Premier League Opening Weekend Stats, Facts & Biggest Shocks

Premier League Opening Weekend Stats:

Most Opening Weekend Goals - 36 in 2003.

Fewest Opening Weekend Goals - 18 in 1998 (10 games) & 2011 (9 games).

Fastest Goal - 50 seconds. David Healy for Fulham against Arsenal in 2007.

Most Goals In A Game - 7 (7 times). Last time was Liverpool 4-3 Leeds in 2020.

Biggest Win - Chelsea 6-0 West Brom in 2010.

Most Goals In The First Half - 5 in 2006 when Man United led Fulham 4-1. United were 4-0 up after 19 minutes.

Hat-Tricks - 10. Man United's Bruno Fernandes scored the most recent against Leeds in 2021.

Fastest Opening Weekend Hat-Trick - Gabby Agbonlahor took seven minutes to score his hat-trick for Aston Villa against Man City in 2008.

Red Cards - 48. The last one was Burnley's Anass Zaroury against Man City last year.

Fastest Red Card - QPR's Clive Wilson was sent off after just six minutes for his professional foul on Manchester United's Andrei Kanchelskis in 1994.

Most Frequent Fixture - Tottenham vs Newcastle (4 times).

Most Opening Weekend Goals - 8. Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney & Mohamed Salah have all scored eight goals on the opening weekend. Jamie Vardy needs one goal to join them, Raheem Sterling and Callum Wilson needs three and Erling Haaland four.

Opening Weekend Facts:

• Aston Villa and Bolton shared four goals in the opening 9 minutes of their 2-2 draw (2005/06).
• Liverpool led Norwich 4-0 at half-time in 2019.
• Liverpool will face a newly-promoted side for the fifth time in six seasons.
• There hasn't been a 0-0 draw in the last 39 games.
• The last goalless draw was Wolves' trip to Leicester in 2019.

Opening day shocks:

Sheffield United 2-1 Man United (1992)

We didn't have to wait very long for the first shock in the Premier League. 

Manchester United finished second to Leeds in the last ever First Division and were expected to challenge for the title in the 1992/93 campaign. 

Brian Deane has the honour of scoring the first ever Premier League goal in a 2-1 win for the Blades. 

The Red Devils went on to win the first of their 13 Premier League titles despite losing their second game to Everton and drawing their third against Ipswich.

Arsenal 2-4 Norwich (1992)

On the same weekend, Norwich City pulled off a shock of their own at Highbury. 

Goals from Steve Bould and Kevin Campbell gave Arsenal a 2-0 lead at the break, and three points seemed to be going to the Gunners. 

However, John Lyall's side produced a stunning second-half comeback to deny Arsenal, who finished fourth the previous season.

Mark Robins grabbed a brace for the Canaries with David Phillips and Ruel Fox scoring the goals to give Norwich a dream start to life in the Premier League. 

Portsmouth 2-1 Aston Villa (2003)

Promoted sides often take time to adjust to the step up from the second tier to the Premier League, but Portsmouth hit the ground running in 2003 when they hosted Aston Villa at Fratton Park. 

Despite finishing the previous season 16th, Villa were expected to get off to a positive start against Portsmouth. 

However, Harry Redknapp worked his magic to get Pompey ready for life back in the top flight.

Redknapp made some astute signings in the summer including Teddy Sheringham and Patrik Berger who both scored on their debuts to defeat Villa. 

Portsmouth went on to finish 13th in the table while Villa took sixth spot.

Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham (2007)

Tottenham came within seconds of avoiding an opening weekend shock in 2007 when the fixture computer threw up a trip to Sunderland on day one.

Spurs finished fifth the previous season, while Roy Keane's Sunderland finished top of the Championship.  

The Black Cats carried their momentum into the following season and with the scores level in the 94th minute, Michael Chopra popped up to score the winner.  

Neither side had a great season with Tottenham finishing 11th, 31 points behind champions Manchester United, while Sunderland ended the campaign three points clear of the relegation zone.

Manchester United 0-0 Reading (2007)

A home game to start your season is what most teams hope for when the fixtures are released in the summer. 

In August 2007, Manchester United had just won their ninth Premier League title when they were handed a favourable opener with Reading at Old Trafford. 

Reading did well to finish eighth the season before, but were expected to get rolled over by the Red Devils who had won six of their seven home games on the opening weekend of the Premier League. 

The game was goalless in the 73rd minute, when Dave Kitson was sent off, making it easier for United to find a winner. 

The Royals dug deep and denied their hosts the win. The two dropped points didn't cost United as they won the title by two points from Chelsea.

Hull City 2-1 Leicester City (2016)

Leicester City made headlines all over the world when they defied their 5,000/1 odds to win the Premier League title. 

Claudio Ranieri had assembled a solid squad with Jamie Vardy scoring goals for fun up front. They began their title defence at Hull, who were beginning life under Mike Phelan. 

Not only were the Foxes playing with a target on their back, but they were also looking to avoid being the first Premier League champions to start their defence with a loss. 

Adama Diomande gave the Tigers the lead on the stroke of half-time, but a Riyad Mahrez penalty levelled the game two minutes into the second half. Robert Snodgrass' 57th-minute goal proved to be the winner for Hull City.

Chelsea 2-3 Burnley (2017)

Stamford Bridge was the place to be for drama on the opening weekend of the 2017/18 season. 

Chelsea were the defending champions and were looking to escape the embarrassment that befell Leicester 12 months earlier. 

Burnley finished the previous campaign 16th and were not expected to trouble the Blues on their big day. 

However, Sean Dyche's Clarets produced a superb first half to lead 3-0 thanks to two goals from Sam Vokes and one from Stephen Ward. 

Red cards to Gary Cahill in the 14th minute and Cesc Fabregas in the 81st did little to help Chelsea's cause, and although they pulled two back from Alvaro Morata and David Luiz, the champions began their defence with a defeat.

Brentford 2-0 Arsenal (2021)

One of the worst opening weekend fixtures you could be handed is a trip to a newly-promoted side. 

That's what happened to Arsenal to get their 2021/22 league programme up and running. 

The Gunners were starting to build a strong team under Mikel Arteta and despite an eighth-place finish the previous season, hopes were high of a challenge for a top-four spot. 

Brentford were back in the top flight of English football for the first time in 74 years and they were determined to make up for lost time. 

Goals from Sergi Canos, who will forever be remembered as the player to score Brentford's first ever Premier League goal, and Christian Norgaard secured a famous win for Thomas Frank's side.

Tottenham 1-0 Manchester City (2021)

Fresh from winning the league by 12 points, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City were expected to carry on from where they left off. A trip to Tottenham first up was handed to the champions. 

Nuno Espirito Santo was in charge of Spurs, and while he only managed eight wins from his 17 games in charge before being sacked in November, the first of his league wins came against the champions on the opening weekend. 

Son Heung-min's only goal of the game in the 55th minute meant that champions of the Premier League had lost their opening game for the third time in six seasons. 

The three dropped points did not stop City from winning the league by a point from Liverpool.