League title favourites Manchester City and Liverpool both registered emphatic victories to open their seasons overnight.
Defending champions City netted two scintillating goals to spoil Unai Emery’s Arsenal debut, as Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva scored in a 2-0 win.
While the Reds were dominant in their opener against West Ham, slamming in four goals to hand Manuel Pellegrini a losing start to life at the Hammers in a 4-0 demolition.
Egyptian star Mohamed Salah picked up where he left off last season, finding the net inside 20 minutes – while front three partner Sadio Mane nabbed a double of his own. Daniel Sturridge made an immediate impact off the bench to round out the scoring.
ARSENAL 0-2 MANCHESTER CITY
Goals by Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva gave champions Manchester City a 2-0 win over Arsenal in their opening Premier League match on Sunday.
Sterling struck in the first-half and Silva in the second to make it a disappointing start to Unai Emery’s reign as Arsenal manager, the Spaniard having filled the vacuum left by Frenchman Arsene Wenger who brought the curtain down on two decades in charge at the end of last season.
Last season’s Premier League top scorer Mo Salah was on target again as Liverpool began their campaign with an easy win at home to West Ham United. The Egyptian gave Juergen Klopp’s side the lead after 19 minutes from Andy Robertson’s precise low cross on Sunday.
West Ham’s new manager Manuel Pellegrini gave debuts to five of their 10 close-season signings, but his revamped team rarely threatened Liverpool’s expensive new Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson.
Poor defending cost them a second goal just before the interval, to Sadio Mane, who added a third after 53 minutes from an offside position. Substitute Daniel Sturridge made it four just seconds after coming on.
SOUTHAMPTON 0-0 BURNLEY
Southampton were held to a goalless draw at home to Burnley with Joe Hart making some key saves on his league debut for the Clarets.
Burnley dominated the first half and thought they had gone ahead in the eighth minute when former Southampton midfielder Jack Cork side-footed home, but the effort was ruled to have been offside.
Saints keeper Alex McCarthy did well to keep out a close-range shot from Aaron Lennon as Burnley pushed for the opening goal but it was a different story after the break.
Southampton looked the more likely to score but England international Hart, who joined Burnley last week from Manchester City, produced some fine saves to frustrate Mark Hughes’s side.