One team has installed three rows of new seats, another has a new corner-taker and one side began the 2025-26 campaign by deliberately smashing the ball out of play.
Yes, the Premier League is back and on the opening weekend we asked our reporters in addition to covering the games and the new signings to look out for what else was new about each club.
This is what they saw.
Heinze at Arsenal
There was a familiar name for Manchester United fans among the Arsenal staff at Old Trafford this weekend: Gabriel Heinze.
After Carlos Cuesta left Arsenal to take up the head coach position at Parma, Mikel Arteta turned to the former Manchester United defender as his new assistant. 47-year-old Heinze has been a manager himself at the likes of Velez Sarsfield and Atlanta United. Now he finds himself working alongside Arteta — a friend of more than 20 years.
Heinze is an extremely vocal presence, and was seen leading the defenders through their warm-up. While Arsenal’s attackers practised final third drills based around chance creation and finishing, Heinze was pitting the back line against each other in a series of one-on-one duels.
Heinze has already made a big impression at Arsenal, and as a former defender himself has spent some time working with the back line. He’ll have been delighted that Arsenal were able to keep a clean sheet against his former club.
James McNicholas
Aston Villa’s improved No 2
There has been a small refresh in Unai Emery’s backroom staff this summer. Albert Carbo, who had left Villa to join sister club Real Union as manager last season, is back as a first-team coach. Meanwhile, well-liked set-piece analyst Jose Rodriguez Calvo has moved to Real Sociedad.
On the pitch, the only new aspect was goalkeeper, Marco Bizot. In Emiliano Martinez’s suspended absence, the 34-year-old was the one summer signing to feature — forward Evann Guessand was an unused substitute — though was arguably Villa’s best player and appears a notable upgrade on previous deputy No 2, Robin Olsen. In truth, the lack of discernible change is symptomatic of Villa’s toils to rejuvenate the squad as much as they would have liked.
Jacob Tanswell
(Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Bournemouth’s centre-backs
It was a different-looking Bournemouth that arrived at Anfield due to departures, replacements and injuries but Andoni Iraola’s side were their usual intense, physical selves, mounting a comeback from two goals down before losing late on.
It’s a testament to Iraola that his side’s identity remains even with the sweeping changes in the back line after four of their starting back five, including the goalkeeper, left in the summer.
On the surface, conceding four goals does not sound good, but the individual displays of two of the summer signings, centre-back Bafode Diakite and left-back Adrien Truffert, were encouraging.
Diakite looked physically ready for the Premier League, despite only signing two days before the game. Truffert is likely to make Bournemouth fans forget about outgoing Milos Kerkez quickly as he kept Mohamed Salah relatively quiet and played his part in attack too.
Andy Jones
Brentford’s set pieces
“To concede only two Premier League goals from set-pieces all season — three fewer than any other team in the division — was a stunning achievement,” read the end-of-season analysis on Brentford’s own website. “Keith Andrews,” it said, “has put his stamp on the Bees in his first season as set-piece coach.”
Andrews is now the club’s head coach and so it was even more unfortunate that away at Nottingham Forest they conceded to the first corner they faced.
They did at least win a penalty from a corner kick of their own in the second half but by then the game was long gone.
“Set-pieces were always going to be a threat,” lamented Andrews after the game, and he should know.
Jay Harris
(Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
Brighton’s safe standing
Brighton have introduced safe-standing rails at the Amex Stadium.
They have created 2,054 safe-standing positions in the rear portion of the North Stand, the end for home supporters.
The area is ticketed and fans have been warned they will put their season ticket at risk if they try to enter without the appropriate ticket.
If it works well and there is enough demand, the plan is to expand the area.
They are also considering the installation of safe standing for visiting fans when they are moved to the south-west corner for the 2027-28 season.
Depending on demand, the area behind the south stand goal where away supporters are currently situated could become safe standing as well once they are relocated.
The club resisted calls by some fans for safe standing until a survey last year showed four out of every five of those with tickets in the back section of the North Stand were in favour of it.
Andy Naylor
Burnley’s back five
With Scott Parker wanting more flexibility in his tactical set-up entering the new campaign, Burnley have been using both a back four and a back five in pre-season.
