Superstar Haaland, Liverpool stumbling and Man Utd in trouble – the Premier League is ending far too soon

The thrilling and intriguing first weekend of the Premier League season is over, with a number of themes consistent with the latest campaign.

Manchester City remain dominant, as rivals Manchester United continue to struggle.

Both teams look different this term, however, and there have been several interesting new developments in the first 10 games.

With Bournemouth in the Champions League places and Liverpool without a win, it is a little too early for firm conclusions 2022-23.

But where's the fun in that?

Haaland takes City to another level

There were doubts after a Community Shield arc in which Erling Haaland failed to find the net and City lost to Liverpool.

But Haaland answered all the criticism on his dominant Premier League debut, scoring twice in a 2-0 win at West Ham that sent a daunting message to the rest of the division.

Sergio Aguero in 2011 was the last City player to score a brace on his league debut, and champions fans would have woken up on Monday morning dreaming of a similar career at the Etihad Stadium for their new hero.

Unlike Liverpool, Haaland was clearly in tune with his teammates, as evidenced by the first of surely many links with Kevin De Bruyne for the second goal.

Indeed, City gave Haaland chances worth 1.66 expected goals (xG) on Sunday - a tally more than 17 entire teams managed over the weekend, but still a mark than he has surpassed.

Liverpool close the gap - to Spurs

If City were converted from their Community Shield screen, so were Liverpool.

An extremely slow start away at Fulham saw the Reds lucky enough to emerge with a 2-2 draw, narrowly beaten on xG (1.25-1.23) - something that doesn't only happened four times in the last season.

Pre-season worries around Liverpool centered on their attack, with Sadio Mane leaving, but new striker Darwin Nunez had to bail out his ailing defensive colleagues.

Nunez, like Haaland, matched a feat from Aguero's debut in the Premier League by scoring and assisting from the bench. Alvaro Morata is the third and last player to date to mark his arc in the competition in this way.

With City outstanding, Liverpool might have ended the first weekend more concerned about Tottenham's progress. Spurs are top of the table after a 4-1 win over Southampton in which none of their new leased signings started.

Another season of struggle for United

There should have been optimism around Old Trafford as Erik ten Hag took charge of United for the first time; instead, they were two at home to Brighton and Hove Albion before half-time and lost 2-1.

After their worst Premier League points tally last season, there was little to convince United fans that this season would be any different.

Brighton's long-awaited first win at Old Trafford condemned United to a second opening matchday defeat in three seasons, and it was well deserved.

This is the third successive season in which a visiting team have attempted 12 shots in the first half at United; prior to 2020-21 this had not happened since 2011-12.

Even United's goal was a Brighton own goal, the 73rd record and perhaps the least consoling the Red Devils have enjoyed in the competition.

Newcastle looks great…or Forest looks awful

Newcastle United finished 11th last season but have the fourth most points in the Premier League in 2022, and their fine form continued with a 2-0 win at home to Nottingham Forest.

And it was a far more dominant victory than many at the end of last season.

Newcastle led the division in shots (23) and shots on target (10) on matchday one, with Forest (five and zero) coming last in both categories, as well as xG (0.28 ).

No team have won more turnovers than Newcastle (21) or launched their attacks higher up the pitch on average (49 yards), with Eddie Howe's men swarming Forest to cheer on the optimism for a European push.

Still, it's a little hard to tell whether this one-sided contest owed more to the home side or the visitors, with Forest - the lowest-placed team last season, as the winners of the Championship play-offs - off the pace in their first Premier League game in 23 years.