It’s great to have the Premier League back

The Premier League is arguably the best football league in the world and it returned with a bang yesterday.

All through the frankly disappointing World Cup I was counting down the days until the new English top flight kicked-off.

Surprise

Top flight new comers Blackpool illustrated perfectly what attracts us to the Premier League with a shock 4-0 hammering of Wigan on home turf. I’m sure not even the Tangerines manager Ian Holloway could of dreamt of enjoying such a perfect start.

Wigan were awful and could struggle this season but Blackpool took advantage superbly. Blackpool took the lead through Gary Taylor-Fletcher before new signing Marlon Harewood scored a brace. Alex Baptiste completed the scoring with a slight fluke of a goal.

Blackpool won’t take anything for granted despite this victory and will need to keep playing this well to stay up this season. Next up for the Tangerines is a visit to Arsenal, which should be another guaranteed three points for Ollie’s side!

Draw

Two of the Premier League’s bigger sides met in the opening game of the season, as Tottenham and Manchester City drew 0-0 at White Hart Lane. It only ended up goalless thanks to England keeper Joe Hart who pulled off some fantastic saves. He certainly did his case for number one spot no harm.

Hammering

Champions Chelsea sent out a signal of intent to their rivals by hammering Premier League new boys West Brom 6-0 at Stamford Bridge. Striker Didier Drogba was in unstoppable form as he hit a hattrick. The Ivory Coast star struggled with his fitness last season, according to the player himself but he has started this campaign in fine style.

French midfielder Florent Malouda also started well bagging a brace and Frank Lampard also scored a trademark goal. For all the talk of the Chelsea side getting old, this was the performance Carlo Ancelotti was looking for, especially after the Community shield defeat to Manchester United last weekend.

Howler

Blackburn have made Ewood Park a fortress in recent seasons and they claimed a 1-0 victory over Everton thanks to an awful howler from USA keeper Tim Howard. The usually reliable keeper dropped the ball at the feet of Nikola Kalinic, who fired home.

Everton have started the last few seasons in poor form but it’s crucial for my side to start winning as quickly as possible if we are going to be successful this season. Blackburn will be as solid as ever this season and could sneak into the top half of table this season.

Villa Thriller

Aston Villa trounced West Ham 3-0 at Villa Park in their first game without Martin O’Neill. Caretaker boss Kevin MacDonald inspired a superb performance. He took a risk by starting James Milner, who looks set to quit the club for Manchester City early next week.

The move paid off as the England midfielder fired home Villa’s third goal, after Stewart Downing and Stiliyan Petrov had put Villa two up. It’s debatable that MacDonald or Milner will be at the club much longer but if they aren’t then this performance will give the fans something to remember them by.

West Ham will need to do better if they are going to avoid another relegation scrap this season. Villa will be hoping to challenge for European places again this season and be hoping for a new boss to be installed sooner rather than later.

Other Results

Sunderland threw away a two goal lead against Birmingham to draw 2-2 at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland took the lead from the penalty spot through Darren Bent but lost midfielder Lee Cattermole just before half-time when he was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Sunderland went two up despite that sending off, when Stephen Carr headed past his own keeper. The Blues rallied and late goals from Scott Dann and Liam Ridgewell gave the Blues a point. Both sides will be looking for top ten finishes this season and on this evidence either could make it.

Mark Hughes made a solid start as Fulham manager with a 0-0 draw at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium. The Welshman will be hoping his side can challenge for a top half finish in the Premier League but they face stiff opposition.

Bolton has struggled against relegation for the last few seasons and I don’t think they can expect anything different from this season.

Wolves claimed a 2-1 victory over Stoke City at Molineux, Wolves’ goals coming from David Jones and Steven Fletcher. The Potters lost record signing Kenwyne Jones after just 14 minutes, as the former-Sunderland front man went off injured.

Abdoulaye Faye scored a consolation goal for the away side but they couldn’t find an equaliser. Both sides will be hoping to avoid the bottom end of the table this season.

More To Come

This weekend is just the start of the action and there is a lot more to come this season. This season promises to be one of the most exciting in recent years and I’m so glad to see it back. Welcome back Premier League!