Despite setting defensive records in the Championship using a back four, Parker opted for a five-back system on the opening day against Tottenham Hotspur. New signings Kyle Walker (right centre-back) and Quilindschy Hartman (left wing-back) formed part of the new look back line, joining Oliver Sonne (right wing-back), Hjalmar Ekdal (centre-back) and Maxime Esteve (left centre-back).
While there were encouraging elements of Burnley’s performance, forcing Tottenham into errors from their pressing, the defence looked like a work in progress. Richarlison’s two goals saw him unmarked in the box and they were pulled out of shape for the third goal.
It remains to be seen whether Parker returns to a back four in their next game at home against fellow promoted side Sunderland.
Andy Jones
Chelsea’s world champions nods
It had only been 36 days since Chelsea became champions of the world when they beat Paris Saint-Germain to lift the Club World Cup, but Stamford Bridge’s appearance had already changed to reflect the club’s new lofty status.
A huge ‘world champions’ sign has been erected onto the outside of the West Stand near the Peter Osgood statue, while dozens of fans were seen sporting new Chelsea shirts with ’25 world champions’ on the back.
They can also have their picture taken with the Club World Cup trophy at Stamford Bridge, a stadium now rebranded as ‘London’s home of trophies’ by the club.
Supporters continued the theme during the match on Sunday with “we’ve won it all” a chant heard on repeat for much of the afternoon. Still, there was nothing like a 0-0 draw at home against Crystal Palace to bring everyone back to reality.
Tim Spiers
(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Crystal Palace’s other summer signing
Palace’s summer business has been quiet, with only Walter Benitez and Borna Sosa arriving. But there has been an addition elsewhere, with Oliver Glasner bolstering his backroom staff with James Holland.
The pair worked together at LASK in Austria for two years, with Holland a commanding midfield presence under Glasner’s management.
Holland, a 36-year-old who was capped 17 times by Australia, will bring something fresh to Palace’s coaching set-up and will help take individual meetings and offer tactical input.
“James retired only a year ago so he’s closer to the players’ mindset,” Glasner said in his press conference before Palace’s opening Premier League game against Chelsea.
“I wanted to add one more coach. James is such a great guy, he played for me in his last years as a player and he is a native (English) speaker.”
Matt Woosnam
Everton’s warm-up man
Not much new about the Everton team or setup in the disappointing 1-0 defeat by promoted Leeds United on Monday night. Only one summer signing, midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, started the game at Elland Road, with fellow new additions Jack Grealish and Thierno Barry handed cameos.
There have been a couple of changes in the dugout though. Set-piece coach Charlie Adam has left to pursue his own managerial aims, and is yet to be replaced. Meanwhile, new head of sports science Nick Davies led part of the warm-up in west Yorkshire. Davies worked with manager David Moyes at West Ham United and left Tottenham Hotspur over summer.
Patrick Boyland
Fulham’s rare corner goal
A starting XI full of familiar faces, Rodrigo Muniz reprising his super-sub role, a hard-fought result away at Brighton — on the surface, little has changed for Fulham.
Even Marco Silva’s coaching staff remains the same, despite the club posting a job advert on its website for a set-piece coach over the summer. Last season, only Southampton and Leicester City (three each) scored fewer Premier League goals from corners than Fulham’s four. It marked a sharp drop for Silva’s side, who had ranked fourth and eighth for corner goals in the two previous campaigns.
Muniz’s equaliser, slammed in from Harry Wilson’s corner, hinted that Fulham could again be turning dead balls into a valuable weapon.
Justin Guthrie
(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Leeds United’s playlist
The Premier League anthem is not known for its popularity. It has been absent from Elland Road’s running order for a couple of years and, based on Monday’s reception, it has not been missed.
The soundtrack to the teams’ handshakes took an absolute battering from the supporters inside the ground. The requirement for Leeds to play it, like everyone else, meant a reshuffling of the pre-match playlist in the summer.
