sport news Who is top of our first POWER RANKINGS of the season? trends now
The Premier League is officially back. After over two months away, England's top flight returned over the weekend, with teams looking to lay down a marker in their opening match.
Defending champions Manchester City managed to do exactly that as they negotiated a potentially tricky away fixture at West Ham with relative ease.
It was also a good weekend for the north London clubs, with Arsenal battling past Crystal Palace, and Tottenham coming from behind to thrash Southampton. Meanwhile, Chelsea put their inconsistent pre-season form behind them to edge past Everton at Goodison Park.
Manchester City eased past West Ham to make the perfect start to their title defence
Liverpool had a less impressive start as they were held to a draw by Fulham at Craven Cottage
It was a disappointing opening weekend for Liverpool and Manchester United, though. Jurgen Klopp's team struggled to get to grips with newly-promoted Fulham and had to settle for a point, whereas United could not even manage that as they slipped to a humbling home defeat against Brighton.
There were also wins for Newcastle, Bournemouth and Leeds, with Leicester and Brentford sharing the spoils on a weekend that produced 28 goals.
But which players stood out? Who made a dream start to the season? Each week, Sportsmail will bring you a Power Rankings table, highlighting the 10 hottest players in the Premier League after every matchday. Let's take a look at the first 10 players to make this season's list...
10. Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea)
Replacing Antonio Rudiger was never going to be easy for Chelsea this summer. Yet on the evidence of Saturday's performance, the Blues may have found someone in Kalidou Koulibaly who can fill the void left behind by the German international.
Koulibaly has been a standout performer in Serie A for several years, but fans may have wondered how he would adapt to the Premier League. He passed his first audition with flying colours.
Playing in a back three alongside Cesar Azpilicueta and Thiago Silva, Koulibaly added much needed pace to the defence, providing cover whenever Everton threatened to get in behind.
Kalidou Koulibaly was a dominant presence at the back as Chelsea beat Everton on Saturday
He also looked composed with the ball at his feet, stepping out of defence to start moves for Thomas Tuchel's side.
He will face tougher tests than coming up against an Everton side without Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but he could not have done much more to impress on his Premier League debut.
9. Kieffer Moore (Bournemouth)
Heading into the season, most supporters would have agreed that Dominic Solanke needs to shine if Bournemouth are to have any chance of staying up.
Instead, it was his striker partner Kieffer Moore who stole the headlines on the South Coast on Saturday.
Coming up against an ambitious Aston Villa team, Bournemouth made the perfect start when Jefferson Lerma put them ahead inside two minutes.
Kieffer Moore celebrates after putting Bournemouth two goals ahead against Aston Villa
Having gone in front so early, it was then about looking to keep Villa at bay, while still being a threat in the final third, and Moore did more than enough to keep Ezri Konsa and summer signing Diego Carlos occupied.
He got his reward 10 minutes from time as he leapt highest at the back post to fire a header past Emiliano Martinez, sealing Scott Parker's side all three points at the Vitality Stadium.
8. Ryan Sessegnon (Tottenham)
The question prior to Tottenham's first game of the season was whether Conte would select Ryan Sessegnon or new signing Ivan Perisic to play at left wing-back.
He ended up going with the England youngster, and it paid off. Tottenham fell behind early on when James Ward-Prowse volleyed past Hugo Lloris, but Spurs bounced back quickly through Sessegnon.
Dejan Kulusevski cut in on his left foot, and Sessegnon anticipated where the ball was going to end up, as he slid in at the back post to head home his first league goal for the club.
Ryan Sessegnon shone on Saturday as he scored his first Premier League goal for Tottenham
Injuries and inconsistent form have held Sessegnon back in recent seasons, but there were positive signs towards the end of last term, and he looked sharp against Southampton.
With Luke Shaw enduring a difficult time at Old Trafford and Ben Chilwell only just returning from injury, Sessegnon may feel that he has a chance to make a late push to get into Gareth Southgate's World Cup squad if he can keep performing like this.
7. Fabian Schar (Newcastle)
Newcastle dominated their game against Nottingham Forest from the outset, but their final ball let them down in the first half.
With the game approaching the hour mark, they were still searching for a breakthrough, and frustration was beginning to set in at St James' Park. Then Schar stepped up.
Fabian Schar was delighted as he fired Newcastle in front against Nottingham Forest
Picking the ball up around 30 yards from goal, he dribbled forward towards the corner of the penalty box before unleashing a shot that flew past Dean Henderson.
The Magpies splashed out £35m on Sven Botman earlier this summer, and some may have expected him to take Schar's place this season.
He may have to wait a while longer to establish himself in Eddie Howe's starting line-up if Schar keeps scoring goals like this, though.
6. Darwin Nunez
