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Ranking All 20 Premier League Teams’ Performances on Matchday One
Premier League chief executive Richard Masters headed into his traditional preseason round table facing some probing questions which didn’t, for once, exclusively revolve around unresolved financial charges.
After a World Cup which delivered on its hype, littered with gripping games and glittering star names, could the Premier League provide a compelling follow-up act?
Masters wasn’t impressed.
“I’m absolutely confident that what people are going to see is a fantastic competition,” he declared in no uncertain terms. Whether that assurance will hold throughout the coming 10 months remains to be seen, but the opening round of fixtures didn’t let him down.
There was some dazzling play spread across the first 10 games, several giants were toppled and a man even got a haircut. What more could you really ask for?
Ranking Criteria
- Performance: This is the crux of the exercise: How well did each team play when considering the flow of a game divorced from the final score. If it was simply a judgement of scoreboard statistics you may as well go straight to the table.
- Expectations: Not all results are equal. Teams that upset the odds with their display are rewarded more favorably.
- Venue: As the behind-closed-doors season of 2020–21 proved, playing in front of your home fans is a huge advantage, so any away results are given a little extra bonus.
20. Aston Villa (4–0 Loss vs. Brighton)
Unai Emery admitted that Aston Villa “lost our balance emotionally” after falling 1–0 down to Brighton & Hove Albion. The humiliation which followed inside the opening half-hour proved his point, but the prickly manager looked to have lost the wrestling match with his own emotions in a bizarre prematch interview.
To answer the question of why top scorer Ollie Watkins had been omitted, Emery simply refused to offer anything more than a single word: “Silence.”
19. Tottenham (3–0 Loss vs. Brentford)
It was easy to mistakenly think that Igor Tudor was grimly pacing Tottenham Hotspur’s technical area at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday rather than Roberto De Zerbi. A pitiful display befitting the short-lived interim’s disastrous tenure was made all the more embarrassing by the $300 million transfer spend which came before it.
18. Man Utd (2–0 Loss vs. Hull)
Michael Carrick insisted that he was not as calm as his outward demeanor may have suggested in the wake of a humbling defeat to newly promoted opposition on Saturday. If only his players had not done such a good job of disguising any whisper of energy or endeavor themselves.
United’s vulnerability in transition, toothlessness in attack and the unorthodox approach of grappling their own teammates, rather than the opposition, at set pieces all tested Carrick’s control over his calm exterior.
17. Coventry (3–0 Loss vs. Arsenal)
This clash of league champions exposed the gulf between the top two tiers of England’s soccer pyramid. Without being utterly incompetent, Coventry City simply failed to lay a glove on Arsenal.
16. Sunderland (2–1 Loss vs. Ipswich)
Sunderland were level with Ipswich for 75 of the 90 minutes at Portman Road yet the balance of play was demonstrably tilted towards the hosts for the majority of the contest. One stunning free kick from Nilson Angulo aside, the Black Cats were anything but pretty in pink.
15. Nottingham Forest (1–0 Loss vs. Leeds)
“It is a process,” Oliver Glasner fretted after watching his meek Nottingham Forest debut ebb towards a late 1–0 loss.” It’s pretty clear that my staff and I can’t put our hands on the players’ shoulders and all of a sudden we play like Real Madrid in the 1970s.”
No one can argue with the logic of Glasner’s claim but it begs the question of what Evangelos Marinakis is demanding from the Austrian at the City Ground.
14. Crystal Palace (2–0 Loss vs. Everton)
A wasteful defeat to Everton was compounded by Ismaïla Sarr’s impending transfer away from Selhurst Park and the contractual legal battle being fought between Jean-Philippe Mateta and the club. The French striker certainly played like someone with other things on their mind while squandering a glut of chances.
13. Fulham (3–2 Loss vs. Chelsea)
It wasn’t an entirely fruitless debut for Álvaro Arbeloa at Craven Cottage. One year on from being harshly denied a goal against Chelsea by VAR, Josh King found the net in this capital derby before Gonzalo García marked his competitive debut with a goal. Yet, it still wasn’t enough to avoid defeat to his “very good friend,” Xabi Alonso.
12. Liverpool (2–2 Draw vs. Newcastle)
This is an interesting one. Liverpool almost doubled Newcastle’s tallies for xG, shots, shots on target and touches in the opposition box, yet still came away as the worse side. These numbers are distorted by the fact that the Reds were trailing the Magpies for so much of the contest—and it’s the nature of that chase which undermined Andoni Iraola’s debut.
Liverpool’s midfield bounded around with a school kid mentality of ignoring all the boring stuff like defending or positional discipline. As Iraola would later attest, this was partly down to his instruction, which makes it all the more damning and concerning going forward.
11. Bournemouth (2–1 Loss vs. Man City)
As the match approached its final five minutes, Bournemouth were still 1–0 up against Manchester City at the Etihad. A late collapse will naturally cloud Marco Rose’s debut but there were plenty of positives to take from a performance of real purpose and promise.
“All in all it was a good away game from us,” Rose surmised, with some justification.
