After sitting through nearly 3 months for Premier League action to return most years, the opening weekend can set the tone for what to expect for the new season.
It is the one weekend of the year where every single fan base believes this could be their year. The new signings are shiny, the kits are pristine, and the script is completely unwritten.
While many opening day fixtures can be cagey, tight affairs as players build up their match fitness, sometimes the footballing gods decide to bless us with absolute, unadulterated chaos right from the very first whistle.
To get you hyped for the new season, Striver.Football are looking back and ranking the top seven greatest opening day matches in Premier League history.
7. Chelsea 4-2 West Ham (2000-01)
A fiery London derby is always a good way to get the juices flowing and to top it off this match also had one of the best Prem debuts ever.
After Paolo Di Canio had canceled out Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s penalty, Gianfranco Zola edged Chelsea back in front with a trademark free-kick.
However, Croatian midfielder Mario Stanic stole the show. Making his first appearance for the Blues, Stanic flicked the ball up, juggled it three times on his knee to evade a defender, and unleashed an unstoppable 35-yard volley directly into the top corner.
It was a goal so outrageous it instantly secured his cult hero status at Stamford Bridge.
6. Sheffield Wednesday 3-4 Tottenham (1994-95)
If you are going to arrive in English football as a highly-touted superstar, this is how you make an entrance.
Tottenham Hotspur’s visit to Hillsborough was an action-packed welcome for their blockbuster summer signing, Jurgen Klinsmann.
Teddy Sheringham and Darren Anderton put Spurs 2-0 up before Wednesday fought back to level the tie.
After Nick Barmby restored the lead, Klinsmann rose to bullet a massive header into the net for the match-winning fourth goal. To top it all off, the German striker introduced his diving celebration to the English game.
5. Aston Villa 3-1 Manchester United (1995-96)
This match might be more famous for the post-game comments rather than the actual football, but it remains one of the most culturally significant opening days ever.
Sir Alex Ferguson fielded a very youthful Manchester United side featuring Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, and the Neville brothers, but they were absolutely torn apart by Aston Villa.
First-half goals from Ian Taylor, Mark Draper, and Dwight Yorke gave Villa a 3-0 lead. While a 20-year-old David Beckham scored a long-range consolation goal in the second half, the damage was done.
Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen famously declared, "You can't win anything with kids." United, of course, went on to win the Premier League and FA Cup double that season.
4. Arsenal 4-3 Leicester City (2017-18)
For the first time ever, the Premier League season kicked off on a Friday night and what a way to start it. It was a breathless, back-and-forth thriller at the Emirates Stadium.
New Arsenal signing Alexandre Lacazette scored just two minutes into his debut, but Leicester's Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy (with a brace) continually punished the Gunners' fragile defense.
Trailing 3-2 with just seven minutes remaining on the clock, Arsenal pulled off a miraculous late comeback. Aaron Ramsey struck an equalizer before Olivier Giroud powered a brilliant header in off the crossbar in the 85th minute to send the Emirates into absolute limbs.
3. Middlesbrough 3-3 Liverpool (1996-97)
We all know that Liverpool love to have a 3-3 thriller but this one was not to win the Champions League.
Middlesbrough welcomed Liverpool to the Riverside Stadium and gave their fans a debut they would never forget.
Stig Inge Bjornebye, John Barnes, and Robbie Fowler fired the Reds into the lead, but Boro’s new silver-haired Italian striker simply refused to be beaten.
Fabrizio Ravanelli announced himself to the Premier League with a sensational hat-trick, repeatedly dragging his new team back into the match.
He sealed the 3-3 draw with a rolled finish into the corner and celebrated by pulling his shirt over his head—a move that would be replicated on school playgrounds across the country for the rest of the decade.
2. Liverpool 4-3 Leeds United (2020-21)
The first opening day weekend in Lockdown had a lot to make up for and boy did it deliver. Leeds United returned to the Premier League with a performance that defined Marcelo Bielsa's tenure: fearless, incredibly entertaining, and defensively chaotic.
Traveling to Anfield to face the defending champions, Leeds went toe-to-toe with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
Every time the Reds took the lead, Leeds fired back, heading into halftime trailing 3-2 in a breathless opening 45 minutes.
Mateusz Klich leveled the game at 3-3 in the second half, and it looked like Leeds might secure a historic point until Mohamed Salah completed his hat-trick with a late 88th-minute penalty.
1. Liverpool 4-3 Arsenal (2016-17)
There's no better way to start a new season with two of the most successful teams in the country to face off as a litmus test.
When Klopp's heavy-metal football met Wenger's Arsenal, nobody expected a defensive masterclass, but the sheer quality of the goals earns this match the top spot.
The former Dortmund coach's first full season on the red side of merseyside had a lot of buzz around it and his style of play was definitely showing no sign of slowing down.
Arsenal took an early lead through Theo Walcott, but Liverpool responded on the stroke of halftime with a jaw-dropping, top-corner free-kick from Philippe Coutinho.
That goal sparked a devastating second-half surge from the Reds, who ripped through Arsenal with goals from Adam Lallana, Coutinho again, and an incredible solo run and finish from debutant Sadio Mane.
Arsenal fought back with goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Calum Chambers, but Liverpool held on for a 4-3 win that perfectly set the tone for the modern Premier League era.
Let us know the games you remember from the opening weekends in Prem history!
