The 2018/19 Premier League season is almost upon us and all 20 clubs will be hoping to get their campaigns off to a flying start.
But who boasts the best record in Matchweek 1?
Having won their one and only opening fixture, Huddersfield Town top the list. They beat Crystal Palace 3-0 last season.
But with many more matches under their belt, Manchester United are the true opening-day kings, a title they took off Chelsea last year.
United’s victory over West Ham United last season, combined with Chelsea’s defeat by Burnley, meant that they moved above the Blues in the table.
The Red Devils average 2.12 points per match, winning an impressive 17 of their 26 opening-day fixtures.
But a Chelsea win, combined with United not claiming three points, on the weekend of 11 August would return the Blues to the top.
Of the promoted clubs, Wolverhampton Wanderers boast the best record.
They have two wins from their four PL fixtures on opening day.
Their 1.5 points per match puts them in seventh, just ahead of Fulham, who have lost only four of their 13 MW1 fixtures.
Southampton supporters could be forgiven for hoping for an away fixture to start with.
They have seen their team win only two of 19 Matchweek 1 fixtures, both of which came on the road.
Watford, AFC Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion and promoted Cardiff City are still looking for their first PL wins on the opening weekend.
The Cherries have yet to record a point from their three openers so far.
Current PL clubs on Matchweek 1
| Club | P | W | D | L | Pts/match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HUD | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 |
| MUN | 26 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 2.12 |
| CHE | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 2.08 |
| LIV | 26 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 1.92 |
| ARS | 26 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 1.85 |
| MCI | 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 1.71 |
| WOL | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1.50 |
| FUL | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1.46 |
| WHU | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 1.41 |
| TOT* | 25 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 1.36 |
| EVE* | 25 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 1.24 |
| NEW | 23 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 1.22 |
| LEI | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0.92 |
| CRY | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0.89 |
| SOU | 19 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 0.79 |
| BUR | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.75 |
| WAT | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0.60 |
| BOU | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
| BHA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| CAR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
The Premier League is a corporation in which the member clubs act as shareholders. Seasons run from August to May with each team playing 38 matches (playing each other home and away). Most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. It is often known outside England as the English Premier League (EPL).
The competition was formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from the Football League, founded in 1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. The deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB and BT Group securing the domestic rights to broadcast 116 and 38 games respectively. The league generates €2.2 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. In 2014–15, teams were apportioned revenues of £1.6 billion, rising sharply to £2.4 billion in 2016–17.
The Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people. In the 2014–15 season, the average Premier League match attendance exceeded 36,000,second highest of any professional football league behind the Bundesliga’s 43,500.Most stadium occupancies are near capacity.
The Premier League ranks second in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons, as of 2018.
Forty-nine clubs have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992. Six of them have won the title: Manchester United (13), Chelsea (5), Arsenal (3), Manchester City (3), Blackburn Rovers (1), and Leicester City (1). Following the 2003–04 season, Arsenal acquired the nickname “The Invincibles” as they became, and still remain, the only club to complete a Premier League campaign without losing a single game. The record of most points in a season is 100 by Manchester City in 2017–18.