⚽ Premier League 2025/2026 Discussion Thread ⚽

[Issa56]

Leeds scored a very crucial goal through the penalty spot as Nmeche scored from the penalty spot to put leeds infront to take all three points as leeds united recorded their first win of the season but for everton not a good way to start because their struggle of last season may likely continue this season withe the way that they performed today

I wasn’t opportune to work the match, but when the match ended, I decide to check who won the match, and I saw that Leeds were able to score a goal towards the ending of the match, and they dominated the match also, seriously am just surprise because I was thinking Everton will be the one to win the match. Am just impress with the way the teams that got promoted to premier league are performing, they really want to stay in the premier league, and I won’t be surprise that most of the teams that got promoted to the premier league will end up staying in the league.

[Distraction]

I also don't understand the greed by Manchester City... They've already signed James Trafford for 30m euros. They have a backup goalkeeper who is Ortega also.

Then why are they going for Donnarumma too?    I don't think Trafford would be happy about giving his starting eleven place to him.

I'd rather see Manchester United going for the Italian goalkeeper as they need the most now.

[EL MOHA]

I don't think reaching the top five will be easy. Yes, they played well, not badly. Perhaps if Arsenal hadn't scored early and then retreated to defense, Manchester United would have created more opportunities, created more openings, and scored. The early goal and the misplaced goal they conceded meant they couldn't even pick up a point. Manchester United needs to aim for the top five now, and I hope they can achieve that this season.

Manchester United realistic objective this season is a top five finish let’s not get carried way though but I expect Manchester United to actually achieve this result if they can keep up with this performance. This is there first official game together and seriously the new signings were brilliant, had they been with a striker for the starting of the game I seriously think there will be more impact most especially the balls into the box in the first half, I understand many people think they should have scored but this Arsenal defense are one of the best in the whole of Europe over the last three seasons, so against a less compact side I think it will be victory for Manchester United.

Now this first game highlighted the two major crisis that Manchester United might face through out this season and it’s the Defense or central midfielder role, Casemiro was brilliant in the game, we clearly saw he couldn’t carry on for long and Urgate as his replacement was as good as him which gave Arsenal more chances then. A signing like Baleba will great for the team. Then second problem is the goalkeeping problem, I don’t understand why Manchester United weren’t all out for Donnarumma this season since his crisis with PSG. Without a new goalkeeper Manchester United will end up losing points that they shouldn’t seriously

[kawetsriyanto]

Statistically, we all know that Manchester United dominated the match - they just couldn't score despite having several good chances. Arsenal only managed one goal in the first half and couldn't add another until the end of the match. Manchester United tried very hard - but unfortunately, they failed despite having 22 shots, 7 of which were on target.

When I looked at the match statistics, I almost couldn't believe that Man United actually dominated Arsenal that much. In fact, they dominated several times, not only in possession but also in attack numbers. Even though Arsenal did win, this should be a concern for Arteta for all future evaluations, so they don't find themselves in a worrying position throughout the match.

Fortunately, Calafiori's lone goal secured a valuable victory; otherwise, they would have been roasted and mocked even more, especially since Arsenal had played the full match with several of their top-tier players.

[Lidger]

We saw Mbeumo - Mount - Cunha trio in the attacking line today. I was waiting for Sesko on the front though. I can't say the general performance of the Red Devils was bad. They played quite well actually.

The only player I didn't like was Altay Bayindir. They conceded that goal because of his own mistake.    They could have got at least one point. But they should have been able score at least a single goal after all those attempts too...

MU played more entertaining today. The problem is they get bad result compared to their results last season. They always got draws against Arsenal in last seasons. Hard to call it's an improvement considering they're improved a bit in term of gameplay, but downgraded in the result.

As for Bayindir, yeah it was his mistake, but he's also performing consistently in this game. His club could conceded a few goals if he's not also performing quite consistent in this game. He needs to improve asap as his club's defense is still quite shaky.
He's also helping the club with his on point long pas. However, he's not good enough, and i'm doubting them to sign his replacement at this point.

