Winners and Losers: Maresca leaves Man Utd, De Zerbi, Villa and Isak to join Arteta

Enzo Maresca almost joined Man Utd, Roberto De Zerbi and Alexander Isak in the losers column, but the new City boss instead takes his place alongside Mikel Arteta and Hull City.

The Premier League returned this weekend following an off-season of sweeping change. But, almost reassuringly, some things, like Man Utd being predictable and Spurs being weak, remain exactly as they were.

Here are your Winners and Losers from matchday one…

Premier League winners

Hull City Hull’s season was unanimously written off on these and most other pages before it had begun, and though their 2-0 win over Manchester United won’t prompt many to radically alter their predictions, it might make some change a dismissive, almost-disrespectful tone.

Hull will win more points than many expect if they are consistent with the industry and organisation coaxed by Sergej Jakirovic that United couldn’t match at Saturday lunchtime.

Set up in a 5-4-1, they looked exceptionally-well coached and disciplined, while causing the Red Devils problems they couldn’t solve when they hosts got the opportunity to deliver set-pieces or drop the ball in behind Michael Carrick’s defence.

They were better prepared than United, seemingly fitter, and certainly appeared more motivated, despite Carrick’s denial.

“The secret today was that our boys were dying to win,” Hull’s owner Acun Ilicali told The Athletic. “I didn’t see Manchester United in this mood. That was the separation of these two teams. You look at the tackles in the game and you could understand which team was wanting more.”

It is often too simple at this level to attribute victory and defeat to desire – Carrick rejected the notion – but Hull certainly gave the impression they wanted the points more. Maintaining this drive, organisation and ruthlessness with limited chances will at least make them more competitive in the top flight than anyone outside Humberside expects.

Mikel Arteta As Arsenal’s title rivals highlight their own flaws while spending a billion to close to the gap on the Gunners, Arteta’s squad appears liberated by the end of their title drought and reinforced by fresh impetus brought by new arrivals. Including…

Christos Tzolis Arsenal’s new winger was viewed as a squad-bolstering signing but first glimpses suggest he could be a difference-maker.

Tzolis was razor sharp against Coventry. Especially in the first half when he made Milan van Ewijk’s Premier League debut a misery.

Technically, Tzolis was too good for Coventry’s left-back and he showed the tactical acumen Arteta will love when recognising the times to stay wide and when to run inside and across the Sky Blues’ backline, ensuring the rest of Frank Lampard’s back four got a taste of the dust Van Ewijk was choking on.

Tzolis and Riccardo Calafiori dovetailed wonderfully well, the Italian full-back regularly driving forward and inside when the winger hugged the touchline. Refreshingly, Tzolis also appears able to go both ways around his full-back – a trait too rare at the top level these days.

Arsenal have spent much of the summer being linked with Vinicius Jr and Bradley Barcola, with Tzolis bought apparently as a back-up. But his early impression suggests he’s too good just to be a stand-in.

Arsenal deserve credit for recognising Tzolis’s quality. Many Big Six sides might have waited for a Brighton or a Bournemouth to buy the £34million winger before flipping for double the price. But the Gunners identified the 24-year-old as ready to take the leap without a step.

Mamadou Sangare When everyone waited for Sandro Tonali to prove his worth as Spurs’ record signing, it was Brentford’s who looked like the £100million star.

The stats suggested the Bees bagged themselves a bargain, even at £38million, and Sangare’s signing has been widely hailed as a very astute piece of business by plenty of pundits who watched the 24-year-old at Lens.

But few of those expecting big things from the Mali midfielder were entitled to expect them quite so soon.

Sangare was outstanding on his Premier League debut – so good that it ought to prompt an inquiry over how Brentford had almost a free run at him this summer. No wonder they were so willing to wave off Jordan Henderson when they had Sangare ready to step in and upgrade Keith Andrews’ engine room.

All the signs suggest Sangare’s dominant display, featuring one brilliant assist and another of a sort, was no fluke. As good on the ball as he is at winning it, he’ll be so much fun to watch this term before the big boys clamour to give Brentford at least a 100 percent return on their investment inside a year.

Enzo Maresca With six minutes to go of his first match in charge of Manchester City, Maresca was firmly in the other column. He might still have been viewed a loser had Bournemouth left the Etihad with a point. But Josko Gvardiol’s 92nd-minute winner gave Maresca early cause for celebration and a foundation from which to build.

The new manager’s first team selection was a not-so-subtle cry for help. If City hadn’t already agreed a deal with Lille for Ayyoub Bouaddi, the sight of Marc Guehi in midfield, despite Nico Gonzalez and Mateo Kovacic being on the bench, would have spurred them to do the necessary.

