Five things to look out for on the Premier League opening weekend

The Premier League makes its long-awaited comeback this weekend when Burnley welcome champions Manchester City to Turf Moor on Friday night at 8pm.

That kicks off four days of action from the English top-flight as the most adored sport in the country returns to our screens. Here’s five things to look out for during the opening weekend.

New Signings

A plethora of players will be making their competitive debuts for their retrospective clubs this weekend, with the Premier League continuing to dwarf the other leagues around Europe in terms of spending on signings.

Arsenal’s televised fixture with Nottingham Forest will draw a lot of attention as fans tune in to see how record-signing Declan Rice fares in his first league game for the club, whilst there will also be intrigue about Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber’s competitive debuts.

Chelsea’s Christopher Nkunku was cruelly ruled out for a number of months just days before his side’s opening game against Liverpool on Sunday, so all eyes will be on striker Nicolas Jackson, who made a good impression throughout the Blues’ pre-season games. Meanwhile for Liverpool, new midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister are likewise expected to feature.

Monday night sees Wolves travel to Old Trafford to take on a Manchester United side who will be lining up with a different first choice goalkeeper for the first time in 12 years, with Andre Onana set to make his debut for the Red Devils. Erik ten Hag may also hand a first appearance to Mason Mount, who joined the club after a sour ending to his time at boyhood club Chelsea in the summer.

New Managers

There will also be a number of managerial debuts in the Premier League this season, although some faces will undoubtedly be more familiar than others.

The first new boss to take to the dugout will be Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola when the Cherries square off against West Ham on Saturday, with the Spaniard replacing Gary O’Neil over the summer after a three-year stint with Rayo Vallecano.

Another new face is Tottenham’s Ange Postecoglou, who became the first Australian to manage in the Premier League when he joined the north London side from Celtic over the summer. His side have a tricky first fixture away at Brentford on Sunday afternoon – the Bees took four points off them last season.

Mauricio Pochettino is not exactly a new addition to the Premier League – taking charge of Southampton between 2013 and 2014 then notably Spurs between 2014 and 2019 – but all eyes will be on Stamford Bridge on Sunday when he makes his Chelsea debut against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.

Longer Matches

For those who tuned into the World Cup last winter, you will have noticed massive increases of extra-time at the end of both halves, with officials keen to ensure that playing time is maximised for each fixture.

Love it or hate it, that procedure has been introduced into English football this season, as evidenced by Sunday’s Community Shield between Manchester City and Arsenal – the Gunners netting in the 101st minute after eight minutes were added on at the end of the game.

It certainly makes for more intriguing climaxes to Premier League matches, with teams given much more time to score in the dying embers of fixtures, so expect plenty of action as players take their time to adapt to an increase in game minutes.

Yellow Cards

Another notable change in officiating from Sunday’s Community Shield was the frequency with which referees brandished cards, with Thomas Partey and Julian Alvarez receiving cautions for seemingly innocuous offences after poking the ball away.

It represents a clampdown from the refereeing governing body to stamp out dissent and unsportsmanlike conduct, as further evidenced by Mikel Arteta’s first-half yellow card for his behaviour towards referee Stuart Atwell.

Expect an increase in cautions in the preliminary days of the Premier League season, as players (and probably fans) get used to the new rules and regulations.

Luton Town

We’d be lying if we said there wasn’t a fascination with how newcomers Luton Town will fare in the upcoming Premier League campaign. The Hatters were in the National League as recently as eight seasons ago and their rise to the English top-flight has been nothing short of spectacular.

Many jokes have been made about the condition of their home ground Kenilworth Road, which houses just 10,300 fans and includes a notably dubious entrance to the away end, but with the Premier League enforcing they upgrade their stadium before the season starts this weekend, there remains much for the club to do before they can play league matches at home.

Many fans have tipped the Hatters to break Derby County’s record low of 11 points in the 2007/08 season, whilst others have boldly said that their small stadium will make life tough for visiting Premier League teams used to performing on pristine surfaces.

Only time will tell, but you can bet there will be a lot of coverage about Luton Town’s participation this season.­­­ They kick off their campaign this Saturday against Brighton at the Amex Stadium at 15:00.

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