Six Knee-Jerk Reactions to Premier League Matchday 1
The 2026-27Premier League season has kicked off, so we’re back with our weekly column of knee-jerk reactions. Here are six early conclusions we’ve come to from across the first weekend of action in the new campaign.
Here at Opta Analyst , we like to take our time over things. We like to use a lot of data to back up our findings. Most of the time, anyway.
In this weekly column of knee-jerk reactions, however, we don’t do things in our usual way. Instead, we look over the weekend’s results and make some, well, knee-jerk reactions based on this week alone.
The thing is, a deeper look into the data often shows that there might be good reason to come to these hastily made judgements. Sometimes, though, they are exactly what they claim to be: knee-jerk.
There is still one game left in the matchday, with Fulham hosting Chelsea on Monday night, but here are six knee-jerk reactions from the opening weekend of the new Premier League season.
It Looks Like Another Season of Set-Piece Power
During the 2025-26 Premier League campaign, 27.4% of all goals came from non-penalty set-pieces, the second-highest proportion in the competition’s 34-season history, up from 20.6% in the previous campaign.
The opening weekend of the new season saw seven goals scored from non-penalty set-piece situations. So, that doesn’t include Dominik Szoboszlai’s 99th-minute penalty for Liverpool against Newcastle.
Yes, this is after an incredibly small sample size of nine games, but that proportion of 28% of goals from non-penalty set-pieces is currently even higher than last season.
Hull City were the biggest winners of the weekend with regard to their use of set plays. Both of their goals in the unexpected 2-0 home win over Manchester United came from set-piece situations: first through Semi Ajayi following a corner, and second via Nobel Mendy after a fantastic free-kick delivery from Regan Slater.
Keith Andrews’ Brentford have also been one of the most threatening teams from set-pieces since he took over in the summer of 2025.
That continued on MD1 of the new season, with the Bees attempting 13 shots following a set-play – 12 excluding Igor Thiago’s unsuccessful penalty.
Much of their threat in 2025-26 came from long throws, with six goals resulting from that method, but Michael Kayode’s goal for Brentford in the 3-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday came following a corner.
We also saw two goals from direct free-kicks this weekend, with Sunderland’s Nilson Angulo and Leeds’ Anton Stach scoring. It was the first day of Premier League action to see two direct free-kicks scored since 24 January, while Stach continues to forge a reputation as one of the most feared free-kick takers in the league. He’s now scored four goals direct from free-kicks since the start of last season, the joint most in the league alongside Szoboszlai.
Are we set for another season of squeezing every advantage possible from set-pieces? You bet.
Erling Haaland is the Modern-Day Samson
In shocking scenes that nobody expected, Erling Haaland cut off his long locks before Manchester City’s season-opening clash with Bournemouth on Sunday.
It was the first time that Haaland has played in the competition without his recognisable long hair and ponytail, and for the first time ever he failed to score in the opening game of a Premier League season for Man City.
Haaland could not convert any of his five shots, marking just the 11th time he has failed to score in a Premier League match in which he has attempted five or more efforts.
Like the story of Samson, perhaps Haaland has lost some of the power that once made him unstoppable by cutting his hair. August is his most prolific month across his time in the Premier League, after all.
In no month of Premier League action has Haaland scored more goals (22) or averaged a better minutes-per-goal ratio (58 mins) than he has in August. Only Andrew Cole (25) has scored more goals in August than Haaland, with the former Premier League goalscorer playing 29 more games in the month than the Norwegian.
All eyes turn to Friday night, where Haaland and City travel to Crystal Palace on MD2. The Norwegian has previously scored eight goals in just five Premier League appearances against Palace, giving him his best goals-per-game average (1.6) against any opponent he has faced more than twice in the competition.
He’s never failed to score in five previous games versus the Eagles in the Premier League, so if he draws a blank again on MD2, maybe the curse is real?
Tottenham Look Set for Another Season of Struggle
This is a column on knee-jerk reactions, remember. Nonetheless, Spurs’ performance in their 3-0 defeat to Brentford on Saturday was up there with one of their worst across the last few years.
It was their joint-heaviest defeat on MD1 of a Premier League season, matching a 3-0 loss to Manchester United in 2011-12. The difference, of course, is that the team they faced 15 years ago were the reigning champions.
