Remembering when Brendan’s envelopes failed to rouse Liverpool and when it all began to unravel for Jose Mourinho at Chelsea…
The Premier League season is back! So we’ve picked out the best and worst opening day of the last 20 years for every top-flight team…
Arsenal
Best: 6-1 v Everton (a) 09/10
Cesc Fabregas ran the show, scoring twice in addition to goals from Denilson, Thomas Vermaelen, William Gallas and Eduardo. Everton got off lightly.
Worst: 1-3 v Villa (h) 13/14
Arsene Wenger blamed the referee after Arsenal conceded two penalties and had Laurent Koscielny sent off, all after going ahead. They were booed off. Obviously.
Aston Villa
Best: 3-1 v Arsenal (a) 13/14
As much as this was billed as an exposure of Arsenal’s shortcomings, it was a damn fine comeback from Villa, who replied to Olivier Giroud’s opener through Christian Benteke’s double and a late strike from Tony Moon.
Worst: 0-1 v Sheffield Wednesday (a) 16/17
Villa’s first game in the second tier for 28 years ended in defeat at Hillsborough after Pierluigi Gollini gifted the Owls an 85th-minute winner.
Bournemouth
Best: 2-0 v Aston Villa (h) 22/23
Back in the Premier League under Scotty Parker and there was some misplaced early-season optimism after goals from Jefferson Lerma and Keiffer Moore (his first in the top flight) beat Stevie Gerrard’s poor Villa side.
Worst: 0-1 v Aston Villa (h) 15/16
The Cherries’ first ever game in the Premier League ended in anti-climax after Rudy Gestede gave Tim Sherwood’s side a narrow victory.
Brentford
Best: 2-0 v Arsenal (h) 21/22
The Bees introduced themselves to the Premier League on the Friday night of the opening weekend with a fully-deserved victory over the Gunners, earned with goals from Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard.
Worst: 0-1 v Bury (a) 08/09
Illustrating how far the Bees have come, in 2008, they went to since-liquidated Bury and lost 1-0 on the opening day of the League Two season. The 2010/11 season didn’t start much better: a trek to Carlisle to lose 2-0, but at least that was in League One.
Brighton
Best: 2-1 v Manchester United (a) 22/23
A first ever win at Old Trafford as Brighton outplayed Erik ten Hag’s new Manchester United side, with Pascal Gross scoring a double in a brilliant season for him and the Seagulls.
Worst: 1-2 v Leeds (a) 13/14
The Seagulls made a 500-mile round trip to surrender a one-goal lead and lose to a last-minute Luke Murphy goal at Elland Road.
Chelsea
Best: 6-0 v West Brom (h) 10/11
Chelsea began the season in 2010 with a Baggie battering thanks in no small part to hat-trick hero Didier Drogba.
Worst: 2-2 v Swansea (h) 15/16
Losing 3-2 to Burnley with nine men in 2017 was bad but opening day in 2015 was when it all started to unravel for Jose Mourinho, when Diego Costa had to rescue a point following Thibaut Courtois’ red card on the day of the Eva Carneiro controversy.
Coventry City
Best: 4-1 v Barnsley (a) 07/08
This was as good as the 2007/08 season got for the Sky Blues when Leon McKenzie, Kevin Kyle, Julian Gray and Michael Mifsud scored to put Iain Dowie’s men top of the table. They finished 21st.
Worst: 1-2 v Scunthorpe United (h) 18/19
The penultimate of Coventry’s eight seasons in Leagues One and Two got off to a dreadful start when Mark Robins’ men were beaten at home by the Iron, who went on to be relegated on their way to the National League North.
Crystal Palace
Best: 3-1 v Norwich (a) 15/16
Palace got lucky when Cameron Jerome had a goal ruled out that would have taken it to 2-2 with 15 minutes left, but Yohan Cabaye made the points safe with a late third on his Eagles debut.
Worst: 0-3 v Huddersfield (h) 17/18
The Frank de Boer era, if we can call it that, got off to a wretched start with a humiliating home defeat to newly-promoted Town. It got no better for the new Palace boss before he was axed four games later.
Everton
Best: 1-0 v Man Utd (h) 12/13
Everton’s opening-day record isn’t great but the Toffees stepped it up on Monday Night Football as Marouane Fellaini stole the show on Robin van Persie’s Manchester United debut.
Worst: 1-6 v Arsenal (h) 09/10
‘The scoreline was, if anything, kind to David Moyes’s side,’ read The Telegraph match report. Joleon Lescott wanted to go to Manchester City and he played like he’d rather have been anywhere else but Goodison.
Fulham
Best: 5-0 v Norwich (h) 12/13
Fulham topped the Premier League table after battering Norwich at Craven Cottage, where Mladen Petric scored twice on his debut.
Worst: 0-2 v Crystal Palace (h) 18/19
A spending spree was somewhat dampened by a home defeat to Palace, with manager Slavisa Jokanovic offering in mitigation: “I used two players who have only been with us a few days and I need more time.” He was sacked in November.