Manchester United performed well in almost every match against Arsenal last season and they bought several players in this season's transfer window to increase their strength so before the match started I thought maybe they would compete hard against Arsenal and they could win but they lost against Arsenal. Although there was a lot of controversy about it after losing by a goal. Manchester United had enough possession for the whole match but when they got into finishing positions they got confused and could not finish the ball well. I would say that Manchester United had more chances than Arsenal in the last match but they could not use those chances due to which they ended up losing the match. This is the first match of the season so Manchester United cannot be so disappointed now, the Red Devils had a clear mistake in the strike position so they must work on improving that position.

[Jostern]

-snip-

Manchester United hosting Arsenal at Old Trafford on first matchday for both sides, this was a crucial game and winning was expected from both sides but unluckily for the Red Devils, they settled for defeats which is weigh out of the picture. Ruben Amorim men come out and play good football but no evidence to show for it since they're battered and stopped by the formidable defendlines of the visitors.

Mikel Arteta and his men had just one target, a win win situation was all they privatized for and they captivated their scoring opportunity in the first halve. In the second halve, Gunners got under pressure and couldn't slash their chance, they fought for defensive display but was it good enough? Oh yeah we see how determined and fierce they were in the defenseless. Arsenal are competitors and EPL title contenders this season.

Statistically, we all know that Manchester United dominated the match - they just couldn't score despite having several good chances. Arsenal only managed one goal in the first half and couldn't add another until the end of the match. Manchester United tried very hard - but unfortunately, they failed despite having 22 shots, 7 of which were on target.

Arsenal have been title contenders in recent seasons - but they haven't been serious. Liverpool have tended to be more successful than Arsenal - certainly because only Liverpool have been able to stop Manchester City's title-winning streak. Arsenal are a great team - but they haven't been able to win the Premier League title due to poor performances towards the end of the season.

Would I join to say it's poor performance? Because in the last couple of seasons, Arsenal have had a decent performance but rather their problem can be tagged as not really being serious in their pursuit of the Premier league title over the recent past two seasons and in a broader view about two decades plus. If you compared Liverpool and Arsenal last season, isn't that Liverpool were way far better than Arsenal but Liverpool was serious in their pursuit and stayed focused.

In my opinion it was a very poor performance, A team that wants to win the Premier League wouldn’t play the way Arsenal played against Manchester United. And they were just lucky not to have conceded against Manchester United, Manchester United was the better team in the game, well the season is too early for Arsenal to score a goal and start defending their one goal advantage, I think this was one of the reasons they lost the premier league in previous seasons, now the difference between Arsenal and Liverpool and Manchester City is they will not sit back and defend they will go all out to score another goal instead of sitting back to defend, Liverpool was far better than Arsenal last season and that is why they have so many points advantage against them last season, If Arsenal continue to play this way they will not be able to win the league, because they will have to meet so many teams that plays a low blocks. Arsenal played so many draws last season because of playing this defensive style of football.

[Barikui1]

In my opinion it was a very poor performance, A team that wants to win the Premier League wouldn’t play the way Arsenal played against Manchester United. And they were just lucky not to have conceded against Manchester United, Manchester United was the better team in the game, well the season is too early for Arsenal to score a goal and start defending their one goal advantage, I think this was one of the reasons they lost the premier league in previous seasons, now the difference between Arsenal and Liverpool and Manchester City is they will not sit back and defend they will go all out to score another goal instead of sitting back to defend, Liverpool was far better than Arsenal last season and that is why they have so many points advantage against them last season, If Arsenal continue to play this way they will not be able to win the league, because they will have to meet so many teams that plays a low blocks. Arsenal played so many draws last season because of playing this defensive style of football.