Guehi made a passable holding midfielder, wisely keeping it simple but City struggled with their backline where the England centre-back usually operates and, presumably, will return to when he visits Selhurst Park to face former club Palace on Friday night.

Gvardiol pushed on to press, dragging Rico Lewis inside from an already unfamiliar right-back position, giving Bournemouth plenty of joy with switches of play or balls behind.

With City one down at the break, missing chances while susceptible at the back, Maresca’s opener was beginning to feel like the type of game that caused Pep Guardiola so much angst last season.

To get out of it with three points; the imminent arrival of one top-class midfielder; a clear illustration to the board of where else City need to strengthen; and the euphoria of a last-gasp winner makes Maresca a big winner.

Rayan Cherki Maresca left Cherki on the bench, starting Nico O’Reilly as City’s attacking midfielder. And Cherki took that personally…

In Maresca’s words, he had an “unbelievable impact” after replacing O’Reilly just after the hour, setting up both City goals.

His second assist, showcasing the kind of composure, vision and technique that makes Cherki so special, was his 12th in open play since the start of last season – no player has more.

Maresca may feel he got the best out of Cherki by keeping him in reserve but that’s not a sustainable man-management approach to the French maverick. Cherki deserves greater prominence, regardless of what City do before the deadline.

Brighton Yes, Villa have been plundered of many of their best players from last season and were missing others to injury. But Brighton can point to similar problems. Rather than dwell on them, the Seagulls simply blew away the Villans by becoming the fastest team in 20 years to go 4-0 up on the opening day.

Much of the praise for Brighton requires the context of Villa’s implosion. More on that later.

But the Seagulls were ruthless in exploiting their visitors’ self-sabotage. Maxim De Cuyper, thrust forward on the left wing by Fabian Hurzeler, prompted Victor Lindelof’s early own-goal; scored the second himself; then had a hand in Jack Hinselwood’s first of two goals in as many minutes.

Brighton could have had more after the break but Hurzeler won’t dwell on that from the Premier League summit. The manager was able to bed in two new boys – Zadok Yohanna and Costinha – from the bench, with Luka Vuskovic the only summer signing to start.

Even without much fresh impetus, the more seasoned Seagulls showed why Brighton continue to evolve each season despite continually having their best players picked off by the big boys. They are old hands at this and it’s not for everyone. Villa can only watch and learn.

Yoane Wissa So good was Wissa’s breakout performance for Newcastle, it was almost worth the year-long wait.

The Toon forward was named Man of the Match after Liverpool failed to get to grips with a player written off in many circles as a £55million flop.

That was not an unreasonable conclusion from his first campaign at St James’ Park, a season ravaged by injury, compounded by the suspicion the Congo star was putting the World Cup before his obligations towards the club who badly needed him.

The World Cup offered Newcastle fans a tantalising glimpse of what Wissa is capable of before he led Liverpool a merry dance in different roles.

He started as a 10, playing off William Osula before replacing the substituted Dane as the spearhead of Matthias Jaissle’s attack.

Wissa had led the line for barely a minute when he took the ball 30 yards from his own goal before driving half the length of the pitch, shattering Liverpool’s midfield screen on his way to set up Newcastle’s second, wonderfully taken by Joe Willock.

The only criticism of Wissa was his failure to add a goal of his own from two very good chances to give Newcastle breathing space before they were reined in by the Reds at the death.

Jaissle’s men would have been good value for the win they came so close to claiming. Ending their Liverpool hoodoo would have been the perfect start for the new manager but there was enough in their performance to be encouraged by at the start of a new era.

New goalkeeper Lucas Hornicek was a very safe pair of hands; there was a lot to like in the dynamic between Sean Steur and Lewis Miley in midfield; while Jaissle’s desire for wingers Anthony Elanga and Harvey Barnes to burst beyond was evident.

Wissa, though, was Newcastle’s biggest positive, especially given the extent to which expectations of him had fallen.

Julio Enciso The striker he replaced as Ipswich’s record signing scored the first and the winger who replaced him as a substitute notched Town’s last-gasp winner. But Enciso was the star of the Portman Road show as the Tractor Boys illustrated a side we never saw of them in the Premier League two seasons ago.

The £26million recruit from Strasbourg skipped through Sunderland almost at will in possession, while out of it, he suffocated Granit Xhaka.

“He’s a no.10 who can produce unbelievable quality, but not many 10s in the world are willing to work the way he works,” said Gary O’Neil, quick to claim the credit for “working hard with him in Strasbourg” on the defensive side of his game.

That will be crucial given how much time Ipswich are expected to spend without the ball this season. But they seem to have a player more capable than most of creating openings with what possession they do have.