Hull City
Best: 4-1 v Preston (a) 21/22
The newly-promoted Tigers carried their momentum into the opening day in 2021 when they came from behind to batter North End at Deepdale, with Keane Lewis-Potter, Richie Smallwood, Josh Magennis and Andy Cannon on target.
Worst: 1-3 v Aston Villa (h) 18/19
Hull have lost by two or more on the opening day only one other time in the last two decades and that was at Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. That was rather more creditable than chucking away a lead to lose at home to Steve Bruce’s Villa.
Ipswich Town
Best: 3-0 Bristol City (a) 11/12
Paul Jewell’s Tractor Boys were top of the Championship after opening day following Michael Chopra’s debut brace at Ashton Gate. The mood soon turned when they lost their next three while conceding 13 goals.
Worst: 2-2 Morecambe (h) 21/22
Ten years later, down in League One, Town needed a stoppage-time equaliser from Macauley Bonne to rescue a point against the newly-promoted Shrimps.
Leeds United
Best: 3-1 v Stoke (h) 18/19
34,000 inside Elland Road couldn’t believe what they were witnessing upon their first glimpse of Bielsa ball, with Mateusz Klich, Pablo Hernandez and Liam Cooper on target as the new manager’s Whites ran all over a Stoke side just down from the Premier League.
Worst: See Man Utd’s best…
Liverpool
Best: 4-3 v Arsenal (a) 16/17
Despite Alberto Moreno’s best efforts to ruin it all, the Reds left the Emirates with three points after a stunning second half and a brilliant brace from Philippe Coutinho.
Worst: 0-3 v West Brom (a) 12/13
“I think there are three players who will let us down this year – the cause, the fight, everything. And I have written them down already… make sure you are not the one in the envelope.” 24 hours later…
Manchester City
Best: 4-0 v Swansea (h) 11/12
Beating West Ham 5-0 in 2019 was impressive but rather more run of the mill for a City side used to winning the league. In 2011, Sergio Aguero came off the bench to score a second-half brace as City began their first title-winning season in style on Monday Night Football.
Worst: 2-4 v Aston Villa (a) 08/09
A fortnight before the Sheikhs strolled in, Mark Hughes’ side, which featured Kelvin Etuhu, Javier Garrido and Ched Evans, were torn apart by Gabby Agbonlahor’s hat-trick.
Manchester United
Best: 5-1 v Leeds (h) 21/22: Old Trafford’s first full house post-Covid saw United unveil Raphael Varane before his new team ripped Leeds to pieces with Bruno Fernandes bagging a hat-trick. It went quickly downhill from there.
Worst: 1-2 v Swansea (h) 14/15: Louis van Gaal’s first game in charge ended in anti-climax after Gylfi Sigurdsson inflicted upon United their first opening-day defeat at home since 1972. Erik ten Hag’s opener against Brighton in 2022 was bad but this was worse.
Newcastle United
Best: 5-1 Aston Villa (h) 23/24
Newcastle tore into Unai Emery’s Villa, with Sandro Tonali enjoying a ‘perfect’ introduction to the Premier League, which included a debut goal after six minutes. Villa soon levelled but Alexander Isak’s brace gave Toon a deserved lead before Callum Wilson and Harvey Barnes added a late flourish.
Worst: 0-4 v Man City (a) 13/14
Newcastle were already 2-0 down when Steven Taylor got himself sent off for swinging at Aguero on the stroke of half-time. Tim Krul had to make a series of brilliant saves to keep the score down.
Nottingham Forest
Best: 4-3 v Burton (h) 16/17: Beating Brentford last season was fun but winning a seven-goal thriller against their local rivals to start Philippe Montanier’s reign was perhaps more memorable.
Worst: 0-2 v Newcastle (a) 22/23
Welcome to the Premier League, Forest. They did not produce a single shot on target v Newcastle as a front three of Brennan Johnson, Jesse Lingard and Sam Surridge failed to test the Toon.
Sunderland
Best: 3-0 v West Ham (h) 25/26
Sunderland’s biggest win on opening day in at least a couple of decades was a delicious taster for what the Black Cats would deliver all season long, with Eliezer Mayenda, Dan Ballard and Wilson Isidor netting in the second half at a raucous Stadium of Light.
Worst: 2-4 v Leicester (a) 15/16
Sunderland fans, nor anyone else, realised they were beaten by the eventual champions on opening day. All they say was their defence ripped to shreds, conceding three goals in the opening half hour in Claudio Ranieri’s first game in charge of the Foxes. “We clearly weren’t at it,” said Younes Kaboul. “We were late for every ball. We conceded a lot and we were not sharp enough.”
Tottenham Hotspur
Best: 4-1 v Southampton (h) 22/23
There was genuine belief that Tottenham could mount a title challenge after an opening-day win that saw four goals scored without Harry Kane nabbing a single one. SPOILER: They could not mount a title challenge.
Worst: 0-1 v Sunderland (a) 07/08
Spurs don’t have a great record on the opening day but losing to newly-promoted Sunderland thanks to Michael Chopra’s goal with almost the last kick particularly stank the place out.