Premier League 2018-19: Five things we learnt from Gameweek 1

The wait is over! The 2018-19 Premier League season got underway with Jose Mourinho's Manchester United getting the better of Leicester City 2-1. There was hardly any surprise in the first game week as Premier League giants like Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and defending champions Manchester City started the season off with a win.

As many as 25 goals were scored by all the 20 teams combined in the first game week. Let us take a look at five talking points from the first game week of the 2018-19 Premier League. 

#1 Positives for Arsenal even in defeat

Arsenal might have lost the game against Manchester City 2-0 but there were a lot of positives for the Gunners, who played their first official game under their new manager Unai Emery. They were seen pressing high for a majority of the game and were dominating the game in patches.

They were also looking to play out from the back and the tactic would have worked to perfection had they started Bernd Leno ahead of Petr Cech in front of the goal as the German international is miles ahead of Cech when it comes to distribution.

Mattéo Guendouzi showed a lot of promise in spite of his inexperience being exposed by Raheem Sterling when he scored the first goal. As the season progresses, Emery will look to start Torreira and it should come at the expense of Xhaka, not Guendouzi as the 19-year-old looked promising in his first game for the Gunners and he can only get better now.

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#2 Manchester City look the best of the lot

Manchester City started off their Premier League title defence in style, thanks to a 2-0 win over Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium. Though Arsenal played well in patches, Manchester City managed to stamp their authority over the Gunners.

Among the 20 teams that played the first round of Premier League, Manchester City looked the best. Raheem Sterling on the left is paying dividends for them and they will be even stronger when the likes of Leroy Sane and Kevin de Bruyne come into the playing XI. Don't be surprised if Manchester City defend their Premier League title.

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#3 Mohamed Salah continues from where he left off last season

Mohamed Salah was scoring for fun in the 2017-18 Premier League season as he scored 32 goals for Liverpool in his debut season with the club. He was deservedly named the PFA Player of the Year for his consistent performances.

He started off the 2018-19 season on a similar note as he scored Liverpool's first goal of the season and the Reds added three more to beat West Ham 4-0. Liverpool can keep the pressure on Manchester City this season and if things go well, they can go all the way for their maiden Premier League crown.

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#4 Brilliant goals

The first game week of the new season saw some spectacular goals being scored. Chelsea's debutant Jorginho converted from the spot to get his goal count for the Blues underway. He scored an outrageous penalty as he hoped before he took the shot to confuse the goalkeeper and calmly rolled the ball into the goal.

Watford's Roberto Pereyra slammed a volley from a corner into the top-right corner and made everyone go in awe with the goal. But, the goal of the week came from Wolverhampton's Ruben Nevas, who scored a stunning free-kick goal against Everton. With a lot of matches still to come, we have got a glimpse of what to expect from the players in the next nine months.

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#5 Spending money won't get you instant rewards

In the 2018 summer transfer window, newly-promoted Fulham signed as many as 12 new players, which is the most by any Premier League side. Following Fulham are their fellow newly-promoted side Wolverhampton Wolves, wh made 11 signings and West Ham United with 10.

In spite of spending their money and almost starting from scratch, none of these three teams managed to begin the season with a win as Liverpool beat West Ham 4-0, Crystal Palace beat Fulham 2-0 in a London derby and Wolves were held 2-2 by Everton. They might have revamped their squads but that give them instant rewards. They will have to wait for a few more games for the players to gel with each other and win matches on a consistent basis.