<strong>The Premier League's opening weekend</strong>

The premier league season has now officially kicked off!

This season's premier league has finally begun. The PL commenced one week earlier than the 2021/2022 league did last year, giving players an 11 week break between seasons. However, for the first time ever, we will see the premier league pause mid season to accommodate the World Cup in the winter in Qatar.

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The league will then commence once again on Boxing Day and play through until the end of May 2023. Another change in place this season will include the return of five substitutes, which was originally a temporary measure during the pandemic.

The transfer window for the premier league opened in June and will remain open until Thursday 1st September. Meaning there is little time left for teams to secure player contracts.

Fans gathered to celebrate the PL opening weekend, which took place from Friday 5 August and began with Crystal Palace vs Arsenal at the Selhurst Park stadium in London. It was predicted that a number of goals would be scored, given that the teams have scored more than 2.5 goals in four of the last six games they have played together.

Despite Crystal Palace winning 3-0 in their last match with Arsenal, The Gunners were the clear favourites and did not disappoint, scoring 2-0 in the Friday night match.

We saw a mixed bag of results in the opening weekend

In the two days that followed, nine more matches were played at stadiums in London, Liverpool, Leicester, Manchester, Bournemouth, Leeds and Newcastle.

Fulham v Liverpool was the first match on Saturday and ended in a 2-2 draw. Man of The Match, Mo Salah reminded Liverpool why he is the most expensive player in the 2022/2023 season, making a strong impression in the 81st minute with a left footed shot from the middle of the box, straight down the middle of the goal.

Next was Bournemouth v Aston Villa and with Bournemouth being newly promoted, it was predicted the Villa would take over this match. However, to the surprise of many Bournemouth defeated Villa in a 2-0 win, with Lerma scoring just two minutes into the game and Moore in the 80th minute with an assist from Lloyd Kelly.

What was perhaps the most eventful game of the weekend took place on Saturday at the Spurs home grounds with the team playing Southampton. Southampton's James Ward-Prowse may have been the first to score but Spurs came fighting back with the result being a three-goal margin.

Ryan Sessegnon scored first with a header, before Eric Dier scored his first goal for the club in three years. Mohammed Salisu then put one in the net in the second half, followed by an impressive final goal from Kulusevski. This was the first premier league match that Spurs have played in Tottenham at 3pm on a Saturday since they beat Burnley 5-0 in December 2019.

On Sunday, Leicester City went head-to-head with Brentford. All was looking good for Leicester; they were two points in the lead with half hour left to play when Ivan Toney scored in the 62nd minute and substitute Josh Dasilva made a comeback with a header.

Also on Sunday, Brighton surprised bookmakers, winning 2-1 against Manchester United, and Manchester City beat West Ham as expected.

Also read: Manchester United vs Liverpool: Premier League Match Preview, Predicted Line-ups and Dream11 Predictions

What are the predictions for this premier league competition final?

The most obvious choice for the premier league title this season is Manchester City and their odds have only gotten better following their fantastic performance during the opening weekend. Liverpool are also firm favourites and last won their premier league title with Klopp in 2019.

With the ownership transition and transfer of Antonio Rudiger, times are looking a little uncertain for Chelsea. However, their performance over the last two seasons has made them strong contenders behind Man City and Liverpool for the PL trophy.

Outside favourites Arsenal are also in with a fair chance this season too. New signing Gabriel Jesus has provided the team with extra firepower and Mikel Arteta's management style is being praised by many.

Also, in with a good chance is Manchester United with their new manager Erik ten Hag, even without their top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Placing bets on premier league results

Many football fans will place premier league bets to add another level of excitement to watching the upcoming matches. To get the best odds, punters usually place bets at one of the many online sports betting sites for the PL champion at the beginning of the season

There are a variety of different betting options for punters to select from, depending on when they are making the bet and what their personal preferences towards betting are. The most common bet type is the full-time result bet, but bet makers can also select a football accumulator, half-time result, total score, correct goal number, last goal scorer and many other options.

At this point in the league, it is of course all still to play for. The odds of each team winning will change over the coming weeks as teams play and hope to climb the league table.