The 2023/24 Premier League season was not 200 seconds old when the inevitable happened; Erling Haaland scored.
Last season's record-breaking goal gobbler kicked off an opening weekend stuffed with quality, controversy and chaos. The next round of fixtures in the world's most widely watched league will no doubt contain more intrigue and excitement.
Drawing upon expertise that stretches beyond the straightforward assumption that Haaland will continue to score, here are 90min's predictions for gameweek 2.
Premier League predictions: Week 2
The second week of the 32nd Premier League season begins on Friday night. Nottingham Forest's first home match of the campaign against newly promoted Sheffield United got bumped forward to accommodate a cricket match at Trent Bridge, down the road from Forest's City ground, on Saturday.
Fulham and Brentford are the main draw in west London on Saturday afternoon as the capital rivals face off in a fixture which produced a combined ten goals across last season.
Liverpool scored nine in just one match when Bournemouth last visited Anfield 12 months ago. However, the Reds were beaten 1-0 when they travelled to the south coast for the reverse in March. If ever there was a pair of fixtures that underlined the unpredictability of the Premier League, it was Bournemouth and Liverpool's bouts.
Arguably Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton were responsible for two of the most impressive performances across the opening round of Premier League matches. Yet, while the Seagulls celebrated a 4-1 thumping of Luton Town, Wolves' wasteful streak in front of goal saw them lose 1-0 away to Manchester United.
New Wolves boss Gary O'Neil was the first Premier League manager to receive an apology from PGMOL this season, a fate which Brighton's Robert De Zerbi suffered through on multiple occasions last term.
Tottenham Hotspur benefited from a string of favourable calls against Brighton last term - although, none were as egregious as the baffling decision not to punish Andre Onana's wild charge for Manchester United against Wolves on Monday.
Ange Postecoglou may need the kind eye of VAR if he is to become the first Tottenham manager since Mauricio Pochettino to beat United in north London. Christian Eriksen scored the opening goal in a 2-0 victory five and a half years ago but will line up as an opposition player this weekend.
The final match on a Saturday night worth staying in for pits reigning champions Manchester City against opening-day table-toppers Newcastle United. Pep Guardiola has made his feelings about the scheduling - less than 72 hours after City won the UEFA Super Cup - abundantly clear but there is never a good time to go to the Etihad for Newcastle; the Magpies have not won a league game away to City since Alan Shearer scored the only goal at Maine Road in 2000.
The most commonly played fixture in English Football League history will get another run out this weekend as Aston Villa host Everton on Sunday afternoon. Both sides started the season with a defeat but the Toffees created plenty of chances against Fulham - in fact, only two clubs registered more shots on target than Everton across the Premier League's opening weekend. Newcastle, the side that thrashed Villa 5-1, were one of them.
West Ham United's London derby against Chelsea rounds out a Sunday that may or may not be super. While Chelsea have sent records tumbling with their hoarding of young talent in the summer transfer window, West Ham have been far more reluctant to splash the cash earned from Declan Rice's sale. Although, Edson Alvarez - who had a move to Chelsea last year crumble at the final hurdle - joined the Hammers in August.
Arsenal's trip to Crystal Palace on Monday night concludes an intriguing, if incomplete, round of Premier League fixtures. Luton Town have had to postpone their home game against Burnley while the infamous Kenilworth Road undergoes the final stages of its refurbishment.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Premier League predictions: Gameweek 2.
