Premier League winners and losers: Sunderland shine, Potter sack, Man City and Chiesa click, Brentford ‘naive’

Sunderland and Manchester City could not have planned better starts, while a Liverpool hero stepped up. And West Ham should “panic about its managers”.

Premier League winners

Sunderland
It is a phrase Roger Le Bris applied liberally to this Sunderland team in pre-season, the need to “build connections”.

With eight debutants and a manager new to the Premier League, but also a fanbase still learning that excitement and expectation is to be encouraged rather than immediately extinguished, it was a requirement if they were to hold their own in the top flight.

This is a different club to that which last graced and disgraced the top flight but the memories will have lingered. While no member of this squad can be tarred with the same brush of failure that swept Sunderland into the Championship eight years ago, many associated with the club will have recalled the misery of their last Premier League season.

They were erased in 90 minutes which suggested Sunderland can break the curse of the promoted team.

Across the last two seasons, Ipswich, Leicester, Southampton, Burnley, Sheffield United and Luton took anywhere between six and 11 games to record their first victory en route to heading back down from whence they came. In total, they won just 17 of 192 matches against non-promoted sides. West Ham at home was a gimme of an opening fixture but Sunderland did look far better prepared in comparison against precisely the sort of team they should be aiming to pull in and overtake.

And the points about tactical adaptability and versatility are especially apt when promoted sides have been used as a vehicle for career progression in recent years. “We won’t play like Guardiola or De Zerbi, because we are Sunderland, and I am Regis Le Bris,” the Frenchman said last season. Both seem well-equipped for the challenges ahead together.

Manchester City
It could be argued that Manchester City did not have a single unqualified success of a transfer window for at least a couple of years. They were underpinned by brilliant coaching and players for long enough to suffer a few market mistakes in succession, but it was always likely to catch them eventually.

A mid-season scare triggered an extravagant January spend which spilled over into the summer. It turns out investing more than £100m on defenders and almost as much in both midfield and attack in a single calendar year, with £27m and a Marcus Bettinelli reserved between the sticks, can cure any and all ailments.

That will prompt chequebook manager accusations and talk of 115 charges but Pep Guardiola will not care. He is a phenomenal coach of brilliant players and Manchester City appear to have recruited at least a handful more in 2025 to sort out a whole load of problems.

It is the sort of indulgence few can afford but a nation state absolutely can.

Federico ‘Divock’ Chiesa
While Arne Slot spoke of “the fine-tuning we still need to find defensively”, the immediacy with which a repurposed Liverpool attack clicked and coruscated against Bournemouth was encouraging but unsurprising.

It is possible to rely on instinct and pure technique to find solutions to problems at one end; the other requires time, patience and repetition to hone and perfect.

Four debutants is as many as a reigning champion has ever named in their starting line-up of a Premier League opening weekend game. The accepted wisdom is never to change a winning team but Liverpool did so out of necessity and used that opportunity to build from a position of power.

This is basically a new side, albeit with many familiar composite parts. Trent Alexander-Arnold was uniquely critical to how Liverpool defended and attacked on and off the ball. An element of unpredictability and instability when moving away from that is inevitable even when the most important gear in their midfield machine becomes available and players build fitness and rhythm.

Yet it was the only first-team addition of last season’s £10m spend who stepped up to spare some rather more uncomfortable questions being asked of this summer’s £300m binge.

Only in two of his previous Premier League appearances has Chiesa been given more than the eight minutes afforded to him to make a difference against Bournemouth. Injuries have hampered the Italian but it did always seem a largely pointless, opportunistic signing for such a strong frontline.

This summer has, however, opened up an unlikely space for a wildcard forward beloved by the fanbase and popular within the squad, the sort crucial to any successful team. When the main cast members falter and fade, the ensemble needs to be trusted and Chiesa has that now.

Even Darwin Nunez, who never convinced and was deemed dispensable at the right price, could list a number of game-changing moments he produced when called upon. No-one will ever play the role better than Divock Origi but that final roll of the dice, fifth and final substitution suggested Chiesa can give a passable impression, which is all Liverpool need from him as a £10m forward surrounded by those signed for far more.

Those dissenting voices doubting Liverpool’s title defence can and should still be heard. Many aspects of the overall plan made little sense on the pitch and Slot will know that flexibility in his ideas is necessary. A title-winning campaign should not look the same at the end as it did at the beginning because lessons are learned and acted upon; last season started with Jarell Quansah at centre-half so the coach has earned a certain level of faith in his ability.

The hope will be that when the time comes to review this season, Chiesa’s bench-based brilliance has become frequent enough to be no surprise. But after a year of struggles and setbacks, he earned that one spell in the spotlight.

Nuno Espirito Santo
The most possession Nottingham Forest had in any Premier League game last season was 55% against Brentford at home; they lost 2-0 and Nuno spoke post-match about finding “better solutions”.

With the same amount of the ball against the same opponent at the same venue – and with nine of the same players starting – three months later, Forest converted their territorial advantage into what was at times total dominance.

That is testament to a tactical adaptability many felt was beyond Nuno, who had only previously coached 11 of his 71 Premier League wins with at least as much of the ball.

The difficult second album has at least started with a compelling track.

Antoine Semenyo
Bournemouth were a compelling mirror image of Liverpool as a side finding its feet defensively while retaining an innate ability to hurt any opponent going forward.

It has been a difficult summer and a slight deviation from their stated stepping-stone plan of never sanctioning more than two first-team sales in the same season. A new keeper, centre-half and left-back might have been grateful for an easier first assignment.

But in basically bringing those pre-season shooting videos to life, Semenyo proved that his new contract might have been the best possible business Bournemouth could have conducted this summer.

How depressing that it was destined to be framed as a response to one prick rather than being a showcase of an excellence it is easy to imagine the 25-year-old replicating on grander stages.

Yet in retaining control over that situation and basically fool-proofing their attack for at least another season, Bournemouth have guaranteed their eventual reward for helping produce such a phenomenal talent and character. That is what they do and they are damn good at it.

Newcastle without Alexander Isak
After a summer spent self-injuriously and painstakingly proving they are not a particularly big club – or at least not at all well-versed in navigating the sharp end of the sport – how relieved Newcastle must have been to remind the Premier League they remain a big team.

It has been a chastening transfer window but even that is starting to turn around in terms of signings and the petering out of a saga which, for better or worse, need no longer dominate the discourse and cloud the outlook. There can be few better distractions than the return of actual football.

Alexander Isak not being front and centre of every discussion can only benefit Newcastle, even if his absence remained a talking point purely because of what they were missing. But that was more as a concept rather than an individual.

The Magpies did almost everything right up until the final action and a competent, reliable centre-forward can solve that. The position is made for Isak if he is willing to run off all the humble pie headed his way if the deadline passes without a move.

But selling him and reinvesting those funds in a natural goalscorer while improving depth and quality across the rest of an already very good squad really isn’t the worst scenario either.

Newcastle were really good without Isak, can be much better with him, but could be even better than that if they sold up and got the next few recruitment calls right. Against all odds and contrary to popular opinion all summer, it is a decent position to be in.

Spurs
Another club who will welcome the opportunity to take their collective mind off transfer nonsense by getting down to the far less important business of kicking a bag of air around. Doing so at home to a Scott Parker team was a blessing.

The Super Cup performance indicated Spurs can hold their own against better sides; this showed they can sweep lesser opponents away through moments of sheer individual brilliance outside a solid structure already installed by Thomas Frank. They have already matched last season’s points haul at home to promoted teams.

The luxury of having forwards signed for £60m, £55m and £47.5m rather than being made to sell them will be among the bigger differences Frank finds in his new role. It certainly helped decide his first game and settle the nerves.

Arsenal
There is a lot to be said for winning against the balance of play. Even more so away, considering the only other side to do so on the opening weekend was a Manchester City team given the slightly easier task of trekking down to Wolves.

It is the sort of result Arsenal would not have been able to grind out before and that should be reflected in the analysis. The softer, more pliable Gunners of years gone by would have drawn or even lost, wilting under the pressure.

The room for improvement was clear, but so too was evidence of how far they have come.

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Crystal Palace
In their last 10 games, Palace have visited Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal and hosted Nottingham Forest, while visiting Wembley three times to face the two most recent Premier League champions and a Champions League quarter-finalist.

They have remained unbeaten throughout, winning the first two major trophies in the club’s existence.

Their continued wranglings with obscure rules and regulations must be a little annoying but having the best pound-for-pound coaching in the league is a fine consolation.

Rodrigo Muniz
A better minutes-per-goal rate than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ian Wright, Diego Costa, Andy Cole, Didier Drogba, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Robbie Fowler.

It’s why Muniz might be a £40m Champions League striker soon. And why Fulham should give him a pay rise and starting spot to prevent that happening.

Josh King
Will be tipped for the England World Cup squad at some point before the end of the season. The early favourite is Rio Ferdinand while calling King an elite filthy baller or some such.

Premier League losers

Graham Potter
It seems remarkably, forebodingly early to be issuing votes of confidence. Eight teams had not even started their Premier League season before West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady was talking about a club that does not “panic about its managers”.

Perhaps they should.

It also feels disconcertingly premature for said manager to be discussing the need to “bounce back” while repeatedly lamenting the lack of “the basics”. The argument behind keeping Potter despite the struggles endured last campaign revolved around him needing a pre-season to properly get his ideas across, yet no team looked nearly as unready or rudimentary over the opening weekend.

West Ham were in control until the precise moment they weren’t, when a team mostly unversed in the ways of the Premier League bullied and subdued them.

Potter was right when he said: “If we don’t do the basics right, you can bring in player and player and player and player and it’s not going to solve the problems.” But the same can be said of the individual paid handsomely to ensure those basics are actually in place in time for the new season.

READ NEXT: Who will be the first Premier League manager to be sacked?

Brentford
Keith Andrews cannot have been particularly surprised that the youngest Brentford starting line-up in Premier League history, managed by someone overseeing the first senior game of their coaching career, showed “a little naivety”.

A bolshy Nottingham Forest side away would have been a difficult assignment for any team, never mind one in such a state of flux.

There are the makings of a decent team with those composite parts Brentford have assembled in trying to remake the 2022 version of Liverpool – and Mikkel Damsgaard’s return should boost them – but Dango Ouattara will need to start the theme of any and all new signings hitting the ground running.

Ruben Amorim
It was a vast improvement. But that Opta stat about it being the fastest a manager has reached 15 defeats in the Premier League without taking charge of a newly-promoted team in that period since Paul Hart is very funny.

Aston Villa
How curious that one of only three teams who didn’t name an outfield summer signing in their starting line-up would put in arguably the most disjointed, confused performance.

There is a sense that not only does Villa’s season hang in the balance of the final couple of weeks of this transfer window, but that it is more true for them than any other side.

That was reinforced by Unai Emery’s impassioned thoughts on financial restrictions before the game, the vocal fan sentiment during it, and the level of frustration at stagnation after, fuelled by having three shots to 16 at home to a fellow prospective glass-ceiling shatterer who have also had a difficult summer.

Even the impact of their only debutant showed the benefits of keeping the pack fresh, the options plentiful and the competition healthy. But 34-year-old Marco Bizot, purchased for a small undisclosed fee and immediately showing up Robin Olsen, cannot remain their best signing this season if they wish to maintain this upward trajectory.

Chelsea
It will be interesting to see what comes of Enzo Maresca rocking the Chelsea boat ever so slightly instead of toeing the company line. The Italian was appointed in part because of his malleability to the club’s stated transfer policy, so going against that to request more signings was a change in tack.

But it did feel like Maresca was rewarding Josh Acheampong rather than using him as a message to the board like Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte would. Jeremie Boga started the opening day of the 2017/18 season, was substituted on 18 minutes after a red card and then got loaned out to the Championship; history will not repeat itself here.

A fine performance from the 19-year-old is unlikely to sate Maresca’s transfer desires. When Chelsea get up to speed after their Club World Cup excursions it seems likely Levi Colwill’s absence will only be more obvious.

Djordje Petrovic
The conceder of nine goals in three appearances against Liverpool, all scored by different players which have the makings of a really solid if slightly attacking starting line-up: Bradley, Van Dijk, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Jota, Gakpo, Chiesa, Salah, Ekitike.

They need a back-up keeper before and specifically for January 24 is what we’re saying here.

Brighton
Is it really a new Premier League season unless Brighton unnecessarily drop points at home from a winning position largely due to poor finishing?

Burnley
That does not feel like the last time Scott Parker will be blaming “fine margins” for a heavy and scoreless defeat.

Wolves
Really not sure doing only a fraction of their transfer homework before starting the season against a galvanised Manchester City was a good choice.

Alexander Isak
The only club he wishes to join scored four goals and were phenomenal in attack; the team he wishes to leave were fine without him despite the months-long scaremongering.

He had precisely zero bargaining power before and somehow exits the opening weekend even worse off.