Anton Stach Stach has now scored four direct free-kicks in the Premier League since his arrival last summer. Only Dominik Szoboszlai is in the Leeds’ star’s league, with no-one else on even half the midfield duo’s tally.

This latest effort was timed to perfection, earning Leeds a late win at Forest to ramp up the 99% optimism to the max.

Jordan Pickford There was plenty to like from Everton in their first opening day win since 2021.

The Toffees were better in both boxes than Palace, who had more possession but were picked off on the break by their hosts.

Harrison Armstrong and Hayden Hackney were impressive in a somewhat makeshift midfield, while Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry both got on the scoresheet, flanked by impressive shifts out wide from Iliman Ndiaye and Tyrique George.

But Everton would not have had a platform for victory without Pickford’s brilliant early save.

Back from a World Cup that highlighted once more how underappreciated he is as England’s no.1, Pickford left Eddie Nketiah bereft with a diving stop to his left to push the Palace forward’s shot from eight yards on to the post.

Given the game state at that moment, Pickford’s save was as crucial as either of Everton’s goals.

Premier League losers

Aston Villa Villa became only the second team in Premier League history to concede four goals, receive a red card and score an own goal in the first half of a match. The first team: Southampton at Manchester United in February 2021 when the Saints lost 9-0.

That Villa were not embarrassed to a similar extent was the single positive on a humbling, sobering afternoon at the AmEx.

Much of Villa’s pre-season optimism seemed to be rooted just in the sheer aura of Emery. Sure, the boss has earned some blind faith but what manager could see the spine ripped out of a successful side and realistically maintain expectations of progress, or even just hope to stand still?

It is hard to pinpoint when on Sunday that hope gave way to fear among the travelling Villans. The first sight of the team-sheet, with no recognised striker, ought to have been the moment but clarity could be dodged no longer come half-time.

By then, Villa were 4-0 down and a man light after one of their most-anticipated new signings endured one of the worst debuts in Premier League history.

Even allowing for all the exits and injuries Villa have had to contend with, their first half was inexcusable. Brighton swept through them with alarming ease for their second and third goals; the first and fourth were appalling acts of self-sabotage.

At least they stemmed the bleeding after the break. And perhaps being architects in their own downfall to such an extent is some weird consolation since simply not being this dreadful again ought to be an easy fix.

But Emery is looking at a chaotic mess on and off the pitch. His pre-match silence in response to a question over Ollie Watkins’ absence was an ominous sign, and as the authority figure, the king at Villa Park, Emery has a huge week ahead of him to build a squad for the longer term and immediately shape a team to restore some order and optimism.

Joao Gomes Perhaps the worst-ever Premier League debut lasted 40 minutes, in which time Gomes was cautioned once; dodged a second; gave away a goal; and received a laughably stupid straight red card that means he won’t be seen again for almost four weeks.

When Emery put hands on Gomes as he left the stage in shame, it was to hug the new signing. Given the Villa manager’s mood, it could just as easily have been to throttle him.

Roberto De Zerbi The Tottenham Hotspur boss could only field a team two-thirds complete before Spurs sign two, probably three forwards in the coming week. But, by Brentford, they were made to look much, much further from the finished article.

Some of that is on the manager. His team selection featured plenty of technical quality but little in the way of physical power to at least match Brentford’s.

The Bees ran over Spurs, denying the visitors any platform to build and play, which was illustrated all too starkly by the hosts’ second goal just after the half hour.

Richarlison, rarely comfortable with his back to goal, dropped deep to receive from his goalkeeper but Kristoffer Ajer pinched possession, prompting a duel between Lucas Bergvall and Mathias Jensen.

Bergvall inexcusably lost an 80/20, allowing Jensen to stride forward and an unleash a shot that Antonin Kinsky parried straight into the path of Vitaly Janelt. Ten seconds after comfortable possession at the keeper’s feet, the ball was in his net.

Bergvall was hooked at half-time along with Conor Gallager – a curious pick in the no.10 position. But what little hope Spurs had was extinguished within four minutes of the restart.

Few will judge De Zerbi while his rebuild remains this far from finished and Spurs have players to return from injury as well as signings to complete. But teams with Tottenham’s ambitions and resources have to find a way to win, or at the very least compete, along the way.

The prospects of achieving even that bare minimum on opening day were hindered by De Zerbi’s decisions.

Michael Carrick “Oh, come on, that’s ridiculous,” replied Carrick when asked after the defeat if he would he accept that United displayed a “lack of passion” in the first half at Hull.

Only, it wasn’t that ridiculous to anyone who watched the Red Devils fail to break down or seriously bother the side who finished sixth in the Championship last season.

