Week 1 Review: I Hate To Say It But... Chelsea Look Like The Top Dogs

The much anticipated Premier League season is underway, with every team having now played, and it has been an interesting start.

Yes, yes I know it is just the opening day, and it's too early to be making statements, but early on, Chelsea look like the team to beat.

Here are the weekend's results:

Arsenal 1-0 West Brom

Should've been more for Arsenal, but nevertheless Wenger will be happy with getting off to a winning start and keeping a clean sheet. He will also be happy that Samir Nasri has got off the mark early on.

West Brom won't be too disheartened by this result, only losing 1-0 away to Arsenal is better than what they could've started the season with.

Bolton 3-1 Stoke

Stoke are my prediction to be whipping boys this season, and this performance just furthered my belief of this. They didn't really look like a Premier League team, but Tony Pulis can take some positives from the good goal they scored.

Bolton looked better than last season. They seemed safer at the back, and more of a threat going forward. Johan Elmander impressed on his debut, managing to get on the score-sheet.

Hull 2-1 Fulham

A few people raised their eyebrows when I predicted an 11th place finish for Hull. Hopefully this match showed that they not going to be pushovers this season.

Fulham will be disappointed with this. They will be hoping that their away day woes don't start again after the good end they had to last season.

Everton 2-3 Blackburn

Everton's depth problems really showed in this match. Moyes had to field a number of teenagers just to make up the numbers. But it was the seasoned professionals Mikel Arteta and Yakubu that kept them in the game. They were unlucky to lose to a last minute goal that was actually offside.

The Guv'nor will be delighted to get off to a winning start as a Premier League manager, and it was deserved. There was no sign of the reported uprising against Ince.

Middlesbrough 2-1 Tottenham

I guess this would have made some bookies very happy, because most people were firmly backing Tottenham for this. Many people believe Spurs are the only ones that can challenge the top four, well there was no sign of that today.

Southgate will be delighted to get off to a winning start, especially in a tough match like this. His team scored two good goals, and the one they conceded was an unlucky own-goal.

Sunderland 0-1 Liverpool

Well, thank God Liverpool have Fernando Torres. He saved us again yesterday. Still, the performance didn't fill me with optimism. Until Torres' late goal the whole team looked out of ideas and didn't really look like coming up with anything. Still, a winning start and a clean sheet is good.

Sunderland were even worse. They were just like Liverpool but without the few high points. Keane will be disappointed with the lack of creativity, but until Torres' moment of magic, it did look like Sunderland would get something from the game.

West Ham 2-1 Wigan

Dean Ashton impressed with two goals early on, which proved to be the winners, but he went off with an injury later, which is a real blow for Curbishley. He will be happy with a winning start however.

Steve Bruce can take a lot of positives from this game. His team looked sharper than at times last season, and debutant Zaki managed to get himself on the score-sheet.

Aston Villa 4-2 Man City

A fantastic start for Martin O'Neill, picking up where he left off at the end of last season. Gabby Agbonlahor managed to grab himself an opening day hat-trick, and Gareth Barry put in a good performance, appearing to be committed to Villa, at least for now.

A hugely disappointing start for Mark Hughes, whose Man City team didn't have that spark that people were expecting this year. Their two goals came from a penalty and a deflection falling to Vedran Corluka who just had to tap it in.

Chelsea 4-0 Portsmouth

The performance of the day from Chelsea. They were truly awesome and look to be the early pace setters. Their midfield dominated, with Lampard, Deco, Joe Cole, and Ballack all having good games. Bosingwa also impressed on his debut. Lampard, Deco, Anelka and Joe Cole were the scorers.

It was a mixture of Chelsea playing wonderfully and Portsmouth playing poorly. This wasn't the same Portsmouth we saw win the FA Cup last year. However there were one or two signs of Crouch and Defoe linking up, which given time could become an important partnership.

Manchester United 1-1 Newcastle

Again, not a good start to a season for Man United. Frazier Campbell did well but they were clearly missing the likes of Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo for that extra goal-scoring threat. On the basis of today, another striker is needed.

A fantastic result for Newcastle and Kevin Keegan will be delighted to get one over on his old adversary. Given had a blinder in goal, and they looked pretty good all over the pitch, even in defence!

Performance of the week no doubt came from Chelsea, and if I had to pick a player, it would probably be Deco, although Agbonlahor would run him close.

All in all a good start to the season!

Hat-tricks, own goals, and 32 goals all on the opening weekend!