Premier League 2021 Season Week 1 Recap

English Premier League 2021 Season Week 1 Recap Quick Hitters

Not a single draw in Week 1 of the season. This was very surprising to me as, out of 10 matches, not a single one ended with a splitting of the spoils. I personally prefer waging on totals and on teams to win rather than betting on the draw. However, for those of you that do like to make that wager you could be in luck this week. I would say the due factor is something to consider as it pertains to seeing some draws in Week 2 of the season!

Arsenal’s loss to Brentford in Week 1 was definitely a shocker. Yet, is it not Arsenal that just seems to be one of the hardest clubs in the league to get a handle on recently. They sometimes rise up and play great against top competition and then other times they turn in a disappointing performance against a club they are supposed to beat. Brentford is solid for sure but still they just came up to the Premier League and then Arsenal not only did not win, they did not earn a share of the spoils and, in fact, lost the match by a 2-goal margin and allowed Brentford to deliver the clean sheet as Arsenal was shut out. 

Chelsea dominated Crystal Palace 3-0 in Week 1 and one must be careful to evaluate Chelsea only on full season results in the table for last season. The fact is Chelsea was a different club once they made the managerial change and this is going to be a big season for them in my opinion.

Quite a few goals scored in Week 1 as there were 34 total in the 10 matches. An average of nearly 3.5 goals per match is well ahead of say a typical 2.5 average. However, the key was some great performances from Manchester United, West Ham, the aforementioned Chelsea, and Liverpool to name a few.

When strong clubs are matched up against each other, the goal-scoring can quickly drop depending on the strategies employed by the involved managers. That said, the goal-scoring mentioned above could drop some in Week 2 and take a look at the Manchester City – Tottenham match-up as a good example of what could transpire in bigger matches this week. The Spurs got the 1-0 upset win. 

In summary, it is important to pay attention to what happens in Week 1 of a season but equally, if not more, important to not over-react to it. Keep this in mind as we head into Week 2 and beyond and as you are evaluating the clubs and the patterns as the season progresses.