The Premier League is back baby and the optimism at Arsenal and Crystal Palace is not replicated for Frank Lampard or Manchester United.
Game to watch – Crystal Palace v Arsenal
For the third straight season, the Premier League returns with Arsenal making a short trip for a London derby in the first game.
The Gunners have run the gamut of opening fixture emotions over the past two campaigns, from thrashing Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage in 2020 to their humbling at Brentford a year later.
It is as easy to envisage them going top with an impressive win over Crystal Palace as it is to foresee them slumping to the bottom after another Patrick Vieira-administered humiliation on Friday evening.
It is rare that both teams go into the #CurtainRaiser in such high spirits but positive summers have given rise to optimism at the Emirates and Selhurst Park.
Only Barcelona and Bayern Munich have spent more money in this transfer window than Arsenal, who have adorned a promising if callow squad with seasoned title winners who have something to prove. Mikel Arteta must start to unequivocally deliver on his end of the bargain.
Crystal Palace have been predictably less extravagant in their spending but Cheick Doucoure and Chris Richards represent no small investments to a squad already exponentially improved by the presence of a fit and fresh Eberechi Eze.
Patrick Vieira laid some impressive foundations in his first season as manager and the pressure is on to perform under a far greater degree of expectation.
Those calls for him to replace Arteta as former Arsenal midfielder turned coaching disciple of Pep Guardiola reached fever pitch both when these sides drew in October and after Palace recorded a stunning 3-0 win in April. The Gunners have only actually won one of their last seven meetings with the Eagles and an extension of that underwhelming record would be catastrophic for the visitors, who would have preferred a fairly long list of alternative starters.
As it is, the table is set for our first main course and one of the more peculiar top-flight seasons will commence with a game between two of its most intriguing teams. That there has not been a draw in a single-game opening fixture since 2010 at least offers hope of something definitive.
Player to watch – Mo Salah
The last time Mo Salah didn’t score on the Premier League opening weekend, Hull beat champions Leicester, Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all scored for Manchester United and…
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