‘Leeds, Leeds, Leeds’, the song best known for its iconic ‘marching on together’ lyric, has traditionally been played as the teams walk out from the tunnel. However, it would have been trimmed to 30 seconds if it stayed in that slot because of the league’s anthem during the handshakes.
Like Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, Leeds shifted their uplifting war cry to the clear slot between handshakes and kick-off. It meant the entire song could be played as the two teams went through their final drills and huddles.
After a two-year wait to get back to the top flight, it brought Elland Road to life with a rousing rendition that ultimately paved the way for a 1-0 opening-night win.
Beren Cross
Liverpool’s new backroom team
For all the focus on the four new faces in Liverpool’s starting line up, Arne Slot’s backroom staff has also undergone a significant summer makeover.
There was the sight of Giovanni van Bronckhorst helping to put the players through their paces during the warm-up at Anfield. The former Rangers boss joined the club in June as a replacement for assistant coach John Heitinga, who left to become head coach at Ajax.
Van Bronckhorst has some big boots to fill as Heitinga’s contribution to Liverpool’s Premier League title triumph was significant, including acting as a mentor for Ryan Gravenberch.
Like Heitinga, Van Bronckhorst will be tasked with doing plenty of one-to-one coaching. It’s early days but the dynamic seems to be working well.
The 50-year-old Dutchman had been without a club since parting company with Turkish outfit Besiktas last November. Despite a decade of experience as a manager, he jumped at the chance to join Liverpool’s staff when he was approached by Slot.
There was also the return to Anfield of a familiar face in Xavi Valero, who replaced Tottenham-bound Fabian Otte as Liverpool’s head of first-team goalkeeper coaching last month.
Valero previously worked for the club during Rafael Benitez’s reign before being part of the Spaniard’s staff at Inter, Chelsea, Napoli and Real Madrid.
He’s supported in the new set-up at Liverpool by Colin Stewart, who arrived from Rangers to become goalkeeper development and pathway lead. Stewart has effectively replaced Brazilian legend Claudio Taffarel, who was keen to return home to South America this summer after four years of service on Merseyside.
James Pearce
Manchester City cut the passes
Pep Guardiola’s three senior assistants have all changed.
He was deep in conversation with Pep Lijnders at various points, while James French was out on the edge of the technical area at every set piece and Kolo Toure was out ushering his defenders be calm during a difficult 10 minute spell in the first half.
Tijjani Reijnders provided a new celebration to become familiarised with but the biggest difference was in how direct City played.
Not in the sense of launching the ball long, but in trying to play forward in as few passes as possible rather than always seeking death by a thousand passes.
It could be a definitive evolution.
Jordan Campbell
Manchester United’s new corner-taker
The number of coaching staff during the warm-up was notably smaller compared to last season. Two rounds of mass layoffs under the INEOS regime have had visible effects on United’s pre-match routines. The club opted to go without stadium music 15 minutes prior to kick off on Sunday, in an attempt to handover the matchday atmosphere to the Old Trafford crowd. The Stretford End responded in kind with full voiced singing and a parade of new flags.
On the field, Bryan Mbeumo has taken over corner kick duties on the right hand side from Bruno Fernandes. His left-footed, inswinging deliveries were primarily aimed towards Casemiro and Leny Yoro. Yoro himself was encouraged to get forward with the ball on multiple occasions during the game, including a moment in the 24th minute where Mbeumo made a large sweeping gesture with his left hand to tell the Frenchman to dribble into Arsenal’s half. Significant ball progression responsibilities will be handed to Yoro and Patrick Dorgu this season. These are two young players to watch.
Carl Anka
(Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
Newcastle’s kick-off routine
From the centre-circle — and the first kick of the match — Sandro Tonali launched the ball forward and to the left and found touch near the corner flag. As portents go, after a testing summer for Newcastle, this did not look altogether positive. Aston Villa fans jeered.
As it turned out, this was a deliberate strategy, one that Paris Saint-Germain have deployed recently. It allowed Eddie Howe’s players to immediately press high and pressurise Villa deep in their own territory, a tactic which caused Unai Emery discomfort throughout the match.
