The 2020/2021 Premier League season returned over the weekend with most of the big boys bagging a victory in their encounters. Mo Salah scored a hat trick to give Liverpool a 4-3 win over Leeds United, while Arsenal swept past Fulham with a 3-nil victory.
Jose Mourinho lost a game on the opening day of the season for the first time in his career as Carlo Ancelotti and his new Everton signings nicked a 1nil victory at home over his boys.
Chelsea began their Premier League season with a 3-1 away win against Brighton as Timo Werner and Kai Havertz made their debuts.
In the meantime, we have we’ve got enough time to quickly reflect on some of the most eye-catching stats from the weekend’s action via OPTA stats.
• 8 – Jorginho has now scored all eight of the penalties he has taken for Chelsea in all competitions (excluding shootouts), including five in the Premier League
• 1 – José Mourinho has been defeated on the opening matchday of a league campaign for the first time in his managerial career in what is his 19th such match, winning 11 and drawing seven of the previous 18 before today.
• 5 – James Rodríguez became the first Premier League debutant to create at least five chances since Alexis Sanchez for Arsenal in August 2014.
• 12 – Lucas Digne has assisted 12 Premier League goals since the start of the 2018-19 campaign, with five of those for Dominic Calvert-Lewin; the only full-backs with more assists in that time are Trent Alexander-Arnold (25) and Andrew Robertson (24).
• 0/3 – All three promoted clubs have lost their opening match of a Premier League campaign for the first time since 2013-14, when Crystal Palace, Hull, and Cardiff did so.
• 5 – Jamie Vardy has scored in all five of his away Premier League appearances against West Brom – the only player in Premier League history to play in as many away matches against an opponent while scoring in each game is Ruud van Nistelrooy against Newcastle (also five).
• 5 – Timothy Castagne is the fifth Belgian to score on his Premier League debut, after Luc Nilis, Thomas Vermaelen, Christian Benteke, and Leandro Trossard.
• 40 – Mohamed Salah’s hat-trick over the weekend was the 40th scored by a Liverpool player in the Premier League, more than any other side in the competition.
• 8 – Callum Wilson has scored eight goals in nine league games against West Ham, more than he has netted against any other side in his league career.
• 3 – Leeds are the first promoted side to score 3+ goals away at the reigning champions in the Premier League since Hull lost 3-4 vs Man Utd in November 2008.
• 9 – Newcastle United have won nine Premier League away games against West Ham United – only versus Tottenham Hotspur (10) have they picked up more wins on the road in the competition.
• 1988 – Mohamed Salah is the first Liverpool player to score a hat-trick on MD1 of a league season since John Aldridge against Charlton in 1988-89.
• 2 – Virgil van Dijk has now made two errors leading directly to a goal in his last four Premier League games, more than he registered in his first 154 appearances in the competition (1).
• 2 – Willian is the first player to assist two goals on his Premier League debut for Arsenal since Ray Parlour in August 1992 against Liverpool.
• 2 – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the first player to score on MD1 in consecutive Premier League seasons for Arsenal since Robert Pires in 2003-04 & 2004-05.