I wouldn't necessarily say that the performance of arsenal against Manchester united was a poor performance because the goal was to secure the desired three points, not a fancy performance as most folks out there expected it to be, yes it's actually true that they can't play like that against a smaller opposition because they must come out attacking if they want the whole three points, but that's by the way.
This season I wouldn't be judging any of the top teams just yet because in the first round of matches, not all of the top side met a top team, the opponent of arsenal and Chelsea are way more stronger than the opposition of Manchester city and that of Liverpool, so after the first five games, that's when I can say that this or that team is better than this one or that one.

[Adbitco]

Yes, I completely agree with you. It would be too early to expect too much from any team. Because the season has just started. This season we have seen many new and young players being signed. We have seen many big players being included in different teams.

Liverpool, City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, all are in very strong positions and we will see a lot of competition between them. Liverpool are looking much stronger than last season. But the busy schedule seems to put their players under pressure. But Man City on the other hand are pretty even. They have a lot of experienced players in their team. Because of this, there is no flaw in their performance. And I think they will still do very well.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle need to think a little bit about their situation. Because they have signed a lot of new players. The new players have talent but lack experience. They may need a little more time to gain this experience. If they can work hard this season, they may be able to give us a desired game. But Man United are trying to play a little trick. They are trying to give their best performance from the beginning. Their game is improving. It seems that when the big teams get tired of fighting among themselves, Man United will start their game. If that happens, then it can be said that this time there is no one to beat Man United.

But it is very difficult to say when what happens on the field of play. So only a little more time will tell which team is in which position.

I still don't know why people are already expecting too much from these teams already. They league just started and they have all played only one game in the league phase, remaining 37 matches which is still a long time from now. But the this, we are all doing prediction and these predictions are based on the level of signings the teams made during the transfer window.

[SmartCharpa]

I still don't know why people are already expecting too much from these teams already. They league just started and they have all played only one game in the league phase, remaining 37 matches which is still a long time from now. But the this, we are all doing prediction and these predictions are based on the level of signings the teams made during the transfer window.

The problem is that we expected the team's performance based on the huge amount of money they spent on recruiting players during the transfer window. People believe players who have been signed for more than €50 million to perform well in the first match of the season. Before the season, Chelsea fans expected João Pedro to be the best striker and Jackson to leave the club this summer. But after the game against Crystal Palace, some fans believe Jackson should stay.

However, I agree with you that there are still games to play, this is just the start of the season, and we never know what the future weeks will bring. The guys that Manchester United signed performed well in their first game, and Gyokeres had zero shots on target against a team he rejected, I wouldn't say he played badly because Arsena overall performance in the first game was poor.

[TastyChillySauce00]

I also don't understand the greed by Manchester City... They've already signed James Trafford for 30m euros. They have a backup goalkeeper who is Ortega also.

Then why are they going for Donnarumma too?    I don't think Trafford would be happy about giving his starting eleven place to him.

I'd rather see Manchester United going for the Italian goalkeeper as they need the most now.

The plan is that City was willing to get red Ederson and Ortega. They will replace them all with Trafford and Donnarumma.

As for Trafford, i know it sounds harsh for him to have Donnarumma come as a new goalie, but this is a part of process. He has to compete with Donnarumma for the first spot. I'm sure that competition will push him to break his limit. He's a good goalie, but bring a competition for him is a must.

[Adbitco]

I also don't understand the greed by Manchester City... They've already signed James Trafford for 30m euros. They have a backup goalkeeper who is Ortega also.

Then why are they going for Donnarumma too?    I don't think Trafford would be happy about giving his starting eleven place to him.

I'd rather see Manchester United going for the Italian goalkeeper as they need the most now.

Greedy? What greedy are you referring to here, a team is trying to sign players in sensitive areas and you're saying they are greedy, no they are not. Manchester City or should I say Pep is no longer comfortable with Ederson in front of goal and wants a chance that's why they are pushing hard to get Donnarumma from PSG before the window closes. Ortega is not even in City's plans and their new goalkeeper can't start handling first team matches yet that's why they are going for Donnarumma.

