Premier League returns with chaos, drama and a glimpse of what’s to come

THE Premiership is back! Goodbye sleep, and hello to a zombie-like state every Monday morning.

The games will come thick and fast, affecting our physical and mental state.

This is the best football league in the world, and for the next nine months, we allow a team thousands of kilometers away from us to decide our mood on a weekly basis.

In psychology, it’s known as a toxic relationship, but all of us are too deep into it that we cannot walk away.

The action starts on Saturday morning, and wow, the payoff is massive and worth it.

For the first Super Sunday game, it was a clash of former titans Manchester United against title challengers Arsenal at Old Trafford.

There was plenty of firepower on display, with Viktor Gyokeres debuting for the Gunners, while Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, and Benjamin Sesko made their first appearances for United.

Mbeumo probably had the best outing among the new signings, while Gyokeres may need a few games to fully settle into Mikel Arteta’s system.

Despite all the attacking talent, the difference-maker was the goalkeeper. Altay Bayindir’s error cost United the match, while David Raya delivered another assured performance to open his season with a clean sheet.

Fret not, United fans. Ruben Amorim’s team didn’t crumble after going a goal behind and, in fact, probably outperformed the Gunners for much of the match.

That’s a direct result of the hard work being done on the training ground.

Amorim hopes to see the same intensity and discipline replicated against teams that sit back in a low block.

Liverpool started their title defence with an emotional win against Bournemouth.

It was emotional because of the ongoing tribute the club, players, and fans paid to the passing of Diogo Jota and his brother.

The tribute was done in a classy manner and from football heaven, Diogo and his brother will be smiling.

The game was an entertaining one as Arne Slot’s substitutions allowed the Cherries to come back into the game.

It was understandable that Slot wanted to manage the minutes of the new players and ease them into the league.

His action, however, could have cost Liverpool two additional points.

Slot also needs to realise that Dominik Szoboszlai has no discipline to play in the midfield base.

Moving forward, Slot needs to decide to start either Florian Wirtz or Szoboszlai, but not both.

The positives from the game include Hugo Ekiteke settling in well in the front line and Mohamed Salah scoring again in the opening fixture to take his tally to 10 goals.

Perhaps only Erling Haaland could catch that record since Manchester City cruised to a 4-0 victory over Wolves.

City look fluid as Pep Guardiola aims to bounce back from a trophyless season. There are more youth in City, and this will give the squad a lot of legs to run.

The comprehensive victory came without Rodri in the squad, and this squad will be terrifying once he returns.

Thomas Frank’s era has officially begun at Tottenham Hotspur at the expense of newly promoted Burnley.

Perhaps too early to celebrate, but Spurs look more controlled versus their old version under Ange Postecoglou.

Richarlison looks like a transformed player, and Mohammed Kudus got a standing ovation from the Spurs faithful.

The true test awaits against City next week, but Spurs fans should be optimistic about the management of Frank.

Aston Villa ended the previous season with a red card and started this one with a red card as well against Newcastle.

The game ended in a stalemate as the Magpies could not capitalise on the one-man advantage without runaway striker Alexander Isak.

Anthony Gordon gave a lot of pace up front, but he is no Isak. If only Isak were available, he could have been the game changer against the Villains.

Shared points are a fair result for both teams.

Will Graham Potter be the first manager to go this season? The probability might be high

because you cannot let a team that just got promoted beat you 3-0 away from home.

Not when you had the summer to work on your team.

Sunderland gave the league a shock with a 3-0 win and let everyone know that the Black Cats are here to stay! Bring on the Tyne-Wear derby because it is going to be explosive.

The opening weekend indicates that it is going to be a wild one.

There is no favorite for the title, but the first team that finds some consistency could be the one to win it all.

It is still too early for predictions, and we will know how your team performs after the first six games of the season!

Until then, let us all be thankful that the Premier League is back!