10. Chelsea (3–2 Win vs. Fulham)
Very cold. pic.twitter.com/NdR8xzJXlm
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) August 24, 2026
Xabi Alonso was treated to a pair of Chelsea performances squashed into one match for his Premier League managerial debut. Everything in the attacking third of the pitch was free-flowing, fun and effective, with Cole Palmer the clear standout on the night and the rest of the opening weekend.
Yet, the defensive half of the team appeared beset by chronic indecision and uncertainty as Robert Sánchez won the right to be crowned the most egregious offender. Fortunately for the visitors, the good outweighed the grim.
9. Everton (2–0 Win vs. Crystal Palace)
Even David Moyes had to admit that Everton were fortunate to still be level with Crystal Palace by the time Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall swiped the Toffees into a first-half lead. When Thierno Barry is one of the most clinical players on the pitch, it’s probably going to be your day.
8. Leeds (1–0 Win vs. Nottingham Forest)
Daniel Farke was in such a buoyant mood after his side snatched a late victory away to Nottingham Forest he could afford some light humor postgame. The German coach was told that he had become the first Leeds manager since the great Don Revie to claim a top-flight win at the City Ground. “Yes,” he smiled, “and we have a chance to win some titles.”
7. Newcastle (2–2 Draw vs. Liverpool)
So close and yet so far. One lapse in concentration from the otherwise flawless Lewis Hall saw Newcastle United concede a stoppage-time penalty which Dominik Szoboszlai nervelessly converted to secure a share of the spoils.
Prior to that blunder, Matthias Jaissle’s side had successfully defied the doom mongers predicting a grim season for the gutted Magpies, twice taking the lead against Liverpool with an exciting brand of concussive counterattacking.
6. Man City (2–1 Win vs. Bournemouth)
This was a Premier League debut of contrasts for new manager Enzo Maresca. Manchester City lined up with six defenders yet still looked defensively vulnerable, the one player deployed in an almost alien position was arguably the team’s standout performer and the best striker on the planet fluffed the game’s biggest chances.
In what could be interpreted as a show of defiance, Maresca proved how few midfield options he had by starting two defenders alongside Elliot Anderson in the center of the park. Nico O’Reilly is no stranger to an advanced role but Marc Guéhi has rarely stepped up from center back. Nevertheless, the England international took to his new position well, nodding in the equalizer to cap a performance of grace and growing confidence.
When quizzed on what his role would be in the next game Guéhi joked: “Who knows? Maybe up front.” Given Erling Haaland’s struggles with his new haircut and Maresca’s willingness to experiment, such drastic action may not be so laughable.
5. Ipswich (2–1 Win vs. Sunderland)
When Ipswich Town were last in the Premier League two years ago, the Tractor Boys failed to win any of their first 10 games in the competition, effectively sealing a return to the Championship by November. Gary O’Neil needed just one home match to get off the mark, masterminding an entirely deserved win befitting a team from mid-table rather than last term’s second tier.
4. Arsenal (3–0 Win vs. Coventry)
The champions have lift-off. pic.twitter.com/hn11ltYIv4
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) August 21, 2026
After all the angst of last season’s dramatic title run in, Arsenal strolled through a decidedly bloodless victory over newly promoted opposition to kickstart the defense of their Premier League title.
The mood was so light and airy at the Emirates that the same fans who suffered during April and May were able to titter and tease their way through a chilly August evening. “I’m craving a set-piece goal,” one supporter cackled. “Far too attacking.”
3. Brighton (4–0 Win vs. Aston Villa)
Brighton didn’t score more than three goals in a single Premier League game throughout the entirety of last season. Jack Hinshelwood made it 4–0 after 30 minutes of Sunday’s rout on the south coast.
Despite finding themselves on the back foot for much of the opening exchanges, the Seagulls took the lead against the run of play and set about ramming their collective boot on Villa’s throat for the remainder of the first half. The only shame was that, with a full 45 minutes against 10 men, Brighton failed to score again after the interval.
2. Brentford (3–0 Win vs. Tottenham)
“We want to be relentless,” Brentford manager Keith Andrews reflected. Job done—as Tottenham can painfully attest.
In the face of De Zerbi’s famed buildup play, the Bees simply pressed Spurs into oblivion, turning every avenue into a cul-de-sac as the ball remained penned in the final third. That the humbling 3–0 margin of victory did a disservice to Brentford’s quality is all you need to know about the quality of their performance.
1. Hull (2–0 Win vs. Man Utd)
We are so back. pic.twitter.com/QdtRPeXn5P
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) August 22, 2026
This was a match won weeks earlier. Hull City’s enigmatic manager Sergej Jakirović spotted United’s vulnerability against wingbacks during the summer and deliberately played a back-four throughout their warmup friendlies to keep the Red Devils guessing. It worked better than he could have imagined.
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Grey Whitebloom is an Associate Editor for SI FC. He has more than half a decade of experience in sports media across all its various guises, from the fast-paced demands of news articles and match reports to in-depth research required for features. Whitebloom graduated with a First Class Honours from University College London and found himself named on the Dean’s List—which, despite his initial fears, was a form of praise rather than a punishment. He specialises in the Premier League and Champions League, while also boasting an extensive track record of La Liga coverage.