Teams are out!
By Dan Davis
Oh yes. Here. We. Go. Strap yourselves in.
‘Impact of Son’s departure’
Interesting to see the impact of Son’s departure from Spurs. He brought in an estimated £40m-60m in commercial revenue and much of it was on a match day with up to 5,000 Korean supporters who came to watch and spent heavily in the megastore… at a glance there are still some Korean fans in Son shirts at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the opener against Burnley, but nowhere near as many.
Welcome to Spurs!
By Dan Davis
Tottenham presented their new signings to the crowd before kick-off, but just one of them, the tricky Mohammed Kudus, starts.
We’re just a few minutes away from kick-off around the grounds.
Feeling excited?
Who stays up?
By Dan Davis
Now’s the time to have your say.
Do you think any of Sunderland, Leeds and Burnley will avoid relegation this season? Will all three of them go down?
Sunderland have splashed the cash and are expected to announce another new signing, Nordi Mukiele, tomorrow.
Burnley prided themselves on their formidable defence in the Championship, while Leeds look prepared for another top-flight shot.
We’ll get a first look at two of those newcomers this afternoon.
Spurs tipped to win
By Dan Davis
Harry Redknapp has predicted Spurs will breeze to all three points.
Oh, I was gutted for Spurs the other night; they were so close to such a great win.
Nonetheless Thomas Frank has to take so many positives from the game. Palhinha looks a great signing in midfield, and I thought Kudus was very bright.
This could be a long season for Burnley and Scott Parker. They did so well to get back up, but they haven’t really spent a lot in the summer, and I just think the gap between the divisions is so big nowadays. An easy home win.
One to watch – No Maddison for most of the season is a huge blow for the team and for the lad himself, I was gutted for him. Kudus has come in though and I think he could be a very, very good addition.
‘Squad is looking ready’
Many Sunderland fans have been at the Stadium of Light since midday such is the anticipation of their first Premier League fixture since 2017.
They will be buoyed by the programme notes of new captain Granit Xhaka – one of 12 summer signings – who promises: ‘The squad is looking ready.’
Atmosphere building
By Dan Davis
I can practically feel the excitement through my computer screen.
OK, that’s a slight exaggeration, but you just can’t beat that buzz the first big Saturday of the new season brings. I love it.
In my opinion, only the FA Cup third round matches it.
Baleba starts
By Dan Davis
Eagle-eyed Manchester United supporters will notice that Carlos Baleba starts in midfield for Brighton at the Amex this afternoon.
The club have given up in their pursuit of Baleba – at least for now – after the Seagulls stood firm over their big-money valuation.
Speaking yesterday, Fabian Hurzeler said he was ‘very, very, very confident’ the talented 21-year-old would stay this summer.
As it stands, that does appear to be the case.
Brighton v Fulham
By Dan Davis
‘Debuts to seven signings’
Sunderland give debuts to no fewer than seven signings – Robin Roefs, Reinildo, Habib Diarra, Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki, Chesmadine Talbi and Simon Adingra.
West Ham fans would have loved an equally busy summer given last season’s form but Graham Potter has to make do starting with two newbies; goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and El Hadji Malick Diouf, a buccaneering left wing-back.
Sunderland v West Ham
By Dan Davis
Also in action…
By Dan Davis
There are two more Premier League games to keep an eye on.
Let’s have a look at the team news.
Reporting for duty
By Dan Davis
It’s a big, big day for this chap.
He almost got off to the perfect start against PSG, only for Spurs to let the Super Cup trophy agonisingly slip through their grasp.
They were superb for 80 minutes, however, and Thomas Frank will hope to strike a similar balance between verve and stubbornness to break down Burnley. Really, he needs an opening day win.
Frank looked very relaxed as he strolled into the ground earlier.
In from the off
By Dan Davis
New signing Kyle Walker is straight into the firing line for Scott Parker’s Burnley, as is his fellow arrival Quilindschy Hartman.
The big question is whether the Clarets can be as stubborn at the back as they were last season, when they shipped just 16 league goals.
Gray, Bergvall get the nod
By Dan Davis
Thomas Frank has made three changes from the side that lost on penalties against PSG in the Super Cup in mid-week.
Rodrigo Bentancur and Joao Palhinha have somewhat surprisingly dropped to the bench, with Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall in.
Brennan Johnson also starts ahead of Kevin Danso in a shape change.
It looks to me like a 4-3-3, but we shall see.
Burnley team news – Walker starts
By Dan Davis
Tottenham team news – Johnson in
By Dan Davis
Around the grounds
By Dan Davis
Let’s start with the team news, starting at Tottenham.
There are a few surprises in the starting XIs.
Coming up…
By Dan Davis
- Brighton v Fulham (15:00 BST)
- Sunderland v West Ham (15:00 BST)
- Tottenham v Burnley (15:00 BST)
- Wolves vs Manchester City (17:30 BST)
We’re back!
By Dan Davis
Ahhhh. A nice, relaxing Saturday afternoon, and plenty of football. The glory days are here again, ladies and gents.
Well, I won’t be relaxing too much as I bring you all the team news, goals and big updates from the three 3pm Premier League games.
We’ve got another stacked day of top-flight drama ahead of us, so put that kettle on, get settled and stay tuned right here.
Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?