[pawel7777]

(...)
As for Trafford, i know it sounds harsh for him to have Donnarumma come as a new goalie, but this is a part of process. He has to compete with Donnarumma for the first spot. I'm sure that competition will push him to break his limit. He's a good goalie, but bring a competition for him is a must.

Trafford started his career in Man City and is returning to the club from Burnley. He's a good future prospect but is only 22 years old, so might be a bit too young to be a main goalkeeper. They will probably put him on the bench as a back up but he will be getting a lot of chances in less important games etc.

Ederson is already in talks with Galatasaray and is rumoured to be set to leave very soon. I'm not sure what will happen to Ortega, he's on a transfer list but I'm not sure if there are any takers. He probably doesn't want to stay with the club as he will unlikely to make any appearance at all. He was signed as a free agent so I don't expect Man City would be asking much for him.

[el kaka22]

Ederson is being shopped too, Fabrizio already entered that Galatasaray is interested, the team that won the super league and they were getting Osimhen, paid 75 million for him, and now they are trying to do better job with Ederson as well. So lets see if this would work out well enough, and if they can get Ederson.

Latest talks were that 10 million was offered by Galatasaray, but City wants 25 million, which is not really that close for the time being. If it can happen, then we can see teams get closer, like do 17 deal with 10 now 7 later etc type of some compromise between them. I am sure if they are willing, and both side wants it, they can figure out a payment structure that allows Galatasaray to get Ederson.

[Nightwatchmare]

It's a shame Man United didn't even earn a point. They played decently and created a lot of scoring chances.
They dominated in every aspect of the game except for the most important one: goals.
Then again, an early goal for Arsenal has set them more defensively, so who knows how the game would look if they decided to keep pressing for more goals. But judging by what we've seen, I think it's fair to say Man United was a better team. Are they capable of fighting for the championship? Probably not, but the top 5 is within their reach.

First time on a while I'm seeing Manchester United played so well against Arsenal. This time around I was even thinking that they will still win even after the goal from Arsenal but they disappointed despite all their dominance. Before now, Manchester United will play bad and still score against Arsenal, there last two meetings had ended in a 1 - 1 draw which meant that Manchester United didn't succumb to defeat despite been outplayed but this time around that they outplayed Arsenal they still failed to score and still lost at the end of it.

I was thinking Arsenal would outplay Manchester United and make the game difficult for Manchester United, but with the way Manchester United dominated Arsenal, i was so excited because Manchester United's display shows that there's an improvement in their performance this season. Manchester United pressed Arsenal so hard in the second half and tried to score a goal and earn a point, but Arsenal's defence and goalkeeper were so good that they stopped Manchester United from scoring a goal.

[Adiljutt156]

First Liverpool in Community Shield Trophy now Chelsea in first game of season Crystal Palace is surely going to be team to watch in this coming season because they are giving their best in these early games their defense and attack is having good balance.

Chelsea with greater ball possession not able to have any advantage which is good work from Crystal Palace because it's never been easy to have performance against a team which is winner of Club World Cup and playing at home. In second game of the day, Nottingham Forest is also doing good job and leading game by score of 3–1 against Brighton a good start for them challenges are waiting to them in coming games.

The game between Chelsea and crystal palace ended in a goalless draw at Stamford bridge, it shows how keenly the game is being contested among the two teams whom I think are really in a good form currently considering that the both side have played in two finals and have recently won two trophies amongst them within the last few months, for me it was a good game for the both side, although Chelsea dominated major part of the game but crystal palace sticked to their game plan and held Chelsea to a Draw game. Although crystal palace had a goal which was overturned by the VAR. Chelsea would have hoped to win their first game of the season in Stamford bridge but crystal palace defended well and make sure they get a share of the point at Stamford Bridge.

No team could win this match as no team could do any goal in this match and we saw good stop by both teams and no team could attack in this match and match was draw as performance was equal but in my opinion, performance of Chelsea football team was very well and their shots were more in this match which were 19 and only 3 shots were on target . The possession percentage of that team was also brilliant in this match which was 72 percent but opponent team performance was quite bad and their possession was 28 percent. The passes of Crystal Palace  team were very low in this match .The passes of Chelsea football team were more in number and these were 568 in this match and opponent team passes were less in this match.

