Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham will look to continue the momentum picked up from opening weekend wins, while Liverpool and Chelsea will be desperate to bounce back from their disappointments as matchday two of the English Premier League comes calling this weekend.
While Arsenal were a little lucky or showed that winning mentality (depending on your viewpoint) in their opening match against Leicester City, United, Spurs and City were all impressive in their wins, showing strength in defence, while putting away the chances that came their way at the other end.
Chelsea and Liverpool had forgettable opening fixtures, though, with the Blues seeing two of their players sent off in a 3-2 defeat to Burnley. Liverpool threw away two points by conceding a late equaliser to Watford.
What was great to see in that opening weekend of the EPL was the number of thrilling contests on offer, and more of the same will be what the fans want in matchday two.
Another aspect that caught the eye last weekend was the performances of the three marquee strikers that were brought in during the summer transfer window.
Arsenal saw their most expensive signing ever – Alexandre Lacazette – get off to a perfect start with the Frenchman opening the scoring against Leicester, while Alvaro Morata came on for Chelsea in the second half, when they were behind the eight ball, to grab a goal and an assist, albeit in a losing effort.
The most impressive performance, however, came from Romelu Lukaku, who scored two goals on his Manchester United Premier League debut, showing he has all the chops to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic and justify the £75 million the club paid Everton for his services.
Lukaku's former team didn't do too badly, however, in their opening match, with the man who made a sensational return to his boyhood club – Wayne Rooney – scoring the winner.
What Everton need to show this season, having spent so much money in the summer – they just forked out £45 million for Gylfi Sigurdsson – is that they can stay with the top six over the 38 games and make a real challenge for a top four spot.
That is a while away, though, so for now, let's just sit back and enjoy what will, hopefully, be another brilliant weekend of Premier League football.
EPL 2017-18 Matchday 2 schedule:
Saturday, August 19:
Swansea City vs Manchester United (5pm IST, 12.30 pm BST, 1.30pm CET) at the Liberty Stadium, Swansea.
Bournemouth vs Everton (7.30pm IST, 3pm BST, 4pm CET) at the Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth.
Burnley vs West Bromwich Albion (7.30pm IST, 3pm BST, 4pm CET) at Turf Moor, Burnley.
Leicester City vs Brighton and Hove Albion (7.30pm IST, 3pm BST, 4pm CET) at King Power Stadium, Leicester.
Liverpool vs Crystal Palace (7.30pm IST, 3pm BST, 4pm CET) at Anfield, Liverpool.
Southampton vs West Ham United (7.30pm IST, 3pm BST, 4pm CET) at St. Mary's, Southampton.
Stoke City vs Arsenal (10pm IST, 5.30pm BST, 6.30pm CET) at bet365 Stadium, Stoke.
Sunday, August 20:
Huddersfield Town vs Newcastle United (6pm IST, 1.30pm BST, 2.30pm CET) at John Smith's Stadium, Huddersfield.
Tottenham vs Chelsea (8.30pm IST, 4pm BST, 5pm CET) at Wembley Stadium, London.
Monday, August 21:
Manchester City vs Everton (8pm BST, 9pm CET, 12.30am IST Tuesday morning).
TV guide: India: Star Sports Select and Star Sports Select HD. UK: Sky Sports and BT Sport. USA: NBCSN. Australia: Optus Sport. Canada: Sportsnet World and TSN. Middle East and North Africa: Bein Sports Arabia.
