Premier League action got underway on Friday night which can only mean one thing: INMR Weekly Round Ups are BACK! Keep reading to find out what happened in every single Prem match this weekend.

To check out my Premier League 2023/24 prediction click here:

Haaland is BACK! (Burnley 0-3 Manchester City)

Erling Haaland returned to Premier League action in superb fashion, it took the Golden boot winner just 4 minutes to get his tally started for the season. Right place, right time; as he so often is for Pep Guardiola’s side, Haaland lurked in the box and smashed the ball home when it arrived at his feet. Haaland claimed a brace to double his side’s lead later on in the half with a spectacular strike. The Norwegian striker seemed pretty chuffed with himself as he smirked at Kyle Walker after dispatching an emphatic finish into the top left corner.

Champion’s League hero Rodri secured the much expected victory with the third and final goal 15 minutes prior to the final whistle. Burnley failed to effectively clear the ball after a set piece delivery and Rodri capitalised by driving the strike into the back of the net, ending any hopes of a comeback. In the dying moments of the game things went from bad to worse for Burnley as they saw Anass Zaroury dismissed from the pitch for a wreckless challenge on Kyle Walker.

Although the scoreline may not suggest so, Burnley were decent and showed promise. They’ve played one of the hardest games they’ve played all season and didn’t look awful. Kompany’s side just couldn’t stop Haaland, similar to almost every team in the league – the Norwegian had just six touches in the first half and still managed to score twice. For City, a comfortable win and three points on the board as they look to match the levels they reached last season.

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Saka scores a screamer (Arsenal 2-1 Nottingham Forest)

With title rivals City setting a pretty high benchmark, Arsenal were up next. Martinelli displayed a wonderful piece of skill to weave through the Forest back line, setting Nketiah up perfectly to open the scoring. Five minutes later starboy Bukayo Saka scored a goal of the season contender, bending a 25-yard effort into the far corner with his favoured left foot.

Not a lot of action in the second half, Arsenal had chances to score more but couldn’t take them and had to suffer a nervy end to the match as a result of that. Awoniyi dragged Forest back into the game with just 10 minutes of regular time remaining. Arsenal managed to survive the late scare to get their first 3 points, for Forest it was too little too late. Arsenal dominated possession (78%) and managed 553 more passes than their opposition who were nowhere near good enough.

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Bournemouth retrieve a point against West Ham (Bournemouth 1-1 West Ham)

A goalless first half in Bournemouth although West Ham were threatening the home side, they just could turn their chances into goals. Bowen gave Saka a run for his money with his own sensational left-footed strike outside the box early on in the second half.

Dominic Solanke had a quiet game up front, out of all the outfield players, he had the least touches in the game, however when it mattered he came up with the goods, ensuring his side wouldn’t start the season with a defeat. West Ham had two chances late on to grab a winner but once again couldn’t take them and had to settle for a point.

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Brighton smash newly promoted Luton (Brighton 4-1 Luton Town)

Roberto De Zerbi’s boys started the season in sublime fashion with a win against Luton, Solly March opened his account in the first half, meeting Kaoru Mitoma’s cross with a strong header. The Albion went in at half time in a comfortable position.

The youngsters were on form in the second half with Joao Pedro, Simon Adingra and Evan Ferguson all getting their names on the scoresheet. Joao Pedro scored his first competitive goal for Brighton from 12 yards, Adingra volleyed home after taking advantage of a Luton mishap in defence and Ferguson rubbed salt in the wounds with a proper strikers goal in the dying moments. Luton were back in the game for all of 4 minutes when Carlton Morris halved the deficit from the spot, scoring the Hatter’s first ever Premier League goal.

Brighton dominated with their attractive style of play, as for Luton the start of a very long season gets underway. One man for Brighton who didn’t get on the scoresheet but played incredibly was Pervis Estupinan, the full-back owned the left flank with confidence, creating six chances and showing a great overall display, earning himself the man of the match award.

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Fulham’s smash ‘n’ grab at Goodison (Everton 0-1 Fulham)

Fulham were controlling the game in the first half but weren’t doing anything with it, the had over 70% possession yet only clocked one shot at goal. Therefore they ended up relying on Leno at the back when they lost the ball. The former Arsenal goalkeeper made some great saves to keep the score level.

Bobby Decordova-Reid broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute, the Fulham attacker couldn’t miss from close range and snatched the three points, handing Everton their 2nd opening day defeat in 12 years. Everton had plenty of chances but couldn’t take them, and were punished in harsh fashion.

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Palace secure victory over Blades (Sheffield United 0-1 Crystal Palace)

Sheffield United held Palace to a tight contest in the first half, it was end to end with palace showing more quality in the final third but still the score remained goalless. Eze started his Premier League campaign positively, pulling the strings in midfield.

