English Premier League: 10 Things We Learned from Opening Week of EPL

Week 1 of the English Premier League is complete.

Already we've learned so much about the season to come as well as the 20 teams involved in it—much more than we did before the season began.

From the upsets to the expected dominance, here are 10 things we learned from the opening games of the English Premier League.

Robin van Persie's transfer from Arsenal to Manchester United was, and still is, one of the biggest talking points this summer, and it seems that life at the Emirates without him will take some time to adjust.

Santi Cazorla was excellent for the home side and whilst their attack did fail to produce a single goal, all hope is not lost for the North London club. Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud will find their feet in the EPL and they will reignite the Gunners attack in the absence of van Persie.

That will take time to happen, though.

Fulham's American star Clint Dempsey has been rumored to be making an exit over the summer transfer window (per FootballTransferLeague). The idea has concerned many, who feel that without him, the Cottagers would simply be another also-ran this season.

Their star player didn't feature against  Norwich City and Fulham ran out 5-0 winners, silencing their critics and dispelling any preconceptions about how they would go without Dempsey in their squad.

Fulham are more than fine without him this season should he a make a move, and if you're still not convinced, maybe you need to take a look at the Premier League table.

Newcastle United were without doubt the surprise package of last season, and they showed no signs of the second-year-syndrome in their 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs are one of the top sides this season, no doubt encouraging the Baggies that they can seriously compete for a top-four spot this season. Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse lead a strong attack and if Hatem Ben Arfa can get going also, there's no reason why those Champions League ambitions can't come to fruition.

Make what you will of Alan Pardew's momentary brain-snap, Newcastle are definitely a force to be reckoned with this year.

After making a move from Lille to Chelsea this summer in a deal worth £32 million (per BBC Sport), Eden Hazard naturally had a lot of expectation and pressure on him.

The 21-year-old was simply sensational on his debut for the Blues—setting up the first goal and winning the penalty for their second—and showed that he will become one of the premier strikers in the league this season.

He didn't look too fazed by the physical nature of the English game, letting his technical ability, skill and pace to do the talking as he won the praises of manager Roberto Di Matteo after just one outing for the European Champions (per BBC Sport).

Swansea City had a tumultuous offseason—losing their manager Brendan Rodgers and star midfielder Joe Allen to Liverpool, as well as star striker to Tottenham Hotspur—and it was thought that the Swans would struggle this year as a result.

A 5-0 victory to start the season isn't exactly what you'd call struggling.

They were dominant in attack against a poor Queens Park Rangers side, with new midfielder Michu definitely a player to keep an eye on this year. QPR are by no means the toughest side in the league, but a 5-0 drubbing is certainly a strong result and one that highlighted that Michael Laudrup's men are no walkovers this season.

Manchester City fans—and my fantasy team—suffered a huge blow when star striker Sergio Aguero went down with injury just 10 minutes into their match against Southampton. He left the field on a stretcher and is likely to miss around three to four weeks, according to The Telegraph.

His presence in the Citizens' attack was clearly missed, and the defending champions almost suffered a humiliating home defeat as a result of his injury.

Roberto Mancini still has a number of star strikers to call upon, but it will be interesting to see how Aguero's injury affects their chances against Liverpool, QPR, Stoke, Arsenal and Fulham—all of whom they play in the next month.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has urged fans to be patient this season (per The Guardian), stating that rebuilding the club will take time, but the fact remains that it could be a very long year for both Lambert and Villa fans alike if their opening round performance is anything to go by.

They lost to the newly promoted West Ham; a fixture they most likely would have seen as a winnable match.

With 37 matches to go, there's still plenty of time for Villa to pick up their game and compete in the EPL this year, but with Everton, Newcastle and Swansea up over the next three weeks, it is shaping like a horrendous start to the year and one that will take some work to recover from.

Everton fans were delighted last season when their club finished above rivals Liverpool in the Premier League ladder—something that I stated was going to happen again this year.

Liverpool suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss to lowly West Bromwich Albion whilst the Toffees took down title contenders Manchester United 1-0, dominating their opponents and showing that they are more than a mid-table club this season.

David Moyes' men look primed to repeat their performances from last year whilst Liverpool, despite a new manager and players, look primed to repeat theirs also.

Predicting the relegated teams every year is a tough ask and opinions are bound to vary, but one team that featured in most people's predictions was the recently promoted Southampton.

And whilst the Saints didn't pick up any points from their opening match, they showed that they are more than capable of being a competitive force this year. They pushed the defending champions on their home ground all the way, and were unlucky not to pick up a point.

There were plenty of disappointing teams in the opening week, but Southampton were certainly not one of them, and showed that they won't just be cellar dwellers this season.

With the arrival of Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa, many felt that Manchester United were the favorites for the English Premier League this season—even Roberto Mancini felt that the Red Devils were the favorites for the title (per The Independent).

After the opening week, it's simply not the case.

City showed that they can force out a tough win when they need it and they can get the job done even when things don't seem to "click". United, on the other hand, offered little in attack despite their new recruits and showed that they are very vulnerable at the back again this year.

Early days, I know, but there's simply no way that Manchester United are the title favorites this season. That honor falls to their noisy neighbors, Manchester City.

What did you make of the opening round of the EPL?

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