There were new signings on show up and down the Premier League on the opening weekend
Monday 13 August 2018 13:48, UK
From Manchester United's Fred to Arsenal's Lucas Torreira, we assess how every new Premier League signing fared on the opening weekend.
Fred's standout moment from his first appearance for Manchester United was a run-in with Leicester City's new No 10 James Maddison, which ended up earning both debutants a booking. But the £50m Brazilian went about his work diligently, protecting possession with a passing accuracy of 92 per cent, and breaking up the opposition play with a game-high three interceptions.
As for Maddison, the 21-year-old, who starred with Norwich in the Championship last season, stepped up well and could have marked his first appearance for the Foxes with a goal, had David de Gea not expertly parried away his first-half drive. Ricardo looked like a useful threat on the right flank after arriving from Porto, while former Monaco attacker Rachid Ghezzal showed off some nice close control and dribbling ability after stepping off the bench.
For only the second time in Premier League history, Newcastle did not name a debutant in their starting XI in their season opener.
The powerful Salomon Rondon did come on with half an hour remaining, and was unlucky not to score with a late effort, seeing it ricochet off Jan Vertonghen and onto the bar. Yoshinori Muto didn't have much time to make an impact, coming on in the 81st minute for Ayoyze Perez.
Fabian Schar and Ki Sung-yueng were both unused subs for Newcastle, while Spurs won having done no business in the summer window.
Fulham named a whopping seven new signings in their starting XI at Craven Cottage. Jean Michael Seri did not have a standout moment but produced a solid enough display, while Andre Schurrle and Joe Bryan were handfuls in attack, linking up nicely with Ryan Sessegnon and now-permanent signing Aleksandar Mitrovic. The striker produced the flashes of brilliance that made him so popular last season, but was denied three times by Wayne Hennessey.
Fabri made his debut between the sticks for Fulham but had a rocky game, spilling a few seemingly easy saves and coming out far too early for Wilfried Zaha's goal that saw him rounded by the forward. Similarly, Calum Chambers and Maxime Le Marchand need time to develop their partnership in the centre of defence and were caught out a few times. Luciano Vietto also made a short cameo from the bench.
Crystal Palace named no new players in their starting XI but Cheikhou Kouyate did made an appearance from the bench for the final few minutes.
Maurizio Sarri included two new signings in his first Premier League game in charge of Chelsea, with Jorginho and Kepa Arrizabalaga both starting at the John Smith's Stadium.
Jorginho pulled the strings in midfield and marked the occasion with a goal, coolly dispatching his penalty after Marcos Alonso had been brought down, while Kepa looked assured as he kept a clean sheet.
Terence Kongolo was the only one of Huddersfield's new signings to start after making his loan spell from Monaco permanent in the summer, but there was also a second-half substitute appearance for winger Adama Diakhaby, who showed flashes of quality on the flank.
Ben Foster spent two loan spells with Watford earlier on in his career and was handed a third debut for the club - 4,108 days after his last appearance - following his summer switch from West Brom. It was a dream debut as far as he was concerned as he kept a clean sheet. Ken Sema, a signing from Ostersunds, came on for his debut with nine minutes remaining but made no real impact.
Brighton were one of the most active clubs in the transfer window but surprisingly only Bernardo was handed a starting place of their new recruits. The Brazilian struggled, in truth, with Watford's second goal coming down his flank after he was caught of position. Yves Bissouma was extremely positive after coming off the bench while club-record signing Alireza Jahanbakhsh came on late on.
David Brooks made his Premier League debut for Bournemouth on Saturday having joined the club from Sheffield United earlier this summer. The 21-year-old had a fairly quiet game in front of watching Wales boss Ryan Giggs, but he did earn praise from Eddie Howe, who said he was pleased with his contribution.
Bobby Reid, meanwhile, made his bow for Cardiff at the Vitality after arriving from Bristol City in June, but despite being a willing runner all game long, the striker endured a fruitless afternoon in attack for the visitors.
Wolves named four debutants in their starting line-up and it was a bit of a mixed bag. Rui Patricio conceded twice and Jonny Castro had a quiet game at left wing-back before being substituted. Joao Moutinho showed glimpses of his pedigree but the real star of the show was striker Raul Jimenez who headed home the late equaliser and was lively throughout.
Marco Silva gave a debut to Lucas Digne off the bench but it was all about Richarlison and his first game for Everton at Molineux. The £40m fee for the Brazilian has been the subject of much debate but after failing to score in his final 28 games for Watford, the young winger found the net twice against Wolves - the second of which was a particularly neat finish.
Naby Keita was the pick of the new signings on show at Anfield. The former RB Leipzig man brought intensity and penetration to Liverpool's midfield and played a key role in the opening goal, releasing Andrew Robertson to set up Mohamed Salah. Alisson had an easy afternoon in goal, completing 27 of his 29 passes as he kept a clean sheet, while Xherdan Shaqiri looked lively after coming off the bench.
Manuel Pellegrini named five new signings in his first West Ham starting line-up, and despite the scoreline, goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was the only one to emerge from the contest with much credit. The Pole made a number of fine saves in the first half.
Ryan Fredericks and Fabian Balbuena struggled to cope with Liverpool's attacking threat, while Jack Wilshere was overrun in midfield. Felipe Anderson did show glimpses of his quality, but struggled to impact the game in a meaningful way before his 61st-minute substitute. Andriy Yarmolenko had occasional bright moments after coming off the bench.
Southampton conceded more goals than any other side in the Premier League last season from crosses, but in signing Jannik Vestegaard, they improve on that record. The £18m signing from German side Borussia Monchengladbach won his aerial duel with Chris Wood and met countless balls into the Saints box to preserve his side's clean sheet.
Stuart Armstrong was largely a spectator in the first half as Burnley dominated proceedings but he looked to cajole his team-mates with willing runs during rare forays forward. A knock brought his afternoon to a premature end after 56 minutes.
Danny Ings provided a lively cameo from the bench. The on-loan Liverpool striker often came deep to get involved and his movement stretched the Burnley defence. He may feel he did enough to earn a starting spot against Everton next weekend after nearly providing Jack Stephens with the winning goal before seeing a header flash over the crossbar.
Norwegian international Mohammed Elyounoussi will be expected to fill the creative void left by Dusan Tadic, and he showed plenty of encouraging signs - not least with his dead-ball delivery. He had a chance of his own to win a tight contest but James Tarkowski made an excellent block.
Joe Hart will look to relaunch his career in east Lancashire after being snubbed at the World Cup by England, and this was his second clean sheet in as many matches in a Burnley shirt. If he continues in the same vein, the experienced keeper could give Sean Dyche a selection headache when Nick Pope returns from injury.
Including the man in the dugout, there were three competitive Arsenal debuts on Sunday, with new head coach Unai Emery naming Sokratis and Matteo Guendouzi in his first Premier League starting XI. Sokratis picked up a booking but made a fairly solid debut while 19-year-old Guendouzi was impressive in tough circumstances, battling in midfield up against some big names and showing real hunger and intent.
Stephan Lichtsteiner came on in the 35th minute as a substitute and showed himself to be a fiery character, but did get forward well on the wing when Arsenal were pressing. Lucas Torreira also made a 20-minute cameo and played two good passes, but did not really have the time to show his full ability.
Riyad Mahrez started for Man City as their solo first-team summer signing and put in an impressive display on the wing, although he may not get as many chances as more World Cup stars make their return to the starting XI.
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