London, 25 August (H.S.): The opening week of the 2026-27 English Premier League season has already offered a glimpse of the excitement in store. While Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta reached the landmark of 150 Premier League victories, Hull City stunned Manchester United, Liverpool extended their unbeaten run on the opening day and Chelsea created a new record by scoring just 31 seconds into their match.

Arteta completes 150 wins

Arsenal began their title campaign in impressive fashion with a 3-0 victory over newly promoted Coventry City. The win marked Arteta's 150th Premier League victory as Arsenal manager. He reached the milestone in 249 matches, becoming one of the select managers to record 150 league wins in fewer than 250 games.

Arsenal also maintained their outstanding home record against promoted sides. They are now unbeaten in 46 consecutive such fixtures, with 41 wins and five draws. The Gunners have also won their last 17 home matches against promoted teams.

The biggest upset of the opening gameweek came as promoted Hull City defeated Manchester United 2-0. The visitors dominated possession with 71.6 per cent but were unable to prevent Hull from securing a historic victory.

It was the first time in Manchester United's league history that the club had lost its opening match of a season against a promoted side. United have now lost their opening Premier League fixture in four of the last seven seasons.

Liverpool, beginning a new era under manager Andoni Iraola, were held to a 2-2 draw by Newcastle United. Despite dropping points, Liverpool extended their remarkable record of avoiding defeat in their opening Premier League fixture.

Liverpool have now gone 14 consecutive seasons without losing their first league match, the longest active run of its kind in the competition.

The Newcastle clash also produced late drama. For the fourth consecutive meeting between the two sides at St James' Park, a goal in the 90th minute or later changed the outcome. Dominik Szoboszlai converted a penalty at 98 minutes and six seconds to earn Liverpool a point.

Ipswich Town ended a wait of more than three decades by defeating Sunderland 2-1, with Jack Clarke scoring the winning goal in the 90th minute.

Ipswich's previous victory in their opening Premier League fixture came in the 1993-94 season. The win at Portman Road was also their first at the top level after nine consecutive home defeats.

Brentford defeated Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 to register their biggest victory at the top-flight level. The result also matched Tottenham's joint-heaviest defeat on the opening day of a Premier League season.

Brentford recorded an expected goals (xG) figure of 3.96, their highest in a Premier League match since January 2025.

Everton began their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace, securing their first opening-day win since August 2021.

Iliman Ndiaye once again demonstrated his importance to the side. Since the beginning of the 2024-25 season, he has contributed to 19 Premier League goals for Everton, scoring 15 and providing four assists.

Leeds United began their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, recording an opening-day win for the third consecutive season.

Anton Stach once again showcased his ability to score from distance. Since the start of last season, he has scored five Premier League goals from outside the penalty area, more than any other player during that period. Four of those goals have come directly from free-kicks.

Two of the three promoted teams won their opening fixtures this season. This has happened only four times previously in Premier League history, underlining the competitive intent of the newly promoted sides, who have shown that they aim to compete rather than merely survive in the top flight.

In the final match of the gameweek, Chelsea defeated Fulham 3-1. Joao Pedro opened the scoring after just 31 seconds, making it the fastest goal scored by a team in the opening match of a Premier League season.

Chelsea have now scored 13 goals within the first minute of Premier League matches. Only Everton have scored more, with 14.

The victory also gave Chelsea's new manager Xabi Alonso a winning start to his Premier League campaign. Chelsea's starting XI had an average age of just 24 years and 43 days, making it the youngest starting line-up of any team in Gameweek 1.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar