An XI of shock opening weekend starters who will be replaced by new signings soon, including West Ham pair

Robert Sanchez is already due for his annual cull from the starting line-up, while Ipswich and West Ham will both drop a couple of players for new signings.

Robert Sanchez
It took until the 23rd game of 2022/23 for Sanchez to lose his Brighton place to Jason Steele, and the 16th match of last season – albeit in part thanks to injury – before the Spaniard was usurped at Chelsea by Djordje Petrovic. The wait is on to see how far the pretence is kept up by Enzo Maresca, whose ruthlessness is yet to extend to an overstocked goalkeeping department.

The same weaknesses Sanchez has displayed previously, namely an uncertainty on the ball and inconsistency in his shot-stopping, were prevalent against Manchester City. It should only be a matter of time until Filip Jorgensen gets the nod as a £20m recruit from Villarreal but you never do know with Chelsea; they have plenty of other options as well.

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Vladimir Coufal
While Coufal did have an excellent debut campaign for West Ham, that was also four actual literal full seasons ago. David Moyes had only been in the job six months when he signed. He made his debut in a defence featuring Fabian Balbuena and Arthur Masuaku. He has more Premier League appearances for the Hammers than Paolo Di Canio and is one behind Rio Ferdinand. He is also surely openly warming the right-back spot up for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Willy Boly
Despite a quietly excellent performance against Bournemouth, it is difficult to see where exactly Boly fits in when the window is shut and Nottingham Forest have to get down to the boring bit of seeing where their players fit rather than just signing them.

Murillo pretty much has to start but it is difficult to imagine Nikola Milenkovic signed without any first-team assurances. With the former Fiorentina centre-half having served his suspension, the situation will become clearer soon.

Yerson Mosquera
It was an eventful enough Premier League debut for a player Wolves signed in June 2021; just ask Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus. Gary O’Neil was “pleased with Mosquera” and “delighted with him and Toti as a partnership,” so it could well be Gomes who makes way for the Max Kilman replacement when it does arrive.

Wolves have allocated themselves a £20m budget despite their vast sale revenue this summer, with Dara O’Shea among the targets. They really do need more because the spectre of relegation is looming.

Michael Keane
One of the more nonsensical selection calls of the opening weekend was Sean Dyche handing Keane his fifth Premier League start in five months against an exciting, vibrant and quick Brighton attack. He was not the only player who looked out of his depth, but none of the others were keeping out a far more suitable £16m option who was left on the bench.

Jake O’Brien, formerly of Crystal Palace, awaits his debut after being kept out of harm’s way with the game pretty much lost by the hour mark. While the 23-year-old lacks the “experience” his manager so craves, neither Keane nor the 39-year-old and red-carded Ashley Young exactly exuded expertise.

Lucas Digne
Even though much of his time at Aston Villa has been spent either being linked with a move elsewhere or deputising for players ostensibly ahead of him in the pecking order but otherwise unavailable, there Digne remains in the starting line-up of a Champions League side. It appears to be Alex Moreno on his way out instead.

But Ian Maatsen will usurp both soon enough if all goes to plan. The Dutchman made a telling contribution in his cameo debut and surely makes that position his own once he is up to speed.

Sasa Lukic
Fulham have spent all summer fluttering their eyelashes at Scott McTominay and Andre and might be about to settle for Sander Berge. They have not been shy about their desperation in signing a new midfielder after the departure of Joao Palhinha. And it won’t be chance creation king Andreas Pereira being shifted – as long as he doesn’t mess up any more two-on-one counters.

Massimo Luongo
Much like his team as a whole, Luongo impressed in the first half against Liverpool before fading, his energy levels sapped and his quality on the ball rendered moot by the overpowering Reds.

Both he and captain Sam Morsy have parts to play this season after such fine efforts in helping Ipswich earn promotion, but the Tractor Boys have brought in Kalvin Phillips and Jens Cajuste for a reason.

Wes Burns
It was a similar story for Burns, who needed only 57 minutes to qualify for the worst XI of the opening weekend. The level of opponent has to be taken into account but the 29-year-old had no shots, key passes, dribbles, tackles or interceptions. Ipswich have been targeting wingers to complement Omari Hutchinson all summer and that game likely only intensified the search.

Michail Antonio
David Moyes almost certainly enjoyed himself, watching an uninspired West Ham always within one goal of a result while Coufal and Tomas Soucek ambled around and Antonio led the line. The Scot’s evening was very possibly spoiled by a possession share of 52.1% for the hosts but Julen Lopetegui is learning.

The world is waiting for Niclas Fullkrug. And Jean-Clair Todibo in place of Konstantinos Mavropanos if we’re being picky, but especially that big German lad up top.

Bobby Decordova-Reid
The versatility, experience and defensive work-rate of Reid almost certainly appealed most to Steve Cooper when contemplating his first competitive Leicester line-up. Jamie Vardy was a surprise call for a different reason to the Jamaican, who few expected to see from the start against Spurs.

Stephy Mavididi did eventually make his own Premier League debut as very much the secondary character in the Vardy story, waiting patiently for the former England international to complete his goading of Cristian Romero and Tottenham as a club before replacing him with 11 minutes remaining. But it was on the left wing where Mavididi made his presence felt in Leicester’s promotion season with 12 goals and six assists, and where he surely envisaged himself featuring prominently in the top flight.

MORE ON THE OPENING PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKEND
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