout at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge. However, nobody expected Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side to hand Chelsea a four-goal thrashing.
United took a slender lead into half-time but raised their game in the second half – Chelsea couldn’t cope with the Red Devils’ free-flowing attacking style.
Dan James capped off a superb performance with a goal to send Old Trafford wild. Both clubs ended the campaign in the Champions League places, with United pipping Chelsea to third place on goal difference.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Dave Thompson / AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 10th September 2020