[Adams0001]

In my opinion it was a very poor performance, A team that wants to win the Premier League wouldn’t play the way Arsenal played against Manchester United. And they were just lucky not to have conceded against Manchester United, Manchester United was the better team in the game, well the season is too early for Arsenal to score a goal and start defending their one goal advantage, I think this was one of the reasons they lost the premier league in previous seasons, now the difference between Arsenal and Liverpool and Manchester City is they will not sit back and defend they will go all out to score another goal instead of sitting back to defend, Liverpool was far better than Arsenal last season and that is why they have so many points advantage against them last season, If Arsenal continue to play this way they will not be able to win the league, because they will have to meet so many teams that plays a low blocks. Arsenal played so many draws last season because of playing this defensive style of football.

I wouldn't necessarily say that the performance of arsenal against Manchester united was a poor performance because the goal was to secure the desired three points, not a fancy performance as most folks out there expected it to be, yes it's actually true that they can't play like that against a smaller opposition because they must come out attacking if they want the whole three points, but that's by the way.
This season I wouldn't be judging any of the top teams just yet because in the first round of matches, not all of the top side met a top team, the opponent of arsenal and Chelsea are way more stronger than the opposition of Manchester city and that of Liverpool, so after the first five games, that's when I can say that this or that team is better than this one or that one.

That is what I think probably too, Manchester United performance was not really bad against arsenal both team  do well is just that they didn't get the opportunity to break there defense to score goals. Manchester United don’t usually have chances against arsenal, they fail mostly when facing arsenal in the Premier League. Let wait see what Amorim will perform in there next game if they will get the chance to achieve three point. Because currently I don't think Manchester United need any players to join the before performing well in the pitch. They have achieved all the key players that can help them perform well in the league competition. And this season they are not playing champions league or Europe league this season they will focus more on the league competition, to get the chance in the league title. Let see what they will play in there next fixture game against Fulham, if they will achieve the three point or fail again and lose 6 point.

[Antotena]

I was thinking Arsenal would outplay Manchester United and make the game difficult for Manchester United, but with the way Manchester United dominated Arsenal, i was so excited because Manchester United's display shows that there's an improvement in their performance this season. Manchester United pressed Arsenal so hard in the second half and tried to score a goal and earn a point, but Arsenal's defence and goalkeeper were so good that they stopped Manchester United from scoring a goal.

The only thing we can use to judge the match between Arsenal and Manchester United and fault Man U is because of the goal they never had but I can tell you that they had everything in place in that match that if they had more time, with pressure Manchester United will eventually break their defense but the time wasn't enough and Arsenal was also trying their best so Manchester United wouldn't be able to equalize because that's going to end as tie in the end.

I like as Amorim is listening to critiques about his choice of players. This sqaud might not have done something better like many expected but it's better to experience new sqaud than rely on old players that refused to bring nothing to the table. Give a new fresh some opportunity, if they do well keep them and keep the rest and if the ones started refused to do better, replace them as possible, I'm more happy Maguire was allowed in the end of the match, even if Onana comes back from injury he should relax.

[boltz]

In my opinion it was a very poor performance, A team that wants to win the Premier League wouldn’t play the way Arsenal played against Manchester United. And they were just lucky not to have conceded against Manchester United, Manchester United was the better team in the game, well the season is too early for Arsenal to score a goal and start defending their one goal advantage, I think this was one of the reasons they lost the premier league in previous seasons, now the difference between Arsenal and Liverpool and Manchester City is they will not sit back and defend they will go all out to score another goal instead of sitting back to defend, Liverpool was far better than Arsenal last season and that is why they have so many points advantage against them last season, If Arsenal continue to play this way they will not be able to win the league, because they will have to meet so many teams that plays a low blocks. Arsenal played so many draws last season because of playing this defensive style of football.

