What have we learnt from the GW1 of the Premier League? Have we written off Hull too Early and are Aston Villa in trouble
Hull are not going down without a fight
On Saturday, new boys Hull shocked Manchester United and defeated the English giants 2-0. It was a great performance all round from Hull, and it was lacking in many areas from Man United. Set pieces were where Hull really excelled, with their 2 first half goals coming from set pieces. They exploited wide areas and clogged up United's starstruck midfield.
Their first goal came in the 17st minute when Semi Ajayi smashed in from a close range rebound off an Oli McBurnie shot. Their second of the day came when Nobel Mendy headed home from a floating free-kick into the box by Regan Slater in the 38th minute. For United, it was an embarrassing performance. They were too reliant on long balls, which let Hull win the aerial duals, they were out done physically and created little high quality chances. Most of their 21 shots from 72% possession was easily dealt with from the Hull defense.
For Hull, it is an away trip to Coventry City an it's a home game against Ipswich for United. This result proves that Hull shouldn't be written off and they will have the belief to go at teams and try and win games.
Image: Paul, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Aston Villa are struggling with their departures
On Sunday, Aston Villa got humiliated by Brighton 4-0 away from home with all 4 goals coming in the first half. This result really shows that Villa are struggling without players like Watkins, Tielemans and Rodgers. They had no recognised striker with Ollie Watkins set to move to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia with a deal agreed, which is understood to be worth about £50m and Unai Emery said that Watkins refused to play despite being fully fit. In addition they had little to none attacking outlets to go with their lack of a striker, as star attackers like Morgan Roders have departed. Midfielder Emi Buendia was forced to be a striker and Villa recorded an embarrassingly low 0.31xG compared to Briighton's 3.67 and Villa failed to have a shot on target with Brighton having 7, scoring 4. To rub salt in the Villa wounds, Joao Gomez was sent off on his debut as well as conceding a penalty. Also, there were many defensive blunders that would not have happened if Ezri Konsa was there as he provided defensive stability. This was highlighted when Pau Torres gave away possession that led to the 1st Brighton goal.
For Brighton, it as a game to remember with Jack Hinshelwood netting in the 30th and 31st minute to take the Seagulls out of site with Victor Lindelof scoring an own goal in the 8th minute and Maxim De Cuyper netting in the 18th minute. If Brighton keep up with this style and carry on like this it will be a good season for the South Coast side. However, for Asto Villa, it is a worrying performance that perfectly highlights their issues that need sorting in the transfer market.
Arsenal wth a Champions performance
Arsenal absolutely demolished Coventry City 3-0 on the opening fixture of this 26/27 Premier League season. The Gunners got off to a rapid start when Kai Havertz slotted home from outside the box when Coventry's Milan van Ewijik gave away possession that Arsenal punished in the 15th minute. Their next goal came just 8 minutes later when Bukayo Sake smashed it in after Carl Rushworth parried it straight to Saka, who had no issue in scoring his basically open goal. The final blow came in the 49th minute when captain, Martin Ødegaard sliced it into the right hand side of the goal, the slice he got deceived the Coventry goalkeeper, making it hard to save.
The main thing that Arsenal did well was punish Coventry's mistakes, whenever they made a slip up in possession, like with the first goal, Arsenal were almost instant in pouncing on the blunder and tried to make a chance. Another thing that Arsenal succeeded in was their high pressing and possession dominance. The Gunners kept 65% of the ball and had a passing accuracy of 93%. On top of this, they kept a high pressing throughout the 90, limiting Coventry to 1 shot on target. Finally, they dictated the tempo of the game well with Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly having full control over the game and kept David Raya very quiet.
It's a harsh reality check for Frank Lampard's Sky Blues who will learn a lot from this and they looked alright in the second half. They will be hoping to redeem themselves on Saturday against Hull and get back on track and give the Sky Blue's faithful something to cheer about.
