Will Chelsea and Arsenal be given time they need, long season ahead for Spurs, West Ham in trouble, a Palace surprise

Seven things we learned: A review of the opening Premier League weekend of the season as a new dawns broke in London but it was same old, same old in Manchester

With the first weekend of the Premier League in the bag, title favourites Manchester City and Liverpool got themselves off to perfect starts, while Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur all bagged a win to keep pace with the predicted front-runners.

There were also impressive victories for Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, but for Arsenal the new Unai Emery era got off to a losing start as they went a seventh consecutive league match against City without a win.

There were only two draws across the opening weekend as Premier League new-boys Wolverhampton Wanderers drew 2-2 with Everton in a frantic Saturday evening affair and Burnley and Southampton played out one of the more forgettable fixtures in a goalless draw at St Mary’s.

Both Fulham and Cardiff City suffered eye-opening defeats on their return to the top flight, while West Ham United sit bottom of the pile after a chastening 4-0 hammering at Liverpool as Mohamed Salah picked up where he left off last season.

Here’s seven things we learned from the Premier League weekend.

City the force we expected

Pretty much all pre-season predictions handed the Premier League title before the new season had even begun, and witnessing how they played against Arsenal without Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and captain Vincent Kompany in the side will make scary viewing for the rest of the league.

Arsenal had a 10-minute spell when they were on the front foot before half-time, but for the rest of the match they were comprehensively outplayed – most of it without De Bruyne, all of it without Kompany and Silva.

Once those players are fit and firing, City look like an unstoppable juggernaut that has been only strengthened by the addition of Riyad Mahrez over the summer. A victory over Arsenal was not the surprising part, but the sheer comfortableness of the win and the performance to go with it without three of their best players will be of grave concern to their nearest league rivals.

United find a way to win

Given what has gone on at Manchester United over the summer – namely doubts over Paul Pogba’s future, an underwhelming transfer plan and whatever was left of Jose Mourinho’s optimism flying out of his office window – seeing them emerge victorious from Friday night’s curtain-raiser was somewhat surprising.

The fact that Luke Shaw managed to score was a big enough surprise in itself, but United could have slipped to a defeat given it took them so long to kill off the contest with the second goal. Had Leicester found an equaliser between Paul Pogba’s third-minute penalty and Shaw’s effort 80 minutes later, the resolve of the United squad would’ve been truly tested.

But as it was United did what they had to do for the three points, and while tougher tests lie ahead of them, the summer at least feels a little bit further in the past.

Wolves are going to be entertaining one way or another

Wolves’ 2-2 draw with Everton was certainly one of the more thrilling contests across the weekend as they justified their billing in the Saturday evening kick-off selected by BT Sport. Perhaps there was a case to argue that had Everton not been reduced to 10 men in the first half when Phil Jagielka was sent off, the game would not have been so evenly contested, but in Ruben Neves Wolves have a player who looks as though he will give them a chance in any match they play.

The Portuguese midfielder – one of five from his country that featured in the Wolves starting line-up – recorded the highest number of passes and touches during the match and scored a lovely free-kick to drag the home side level following the challenge that earned Jagielka his red card for a foul on Diogo Jota.

Neves’ strike continues his impressive strike rate for goals outside of the penalty area, too, having scored seven since the start of last season that puts him ahead of any other player across the top four divisions. With individual talent like that in the squad, Wolves will be worth watching even if it all goes wrong this season.

Chelsea and Arsenal need time for transitions – but will managers get it?

Chelsea were able to cruise past a Huddersfield Town side that have been tipped as one of the three sides destined for relegation, but manager Maurizio Sarri was not about to get ahead of himself following the victory as he accepted it will take time to adjust the Chelsea squad to suit his demands.

That much was apparent too at the Emirates where a different style was implemented by the home side – one that involved a high defensive press and playing out from the back at all costs – something that nearly resulted in Petr Cech passing the ball into his own net when under pressure.

What’s clear from both clubs’ opening games is that while the two new managers in London have clear and obvious plans to implement, they will need the players suited to it. Mesut Özil may have run his heart out in a sight rarely seen under Arsene Wenger, but that type of football does not bring out the best in him and as a result the team suffer. Similarly to that Alvaro Morata went out to try and impress Sarri, but he simply doesn’t look like he fits the manager’s future plan. They will both need a number of transfer windows to resolve those issues, but while Arsenal are more likely to give Emery exactly that, Chelsea’s recent past suggests the complete opposite.

West Ham need more than time

If Chelsea and Arsenal need time to transition, West Ham need a miracle. They, like Arsenal, are looking to bed-in a number of new signings, but the way the back line failed to gel together in the slightest during the heavy defeat by Liverpool suggests they will need a lot more than a season together.

Three of the back five – including goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski – on Sunday were new to the club this summer, yet there was little to suggest that Ryan Fredericks and Fabian Balbuena, along with the Polish stopper, are good enough to see West Ham break into the top six. That is very much the aim this season after spending more than £90m in the summer transfer window, yet Liverpool brutally exposed their unfamiliarity and tactical ineptitude.

Playing a high line against Liverpool leaves all the space that Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino needed to exploit those issues. That suggests poor preparation for their opener, and once games start coming thick and fast and injuries take their toll, Manuel Pellegrini’s side may find themselves brutally exposed.

A long season ahead awaits Tottenham

Spurs picked up the victory they wanted to put a difficult season behind them but they did it the hard way, with Newcastle United having more than one opportunity to find a second equaliser and share the points at St James’ Park.

With Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Eric Dier all back from post-World Cup holiday and straight into the starting line-up, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino has a building problem on his hands. Does he choose to rest them at stages throughout the season, even though Spurs are battling on Premier League and Champions League fronts, or does he risk running them into the ground in the knowledge that there is not an awful lot of back-up in the rest of his squad?

Palace could be the surprise of the season

Much is expected of Wilfried Zaha this season as he continues to mature into one of the most much-watch individuals in the Premier League, but it was the professional performance from Palace that was perhaps the most impressive.

Their 2-0 victory over Fulham reminded the promoted side just how big the step-up is from the Championship, and with left-back Aaron Wan-Bassaka joining Zaha as one of their standout players, they look like a side that is beginning to put together a well-oiled unit. With Burnley facing the dreaded Europa League Thursday-Sunday schedule and the jury still out on a new-look Everton, could Palace be this season’s surprise seventh-placed finishers.