Chelsea fell behind to a shock 28th minute goal when Stephen Hunt put the visitors ahead with a tap in from close range. Didier Drogba got Chelsea back in the game with a spectacular free kick that Ronaldo would have been proud of. Nicholas Anelka could have put Chelsea ahead shortly after when a ball found him in the box but he blasted it straight at the keeper. Drogba sealed the 3pts with a fluke goal in injury time when a cross into the box looped over the keeper and found the back of the net.

Star man – Didier Drogba

Aston Villa 0 Wigan 2

Wigan got off to the dream start in their first game under Roberto Martinez with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park.  It was new signing Hugo Rodallega’s stunning 20-yard volley that put Wigan ahead on the 30^th minute. Villa had chances to level the score with Ashley Young testing Chris Kirkland with an impressive free-kick just before half time. Gabriel Agbonlahor could have seen his side level seven minutes into the second half but failed to capitalise on a goal mouth scramble. Minutes later Wigan doubled their lead after Charles N’Zogbia burst forward and played Koumas in who slotted the ball through Brad Friedel’s legs. Young always looked like Villa’s best chance of getting anything from the game tormenting the Wigan back four with his pace but failed to find the killer ball in the final third. Young had a golden opportunity to nick one back two minutes from time when a loose ball found him in front of an open net but Titus Bramble was there to hack it away.

Star man – Hugo Rodallega

Blackburn 0 Manchester City 2

Manchester City got off to a flying start against Blackburn when Emmanuel Adebayor fired the visitors in front in the third minute. City’s weakest area has always been their defence and their display against Blackburn reinforced the need for Hughes to sign one or two quality defenders. Infact Blackburn dominated most of the first half with Benny McCarthy having several decent chances thwarted by some good keeping from Shay Given. City got back into their rhythm in the second half but never really threatened Blackburn’s goal. Stephen Ireland wrapped up proceedings in the 90^th minute to make it a less than convincing victory.

Star man – Stephen Ireland

Wolves 0 West Ham 2

Wolves made their return to the premier league after a six-year absence and found themselves behind after just 22 minutes when Carlton Cole found Mark Noble in the box who clipped a shot over keeper Wayne Hennessey. West Ham looked dangerous on every counter attack and Cole could have had a second minutes later but Hennessey did well to parry his shot away. Robert Green was called into action to early on in the second half to deny Nenad Milijas’s shot after seeing it late. The visitors could have been two up moments later but Jack Collisions effort was cleared off the line by Kevin Foley. Matthew Upton sealed the points for the hammers after 69 minutes when he found himself unmarked for a simple header.

Star man – Matthew Upson

Portsmouth 0 Fulham 1

Portsmouth’s misery continued when Fulham took the lead on 13 minutes when a Clint Dempsey shot took a deflection off Bobby Zamora. Pompey had several chances to get back into the game but failed to test Mark Schwarzer. Their best chance came from a Niko Kranjcar corner when he found an unmarked Nadir Belhadj who completely missed his header. Portsmouth manager Paul Hart responded by bringing on veteran striker Kanu but he failed to earn his side a point.

Star man – Brede Hangeland

Bolton 0 Sunderland 1

Darren Bent opened the scoring for Sunderland in the fifth minute when he latched onto Steed Malbranque’s cross with a far-post header. Steve Bruce’s new signing looks to have formed a deadly partnership with Kenwyne Jones and constantly threatened Bolton’s defence with his pace. Bent was unfortunate not to have had a hat-trick. In the 25^th minute Bent played some a brilliant one-two with Malbranque forcing a fine save from the Bolton keeper. Once more Bent came close in the 40^th minute when he raced onto a pass from Kieran Richardson but put the ball just wide of the post.

Star man – Darren Bent

Stoke 2 Burnley 0

Burnley returned to the top division for the first time in 33 years. Ryan Shawcross put Stoke ahead on 19 minutes when he rose to meet a Liam Lawrence free-kick. Burnley responded well enjoying a good passage of play and creating chances. Like many teams before them Burnley failed to deal with Rory Delaps long throws and it was Stephen Jordan who got into a flap and nodded past his own keeper to make it 2-0. Stoke could have made it three before half time but Tyrone Mears cleared the ball off the line. Burnley must look for the positives as they face difficult games against Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea over the next month and could still be looking for their first point come September 13^th.

Star man – Rory Delap

Everton 1 Arsenal 6

It took just 22 minutes for Arsenal to take the lead when Denilson hit a spectacular 20-yard strike giving Tim Howard no chance. Minutes later Everton failed to mark a set-piece and it was the centre back William Gallas who found the back of the net. More poor marking led to Arsenals third, this time it was new signing Thomas Vermaelen who got his head on the end of a free kick. It was more of the same in the second half for Everton who failed to keep possession and track back. Cesc Fabregas completed a brace scoring his second to make it 5-0 on 62 minutes after running with the ball for 60 yards unchallenged before firing past Howard. Eduardo made a brief cameo appearance, his first premier league game since he broke his leg and tapped in a sixth goal to make it Arsenal’s biggest opening day victory in the clubs history.

Star man – Cesc Fabregas

Manchester United 1 Birmingham 0

All eyes were on Wayne Rooney as he looked to step into the shadow left by Cristiano Ronaldo. Rooney gave an instant response creating chances and working Joe Hart from distance in the early going. Rooney eventually made the breakthrough on the 34^th minute when he rose above Franck Queudrue to meet a Nani cross tapping home after his header rebounded off the post. Birmingham responded well and thought they had equalised when Gregory Vignal got on the end of an Sebastian Larson corner only for Patrice Evra to head the ball off the line. United could have had more when Evra played in Darren Fletcher with a clear chance who blasted his shot wide. United nearly doubled their lead early in the second half when Rooney’s 30-yard volley was tipped over the bar by Hart. Alex McLeish brought on summer signing Christian Benitez who nearly equalised with his first few touches of the game turning Wes Brown inside the box and creating space for a shot but Ben Foster was there to deny his effort. Substitute Michael Owen looked sharp on his premiership debut for United putting the ball in the back of the net only to be flagged offside. Owen should have done better moments later when he latched onto Rooney’s ball but hart made the save.