“Just because you get beaten, it doesn’t mean you don’t care about it,” continued Carrick, and no one could say United weren’t arsed. But they did lack the necessary intensity that could be confused for passion.

And, perhaps more worryingly, Carrick still lacks a Plan B beyond Bruno being brilliant for when his side struggle to penetrate low blocks.

Even through the 17-game run that secured Carrick the permanent job, United were too easy to stifle by opponents willing to sit in and wait.

Which is exactly what Hull did, executing to the letter what will become a well-used game plan this season – by the Tigers and plenty of United’s other opponents given how obvious it is as a weakness.

Hull also observed a flaw in how United defend set-pieces, especially free-kicks from flanks of the type which gave the hosts their second goal.

Carrick failed to address these obvious flaws through the summer, leaving him just a week to come up with remedies since Ipswich Town will almost certainly use Hull’s blueprint when they go to Old Trafford on Sunday.

Alexander Isak

Liverpool’s new boss there, patting the club’s record signing on the head for trying.

Andoni Iraola has numerous problems as his first summer as Reds boss approaches its end, but raising the bar for Isak has to be among his priorities.

Going back to Newcastle, the Swedish striker knew to expect a rough ride, but he had opportunities to silence the Geordies who jeered his every touch.

Isak missed two big chances among four attempts on the Toon goal, scoring none from an xG of 1.3 in a continuation of the form that rendered his first season at Liverpool a flop.

For that, there was some mitigation. He arrived on deadline day unfit having spent most of last summer on strike then sat out four months with a broken leg. He did, though, manage 22 appearances that produced only four goals.

Isak’s summer was well spent at the World Cup and the hope at Anfield is that the striker is ready to kick on. The Reds certainly need him to with Hugo Ekitike still months from a return.

But the lack of a cutting edge against his former side prompted memories of his struggles last season more than optimism for the one to come.

The same goes for Florian Wirtz. But even more pressing than his £100m-plus strugglers, Iraola needs to find a midfield balance to prevent Liverpool from being ripped apart on the break.

Newcastle’s opener was woefully easy to come by as the hosts tore through the heart of Liverpool with no resistance. And even when the Reds had bodies in place to stop the counter that led to the Magpies’ second, worryingly, they appeared to lack the will.

Crystal Palace New manager, same old problems.

Pierre Sage watched Palace waste three clear-cut chances before falling behind to Everton. They ended with 2.04 xG, their highest in a game in which they failed to score since December 2018. All of which allowed the Toffees to grow into a game they should have been out of.

Sage had replaced his starting front three just after the hour and his attacking woes are intensified by doubts over the futures of Ismaila Sarr – injured on Saturday, apparently – and Jean-Philippe Mateta.

It is tough for Sage to make a tangible impact amid so much uncertainty around Palace prior to the deadline. But the Frenchman must come up with quick solutions to their profligacy, especially while they remain porous at the back.

Without fixes at either end, the attractive football played between the boxes counts for little.

Oliver Glasner Glasner became the fifth consecutive Forest manager to lose his first Premier League game in charge. But unlike the four before him, there isn’t – yet – the urgent need for immediate results.

Forest were good value for a draw against Leeds and lost to a set-piece that perhaps ought to have been kept out.

“I can’t come with my staff and we lay our hands on the shoulders of these players and all of a sudden we can play like Real Madrid,” said Glasner entirely reasonably. But, as he knows, he isn’t working for a reasonable man.

Glasner is building something at the City Ground, but he will quickly need tangible pieces of progress to point towards to keep Mr Marinakis from reverting to his basic instincts.

Carl Rushworth Finally, Premier League clubs seem to have caught on to the fact that they need goalkeepers who can save shots rather than playmakers in mitts. Which feels especially important for the promoted clubs.

All three spent big on keepers this summer, with Coventry and Hull making club-record signings to guard their goal.

Hull’s Konstantinos Tzolakis debuted with a clean sheet against Manchester United and Kjell Scherpen made a winning start for Ipswich.

Rushworth, though, was at fault for at least one of the three goals Coventry conceded at Arsenal.

Gary Neville called out the keeper for his inadvertent assist for Bukayo Saka – somewhat harshly in our view. But we can’t defend Rushworth for failing to keep out Martin Odegaard’s almost apologetic attempt early in the second half.

Sunderland Shot themselves in each bollock in either half of an easily-avoidable defeat at Portman Road.

Both Ipswich goals came from cheap turnovers, the first offered up by Luke O’Nien to spark another debate among Black Cats over whether their long-serving defender should still have such prominence.

O’Nien was hooked for Omar Alderete who made a similar mistake compounded by the fact it came in the 90th minute, teeing up Jack Clarke to sink his former club.

Just frustratingly sloppy all round from Sunderland.