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Football Today

24 August 2026

The opening weekend of the 2026/27 Premier League season certainly delivered plenty of major talking points.

Five of the so-called ‘Big Six’ clubs were in action, and four of them were given an immediate reality check by their opponents.

With that in mind, here is a look at the main talking points from the opening round of matches, before turning attention to what lies ahead later this week.

Defending champions Arsenal made an early statement by recording an impressive 3-0 win over newly-promoted Coventry City on Friday night. Most of their rivals did not enjoy the same fortune.

Manchester United turned in a dreadful display against Premier League newcomers Hull City the following day, going down to a miserable 2-0 defeat at the MKM Stadium.

The entertainment value then rose another level in the afternoon as free-spending Tottenham Hotspur slumped to a damaging 3-0 loss away to Brentford.

Manager Roberto De Zerbi came up with a string of flimsy excuses after the match. His efforts to explain away such a chaotic performance were unconvincing.

Manchester City were also far from convincing at home against Bournemouth, but eventually found a way out of trouble to claim a hard-earned 2-1 victory.

Big-money signing Elliot Anderson endured a poor outing before suffering an injury. City clearly looked better after he was taken off. It remains difficult to understand why they spent £116 million on him.

Liverpool completed a run of four underwhelming performances by leading clubs by grabbing an undeserved 2-2 draw away at Newcastle United on Sunday.

The Reds will not win anything if they continue with Virgil van Dijk at centre-back. The 35-year-old has become a defensive weakness and should be moved on.

Matchday 1 had been eagerly awaited by Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers, but for many of them it did not unfold as hoped.

A few fortunate fortune tellers somehow handed Brighton & Hove Albion’s Maxim De Cuyper the triple-captain armband, collecting an unlikely 51 points in the process.

Back in the real world, FPL managers who were counting on Bruno Fernandes and Erling Braut Haaland for a healthy points return were left badly disappointed.

United’s defeat at Hull was especially painful for FPL managers who had tripled up on their players. Their home fixture against Ipswich Town next weekend offers a chance to make amends.

The Football Today FPL standings make grim reading, with the current leader already trailing the overall number one in the game by 61 points.

A standout display from Joao Pedro for Chelsea against Fulham tonight would go some way towards repairing what has been an underwhelming weekend overall for many of our FPL managers.

If you want to get involved, and are not among those who have somehow built up a ridiculously high points tally, please click the link above.

UEFA will stage the draws for the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League later this week.

Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool make up England’s representation in the 2026/27 Champions League.

Scottish Premiership heavyweights Celtic are well placed to join them after beating Austrian side LASK 3-0 in the first leg of their play-off qualifier.

Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Sunderland will represent the Premier League in this season’s Europa League.

Brighton & Hove Albion are aiming to book their place in the Europa Conference League. They were held to a 0-0 draw by Norwegian side Tromso in the first leg of their play-off tie.

Scottish clubs Motherwell, Hibernian, Hearts and Rangers are all still in the running to reach the league phase of UEFA’s third-tier competition.

Northern Irish side Larne could also make it through after securing a 2-0 win over Lincoln Red Imps in the first leg of their play-off clash.

The close of the 2026 summer transfer window is fast approaching, and for plenty of supporters it probably cannot arrive soon enough.

An endless stream of fake rumours from supposedly ‘in-the-know’ reporters has become one of the biggest scourges in the professional football landscape.

Absurd transfer fees are only making things worse. When Tottenham agree an £85m deal with Manchester City for Savinho, it is clear the market has lost all sense of value.

After already spending heavily on several other underperformers this summer, Tottenham appear determined to maintain their reputation as the Premier League’s biggest ‘banter club’.