Star man – Wayne Rooney

Tottenham 2 Liverpool 1

Liverpool never really got going against Tottenham and could been two or three down at half time. The game started slow with a stoppage when Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher collided with Carragher going off for treatment returning with bandages around his head. Spurs should have taken the lead when Robbie Keane found himself free in the box and headed a ball towards goal but Pepe Reina made a brilliant save to deny his former team-mate. It was on 44 minutes that Spurs took the lead through defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto after Skrtel gave away a free-kick in a dangerous position. Huddlestone drilled his effort into the wall but the ball fell for Ekotto who smashed it into the top left corner. Liverpool got back into the game when Glen Johnson burst into the box and was brought down by Gomes. Gerrard converted the penalty to level the score but Spurs quickly regained the advantage when Sebastien Bassong headed Luka Modric’s free-kick into the back of the net. Liverpool seemed to run out of ideas and brought on Yossi Benayoun and Andriy Voroin. Voronin could have made an immediate impact when he was brought down inside the box by Ekotto but no penalty was given and play was waved on.  

Star man – Wilson Palacios

Fernando Torres is the strong favourite at 9/2, Torres scored 14 goals last season in 24 matches. Torres is prone to injury and has been faced with long spells on the sideliness due to reoccuring hamstring problems. If Torres can stay fit then he will certainly get 20+ goals for his club.

Didier Drogba suffered a series of knee injuries last season and struggled to regain fitness which saw Nicholas Anelka play as Chelsea’s lone forward for much of the campaign and end the season as the league’s top goal scorer. Drogba enjoyed a return to his goal scoring form when he returned in February scoring four goals in five games under temporary boss Guus Hiddink. Drogba previously expressed his interest to move clubs but recently pledged his future to Chelsea by signing a new contract. Drogba is currently 12/1 on the exchanges to finish as the premier league’s top goal scorer.

Could Michael Owen be one of the most astute signings by Sir Alex Ferguson yet? Owen cost nothing and has already notched up 4 goals in pre-season friendlies. Owen looks physically fit and if he can avoid injury this season he could well finish as the league’s top goal scorer. Owen can be backed at 14/1 on Betfair.

With the departure of Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City it will be down to 24/1 shot Robin Van Persie to find the goals for Arsenal. Van Persie finished as the fifth top goal scorer last season and with no obvious replacements for Adebayor, Van Persie could find himself playing as the only natural striker for the gunners at the start of the season.

Fellow team mate Andrei Arshavin who joined the club last season has already made an impact with 6 goals in 12 games. Arshavin looks to be a tasty prospect at 30/1.

Aston Villa’s John Carew looks to be massively overpriced at 100/1. Carew finished with 11 goals in the premier league and 15 in all competitions last season. Carew’s season was plagued with injury and he only played 1906 minutes on the pitch or the equivalent of 11 games.

Tottenham’s Robbie Keane can also be backed at 100/1. Keane endured a torrid time at Liverpool last season scoring only 5 goals in 19 appearances. When in form Keane is a 20 goal a season player and no one could argue with that. The only concern I would have with Keane is the arrival of Peter Crouch from Portsmouth. With so many strikers now available to Harry Redknapp there is a question mark over who will play as first choice in attack.

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Manchester City’s Mark Hughes is the market leader at 9/2. Hughes is already feeling the pressure after a disappointing first season in charge. The owners are expecting big things with all the new signings he has brought in. Even if City have a good season I don’t think Hughes will stay at the club for very long. With the owners ambition of becoming a big club and a global brand they can afford to bring in a manager with more experience and the right look.

Paul Hart took over as caretaker manager of Portsmouth following the sacking of Tony Adams in February of this year. Hart was appointed permanent manager on a two year contract on July 21st. Portsmouth have lost two of their best players in Peter Crouch and Glen Johnson in the transfer window and with no obvious replacements may find it a struggle this season. Hart is 11/2 to be out of a job first.

Newly promoted Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish is 5/1. McLeish is already under pressure from the owners following a poor pre-season tour of Austria. The blues lost all three games and shipped seven goals in the process signing off with a 3-0 drubbing to Saudi Arabian outfit Al Hilal.

Hull City surprised everyone last season with a terrific start to life in the premiership. In December following a poor first half performance against Manchester City Phil Brown became involved in a public dressing down of his team on the pitch. From then on it appeared as through Brown may have lost the dressing room and a bad run of form ensured. Hull were lucky to stay in the top tier finishing in 17th place just a point above relegated Newcastle. Brown is 7/1 to face the chop.

Burnley City’s Owen Coyle is 16/1 to be given his marching orders. Coyle did well to bring Burnley to the Premiership for the first time with some excellent performances which included league cup wins over Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal. Burnley are not expected to produce any miracles this season and it’s for that reason Coyle could lose every game and still keep his job.

West Ham’s Gianfranco Zola enjoyed a good first season in charge of the Hammers developing a side with flair not seen in a West Ham team for some time. In April this year Zola signed a contract extension to keep him at Upton Park until 2013. Zola is 16/1 to be shown the door.

Another 16/1 shot is Wigan’s Roberto Martinez. Martinez took over as the new manager in June this year. Martinez signed a three year contract and was assured by Wigan owner Dave Whelan that his job would be safe for the next three years even if the club suffers relegation.

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