It was not the only new set-piece routine that Newcastle showcased, albeit it was very much a case of early days and work in progress. Not many of them paid off, but there was a clear sign of doing things differently and with the club appointing Martin Mark as a specialist set-piece coach this summer, we should expect more of it.
George Caulkin
Nottingham Forest’s new seats
Forest unveiled two of their three new additions — Omari Hutchinson and James McAtee — on the City Ground pitch before kick-off, while the third, Arnaud Kalimuendo, was in the stands, as he waited for the final details of his move to be confirmed.
While Nuno Espirito Santo still continues to preach the need for urgency over further additions to his Forest squad, Nottingham Forest have been restructuring the City Ground stadium.
Three new rows of seats — a total of 213 — have been added at the front of the Peter Taylor Stand, to increase the capacity of the stadium to just over 30,600.
The two giant stars, celebrating Forest’s European Cup wins, that previously stood outside the players’ entrance, have been removed — to make way for a newly built media mixed zone area and warm-down gym for the players.
Paul Taylor
Sunderland’s eight debuts
What was new for Sunderland? What wasn’t?
The Stadium of Light has had a summer glow-up after promotion out of the Championship in May, with concourses redesigned, new hospitality areas unveiled and a new media centre opened. The main stand, too, has been renamed as the Jimmy Montgomery Stand in a tribute to the club’s most loved goalkeeper and hero of the 1973 FA Cup final.
But the opening day was as much about the team Sunderland want to be in the Premier League. Eight of the club’s 12 summer signings made their first appearances in the 3-0 victory over West Ham, which amounts to a club record number of debuts in the same fixture.
Sunderland have never known a shake-up of personnel like this one in their 146 years and there is still scope for more with a fortnight of the transfer window remaining.
Phil Buckingham
Tottenham’s coach’s touchline behaviour
Thomas Frank brought a healthy complement of new staff along with him from Brentford, most of whom were visible around his technical area at different times. But it was the Dane’s behaviour on the touchline that was the most noticeable difference compared to his predecessor.
Save for a few more animated instances, when Ange Postecoglou stepped out of the dugout and into his technical area it might be to offer one or two bits of tactical direction to the near-side full-back or stand, watching on, with his arms crossed. Frank, on the other hand, buzzed up and down the technical area throughout the match, barking directions to his players and interacting with his team of coaches.
One of those players was Archie Gray, whom Frank started in defensive midfield in his first Premier League game. Gray starting as a No 6 for Tottenham is not entirely new as he deputised in that position on a few occasions under Postecoglou, particularly as the Australian began resting his starters in the Premier League with an eye on their eventual Europa League triumph. Still, putting that trust in Gray for his first Premier League game in charge felt significant and potentially indicative of a general willingness to hand young players the opportunity to impress.
Elias Burke
(Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)
West Ham’s new goalkeeper worry
The West Ham United supporters who left the Stadium of Light long before the final whistle will have bemoaned the familiarity of it all. A summer to fix the problems but there Graham Potter was, still left to largely play the hand he inherited halfway through last season.
And one of the few new faces did little to bring reassurance. Mads Hermansen was signed as West Ham’s new No 1, costing £18million from relegated Leicester City, but conceded three goals in a second-half collapse.
The last of those, in particular, ought to have been saved. Wilson Isidor’s shot was unthreatening enough but Hermansen’s attempts to push it around his post were fluffed, allowing the ball to bounce tamely into the corner. The opener, a looping header back across goal, was another that a more agile keeper might have stopped.
Hermansen — and West Ham — has to be better.
Phil Buckingham
Wolves’ new head of football operations
It was not exactly a surprise, given that Wolves had announced the appointment of additional backroom staff at the beginning of pre-season.
But in the opening game of the season against Manchester City the change in dynamic was clear.
Whereas during Vitor Pereira’s successful fight against relegation in the second half of last season, only he and assistant head coach Luis Miguel were seen regularly in the technical area, on Saturday there were appearances from new faces Bruno Moura and Filipe Almeida, who joined at the start of the summer.
That, and the absence from the directors’ box of former sporting director Matt Hobbs, was a clear sign that Pereira is now very much front and centre when it comes to Wolves’ football operations.
Steve Madeley
