Top 5: Premier League players of the weekend

The Premier League officially returned this weekend for its 29th season, and what a start we’ve been treated to. 

Champions Liverpool kicked off their title defence with a thrilling 4-3 win over a newly-promoted Leeds United side, while Arsenal continued their impressive form with a 3-0 win at also newly-promoted Fulham.

Elsewhere, the third promoted side, West Brom, also fell to defeat as they went down 3-0 at home to Leicester City, Crystal Palace beat Southampton 1-0, Newcastle United won 2-0 at West Ham and an exciting looking Everton side saw off Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in North London.

A host of players stood out on the opening weekend for their respective teams, but (although there’s still two games to come on Monday) we’ve selected who we feel were the five standout stars from the first six matches.

Mohamed Salah

After netting 94 goals in his first three seasons at Liverpool, the Egyptian King was at it once again for the champions as he netted a match-winning hat-trick against Leeds. The first came from the penalty spot after his shot struck Robin Koch on the arm just four minutes in. On 33 minutes, the 28-year-old produced a moment of magic, half volleying home a loose ball straight into the top corner. Then, with the score tied at 3-3, he cooly dispatched a second penalty with two minutes remaining to ensure the Reds kicked off with three points.

James Rodriguez 

Eyebrows were raised when Everton sealed the marquee signing of James Rodriguez from Real Madrid. There’s no doubting the Colombian possesses bags full of ability but he has found consistency hard to come by since starring for his country at the 2014 World Cup. However, his debut performance in the 1-0 win at Spurs oozed the kind of class the Toffees have been lacking in recent years. The 29-year-old’s touch and passing range was fantastic as he created more chances (5) than any other Everton player has in a match since August 2018.

Willian 

There’s no secret that Chelsea wanted to keep hold of Willian and it’s no surprise having seen his debut for London rivals Arsenal against Fulham. The Brazilian continued to produce the goods in the Premier League with two assists on his Gunners bow as Mikel Arteta’s side cruised to a 3-0 win. Despite being 32, the attacker still has the pace, skill and winning mentality which could take Arsenal to new heights this term. As well as having a hand in goals for Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Willian also hit the post with a first-half free-kick and caused the full-back all kinds of problems.

Callum Wilson 

After big-money signing Joelinton only hit the back of the net twice in the Premier League last season, Newcastle United were in desperate need of a proven striker this summer. This resulted in the Magpies splashing £20million on Callum Wilson who had scored 41 top-flight goals for Bournemouth before the Cherries were relegated in July. Having watched what the 28-year-old offered his side in the 2-0 opening win at West Ham, Steve Bruce will already be thinking that is money well spent. Wilson made lots of clever runs in behind, linked up well with fellow strike partner Andy Carroll and, most importantly, netted the Toon Army’s first goal to quickly get off the mark.

Timothy Castagne

Leicester lost a key player in Ben Chilwell this summer when the left-back moved to Chelsea for around £50million. However, in Timothy Castagne they already look to have a top-class replacement. The Belgian, who was brought in from Atalanta, had a dream debut against West Brom. Not only did he help the Foxes to a clean sheet in the 3-0 win, he also scored the opening goal with a header nine minutes after the restart. The 24-year-old helped his former club finish third in Serie A two seasons running and will be hoping to help Leicester do something similar after they disappointingly missed out on a top-four finish last season.