The scoreline could have been even worse had Igor Thiago not missed a second-half penalty, but Brentford still tallied 3.09 xG from non-penalty shots – a total that only one team managed more than against Spurs in a Premier League match across the whole of the 2025-26 season.
Brentford’s 26 shots were also more than any other team have had against Spurs in a Premier League match since October 2022, 142 games ago.
This weekend’s results mean that Tottenham have won only 79 points from 77 Premier League matches since the start of 2024-25. To put that into context, that’s less than half the tally of rivals Arsenal (162) over the same period.
Yes, Spurs are still hampered by injuries to key members of the squad, but they need to improve fast, or it could lead to yet another relegation battle in 2026-27.
Mamadou Sangaré Is the Signing of The Season
A bold shout given we’re one game in, but this is what this column is all about. Mamadou Sangaré joined Brentford from Lens this summer for a club-record fee – reportedly just over £41 million – but if his performance on MD1 is anything to go by, the Bees may have got an absolute steal.
The Malian midfielder was everywhere, putting in the kind of all-action display in the middle of the park that explains why so many, us included, were excited to see him in the Premier League this season.
He created Brentford’s opening goal, darting in behind the Tottenham defence before squaring for Keane Lewis-Potter. It was one of two chances he created on his debut. He also unleashed a crisp half-volley from a loose ball following a corner, which Antonín Kinský could only spill before Michael Kayode poked home.
Without the ball, he was combative in midfield, winning back possession more times (7) than any other Brentford player.
That was an area in which he truly excelled at Lens, and it looks as if he has brought that quality with him to Brentford.
Brighton Show Again They Are Pressing Kings
It’s hard to know how much of Brighton’s 4-0 victory over Aston Villa was down to their superb play and how much was a result of the visitors’ poor performance. But one thing is for sure: Villa could not handle Brighton’s press.
Brighton completed 19 high turnovers against Villa on Sunday, the most of any team on MD1, converting five of those into shots. They even scored from one, as well.
That total of 19 high turnovers is remarkable; for context, just three sides hit that threshold across the entirety of last season.
Fabian Hürzeler’s side allowed Villa to complete just 4.9 passes on average before attempting to win the ball back, as measured by PPDA. That is a staggering level of aggression, and one that is unlikely to remain quite so low throughout the season.
Brighton also started their possessions an average of 54.6 metres from their own goal, more than eight metres higher up the pitch than any other team on MD1.
All of those figures will inevitably come back down to earth as more games are played and more data is collected. But we should not be surprised to see Brighton pressing so aggressively.
Only Man City (8.8) completed more high turnovers per game than Brighton (8.7) last season, while the Seagulls led the entire league for PPDA, allowing opponents to complete just 10 passes on average before attempting to win the ball back in 2025-26.
So, while their numbers from MD1 are extreme, they are very much in keeping with what Brighton have already established as one of their key strengths.
Liverpool Need to Stem Central Spaces to Have a Decent Season
There was an eerie similarity to both of Newcastle’s goals against Liverpool on Sunday. Both came from lightning-fast counter-attacks, with Liverpool enjoying established possession on the edge of the Newcastle penalty area. However, after losing the ball, the Magpies were able to surge through the middle of Liverpool’s midfield far too quickly and easily.
Just look at the positions of Liverpool players as they lose the ball high up the pitch and Newcastle are set to counter:
The space between Liverpool’s midfield and defensive lines is huge in both instances, allowing Newcastle to slice straight through the centre of the pitch.
It’s not a new problem either. Including last season, Liverpool have conceded more goals from fast breaks in all competitions (nine) than any other Premier League side. They may have played more matches than some of the teams around them, but it still highlights a significant weakness that Andoni Iraola needs to address.
There are two elements he needs to look at. The first is Liverpool’s defensive structure when in possession, often referred to as their “rest defence”. When they lose the ball, they need to be in a much stronger shape to prevent opponents from launching dangerous counter-attacks.
The second is the on-ball decision-making of his players. In both instances, it is Ryan Gravenberch who’s joined the attack from his deep-lying midfield position. That is fine in principle, but on both occasions he makes poor decisions and executes his passes badly, ultimately giving the ball away. Better execution could have potentially stopped the counter-attacking situations from developing in the first place.
Enjoy this? Add Opta Analyst as apreferred source by clicking here.
_Enjoy this? Subscribe to ourfootball newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over on _X** ,Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.**
