Everton came within four minutes of an embarrassing opening day defeat against newly promoted Watford at Goodison Park, with Arouna Kone’s late equaliser salvaging a point for Roberto Martinez’s side.
Miguel Layun and Odion Ighalo had twice given the visitors the lead, either side of Ross Barkely’s strike, and it needed a late goal from the substitute to spare the blushes of our Merseyside rivals.
Manchester United were also in underwhelming form, as they took on Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. A Kyle Walker own-goal proved to be the only difference between the two teams, while Spurs were unlucky not to claim an equaliser late on, as United keeper Sergio Romero made a couple of decent saves.
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AFC Bournemouth – our opponents a week on Tuesday – lost their first game in the Premier League, as they went down 1-0 at home to Aston Villa. Rudy Gestede, the former Blackburn Rovers striker who has been brought in to replace Christian Benteke, scored the only goal.
Elsewhere, it was a miserable afternoon for former Liverpool defender Sebastian Coates, who started for Sunderland today following a successful loan spell with the club last season.
Leicester City had a 3-0 lead inside 25 minutes, before the Black Cats finally got going after half-time. They pulled a couple of goals back in the second-half, but still went down 4-2.
In the only other game of the afternoon, Crystal Palace beat Norwich City 3-1, with one-time Liverpool target Yohan Cabaye scoring the decisive goal for the visitors in second-half stoppage time.
In the evening game, Swansea City came from behind twice to hold Chelsea to a draw at Stamford Bridge. The Blues went in 2-1 ahead at half-time thanks to a goal from Oscar and a Federico Fernandez own goal, but the visitors came roaring back after the break and deservedly levelled when Bafetimbi Gomis scored from the spot, adding to Andre Ayew’s earlier goal. Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was sent-off for conceding the penalty.
A reminder that Liverpool’s match away to Stoke City kicks-off at 4pm tomorrow. There will also be two other games taking place on Sunday, along with the final fixture of the opening weekend on Monday night.
Remaining games:
Arsenal v West Ham – Sunday, 1.30pm
Newcastle v Southampton – Sunday, 1.30pm
West Brom v Manchester City – Monday, 8.00pm