Early on in the second half, Eduoard scored the first and last goal of the match, Jordan Ayew claimed the assist, he burst past his defender before whipping the ball into Eduoard. A clinical tap in to win the game, finally Palace got their well deserved goal.

Sheffield United didn’t show enough in the final third and Sam Johnstone was hardly tested between the sticks, the Blades will need to improve this if they want to survive the drop this year. Jefferson Lerma had a really positive debut, he provided support going forward and defensively he was great in commanding the midfield, winning 18 duels in the match, the most out of any player.

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Newcastle’s five-star opener (Newcastle 5-1 Aston Villa)

The Magpie’s started their season with an emphatic win over Unai Emery’s Aston Villa. New signing Sandro Tonali got his first goal for the club inside six minutes with a lunging strike past Martinez, Villa’s debutant Moussa Diaby responded with the equaliser just five minutes later. The level scoreline didn’t last long as Isak gave his side the lead for the second time shortly after Diaby’s finish.

Newcastle saw the game off in the second half with Isak doubling his tally – therefore joining Erling Haaland as the only two players to claim a brace this weekend, Callum Wilson joining in on the fun and Harvey Barnes becoming the third and final debutant goalscorer of the afternoon. A great day for the debutants, Tonali and Diaby made a little bit of Premier League history with their goals, it was the earliest two players have scored in their debut in a league game. Although I’m sure one of those players will be much happier with the game than the other!

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Brentford and Spurs share the spoils (Brentford 2-2 Spurs)

Super Sunday kicked off with one of the most frantic first 45 minutes you’ll see. Romero nods home James Maddison’s free-kick delivery to earn the first goal of Ange’s reign. The lead was short lived as VAR awarded Brentford a spot kick due to a foul inside the 18-yard box. Mbuemo cooly rolled the ball into the bottom corner, sending Vicario the wrong way. The Bees flipped the game on it’s head very quickly as they took the lead not long after the equaliser. Yoane Wissa received the ball from Rico Henry and fired towards goal, a deflection helped it in but they all count! Just before the interval Emerson Royal scored a great goal to bring Spurs back into the game. A low driven strike past Flekken pulled his side level moments before the break. Another assist for Maddison who was having quite the debut for his new club.

It was a quieter second half in terms of goals but certainly not chances. Tottenham had an abundance of opportunities to take the lead but couldn’t get past Brentford goalkeeper Flekken. Spurs were moving the ball around really well – making the most successful passes in a single league game since January 2022 – and deserved to come away with the victory, Brentford will be pleased they held onto a point.

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Debutant Disasi saves the Blues (Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool)

Chelsea’s first outing under Pochettino was very promising, they dominated a very underwhelming Liverpool side and showed glimmers of what’s to come this season. Luis Diaz gave Liverpool the lead, finishing off a tidy pass from Mohammed Salah who’d been causing constant issues for the Blues. A perfectly timed run from Diaz and the rest is history, a great start for the visitors. Salah almost had his name added to the scoresheet on the half hour mark but was caught just offside and the goal was ruled out. Chelsea got back into the game as Ben Chilwell capitalised on a loose ball in the box, he found Disasi who snuck the ball underneath an onrushing Alisson. Chelsea then had an identical situation to Liverpool, the instantly scored another but it was ruled out by VAR, this time Chilwell suffered the news that his goal wouldn’t count as it was offside.

In the second half neither side could find the winner meaning it’s now been 892 days since this fixture ended in a victory for either side. Both teams had chances to win the game, Liverpool felt they should have been award a penalty for Jackson’s handball in the box and Darwin Nunez came agonisingly close to stealing the win for his side. Chelsea too had opportunities to get their second but couldn’t take them.

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United scrape a win against Wolves (Manchester United 1-0 Wolves)

In the final opening game we saw United hold onto their 30 game unbeaten run at Old Trafford, although Wolves will feel as though they should have won. They were really threatening on the break in the first half and united looked disjointed. They had a hard time in the final third, only registering one shot on target in the first 45 minutes.

United conceded 23 shots to Wolves, only Luton and Sheffield United conceded more this weekend; they were made to pay for there missed chances when Raphael Varane broke the deadlock with 15 minutes remaining. Bruno Fernandes lifted the ball over Wolves’ defence, finding Wan-Bissaka who volleyed a cross towards Varane – the French international nodded the ball past Jose Sa to score the winner. Wolves fought back and came close to an equaliser but couldn’t quite apply the finishing touch.

They should have at least had a point though, as PGMOL confirmed that VAR should have awarded Wolves a penalty for Onana’s wreckless challenge in the air. We should have known it wouldn’t take long for some VAR controversy to occur. Overall it was an encouraging Wolves display but United managed to cling on to all 3 points.

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Written by Isabelle Newnham