I wouldn't necessarily say that the performance of arsenal against Manchester united was a poor performance because the goal was to secure the desired three points, not a fancy performance as most folks out there expected it to be, yes it's actually true that they can't play like that against a smaller opposition because they must come out attacking if they want the whole three points, but that's by the way.
This season I wouldn't be judging any of the top teams just yet because in the first round of matches, not all of the top side met a top team, the opponent of arsenal and Chelsea are way more stronger than the opposition of Manchester city and that of Liverpool, so after the first five games, that's when I can say that this or that team is better than this one or that one.

That is what I think probably too, Manchester United performance was not really bad against arsenal both team  do well is just that they didn't get the opportunity to break there defense to score goals. Manchester United don’t usually have chances against arsenal, they fail mostly when facing arsenal in the Premier League. Let wait see what Amorim will perform in there next game if they will get the chance to achieve three point. Because currently I don't think Manchester United need any players to join the before performing well in the pitch. They have achieved all the key players that can help them perform well in the league competition. And this season they are not playing champions league or Europe league this season they will focus more on the league competition, to get the chance in the league title. Let see what they will play in there next fixture game against Fulham, if they will achieve the three point or fail again and lose 6 point.

Really great performance from United without any doubts and I saw passion from this team that I didn't saw last season or 2-3 season ago as well and that's a very positive thing for United fans. The score wasn't what United deserved against Arsenal but I'm sure United will fight for top 6 this season and game by game points will come and I hope players also realized they did a good game and it was just unlucky they didn't score.

Fulham is not an easy team to go against but United should win and secure 3 important points.

[Obari]

Really great performance from United without any doubts and I saw passion from this team that I didn't saw last season or 2-3 season ago as well and that's a very positive thing for United fans. The score wasn't what United deserved against Arsenal but I'm sure United will fight for top 6 this season and game by game points will come and I hope players also realized they did a good game and it was just unlucky they didn't score.

Fulham is not an easy team to go against but United should win and secure 3 important points.

Ruben Amorim is tangible and touchable manager, he just need the right slots to trigger this season because there are more greater visions when Manchester United is in the picture. Facts, Manchester United was stunning, none of us expected the club to exhibits this outstanding performance against Arsenal, they will surely go far. A great performance from Manchester United in the first matchday against Arsenal. Despite losing to Gunners at Old Trafford, everyone applaud how the Red Devils came out in massive numbers and went straight for a win. No room for flopping performance for Manchester United as we've seen, the fans just hope they will continue to sling and win matches on front.

[qurbanshah02]

Really great performance from United without any doubts and I saw passion from this team that I didn't saw last season or 2-3 season ago as well and that's a very positive thing for United fans. The score wasn't what United deserved against Arsenal but I'm sure United will fight for top 6 this season and game by game points will come and I hope players also realized they did a good game and it was just unlucky they didn't score.

Fulham is not an easy team to go against but United should win and secure 3 important points.

Ruben Amorim is tangible and touchable manager, he just need the right slots to trigger this season because there are more greater visions when Manchester United is in the picture. Facts, Manchester United was stunning, none of us expected the club to exhibits this outstanding performance against Arsenal, they will surely go far. A great performance from Manchester United in the first matchday against Arsenal. Despite losing to Gunners at Old Trafford, everyone applaud how the Red Devils came out in massive numbers and went straight for a win. No room for flopping performance for Manchester United as we've seen, the fans just hope they will continue to sling and win matches on front.

Manchester United should have made themselves a very good and strong team in these 3 years so that they can still dominate the league and the teams. This manager should give them some easy experiences so that Manchester United can play better and better. That is why I say that Manchester United should never become a weakness because we know how weak they were and they did not get a chance to work hard and be strong in the league. Arsenal is a good and strong team with a lot of hard work and enthusiasm and similarly Manchester United has introduced themselves as a weak and bad team with poor performance. They still do not understand it and if they make themselves a better team because their performance like this is a great shame for their favorite and their demand.