Premier League: What have we learned from every team’s first three games?

Manchester City and Liverpool have made the perfect start to the new season with a 100% record after three games, but things could not have gone any worse for Everton.

They are bottom of the table and are yet to pick up a point, but the international break offers teams the chance to regroup and reflect on their start so far.

Here, BBC Sport takes a look at one thing we have learned from every club in the Premier League after three games.

We’re all well aware that Erling Haaland is one of the best goalscorers around, but he’s come into this season looking better than ever.

Three games in and he has seven goals already – including back-to-back hat-tricks.

Despite joining Manchester City just two years ago he is hurtling towards 100 Premier League goals for the club.

Haaland is currently on 70 goals from 69 games and, on current form, you would not bet against him surpassing the landmark this season.

The Premier League champions, chasing their fifth consecutive title, will also get even stronger after the international break.

Key midfielder Rodri has yet to play this season after an extended break following Euro 2024, while England internationals John Stones, Phil Foden and Kyle Walker have featured just once.

Three games in and Liverpool, like Manchester City, have a 100% record so far in the Premier League, scoring seven goals and conceding none.

Replacing a legendary manager like Jurgen Klopp was never going to be easy but Arne Slot has done an excellent job of overseeing the transition, with the comfortable win against Manchester United really giving lift off to his reign.

Slot has became the first manager in Liverpool’s history to win his opening three league games in charge in the top flight without conceding a goal. A very impressive start.

Mohamed Salah, who has entered the final 12 months of his contract and said this is his „last year” at Anfield, has scored in all three games, highlighting his continued importance to the side.

Liverpool are not the only side settling well with a new manager, with Brighton having made a flying start under Fabian Hurzeler.

The 31-year-old is the youngest manager in the Premier League but has overseen wins against Everton and Manchester United along with a draw at title contenders Arsenal.

The stats have been impressive too – Brighton’s possession figure of 63.7% at Arsenal was the highest by a visiting side to the Emirates in the Premier League since Manchester City in January 2022 (71.2% – Arsenal also reduced to 10 men in that game).

The Seagulls’ 22 attempts on goal were also the most the Gunners have faced in a home league game since August 2021 against Chelsea (also 22).

Kai Havertz has long been considered by many to not be a striker and with good reason. He initially struggled to put away chances, or score the amount of goals that would be expected of someone leading the line.

However, with patience from Mikel Arteta he is starting to flourish in that role.

He has two goals from three games so far this season and has hit a total of 10 from 15 games playing in that position.

The Gunners, who finished second last season, have conceded just one goal this season coming in their 1-1 draw to Brighton,

Newcastle will be hopeful of a stronger challenge for the top four than last year and they have made a decent start to the season with seven points from their three games.

The Magpies’ two wins and a draw have come despite them not really playing well in any of the games, but their players are showing determination and desire in every game to secure the results.

Eddie Howe didn’t quite get the reinforcements he wanted during the summer transfer window, with Newcastle unable to get a deal done for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi.

But Howe has got the players he does have fighting for the cause and, with no European football this season, they have every reason to be optimistic of battling higher up the table again.

Brentford’s summer was dominated by questions about the future of Ivan Toney, but the Bees have shown there is life after the England striker following his departure to Saudi side Al-Ahli.

The Bees have won two of their three league matches so far, with Bryan Mbuemo scoring three times and Yoane Wissa twice.

Kevin Shade is also fit again after injury and summer signing Fabio Carvalho has added to their forward options.

Igor Thiago, seen as a direct replacement for Toney, is sidelined with a knee injury but will return later this year.

It has been another encouraging start to the season for Aston Villa with two wins away from home and just one defeat – at home against Arsenal.

But Villa had enough chances to beat the Gunners and the only concern for their fans so far has been Ollie Watkins’ lack of goals.

The England striker is yet to get off the mark this season. He has had plenty of chances to score but found goalkeeper David Raya in excellent form against Arsenal and was twice denied by Leicester keeper Mads Hermansen in the 2-1 win at Leicester on Saturday.

Watkins has not scored in the Premier League since mid-April but there’s no reason to be too worried yet. Last season he didn’t score in his first five games but then hit 19 in his next 27.

One of the games of the final weekend of Premier League fixtures before the international break was at Everton, where Bournemouth scored three times from the 87th minute to win 3-2.

The man who got the ball rolling for the Cherries as they recorded their first win of the season was Antoine Semenyo, who has had an excellent start to the season.

He has either scored (two) or assisted (one) a goal in all three of Bournemouth’s Premier League games so far.

It’s the first time he’s been involved in a goal in three consecutive appearances in the competition and, after Dominic Solanke’s departure in the summer, it will be crucial for their aspirations that other players step up in his absence.

After two seasons of struggle, Nottingham Forest will be hoping this is the year they kick on and re-establish themselves as a top-half Premier League side.

They have made a solid start with two draws and a win – a 1-0 victory at Southampton.

While they are yet win at home that win on the road could prove significant because it has been their away form that has let them down previously.

Last season they had one of the worst away records in the Premier League – losing 11 of 19 – but the Saints win was their third in a row away from home, suggesting a corner has been turned in that area.

Tottenham started last season well but faded at the finish, losing five of their last seven games.

One of the reasons for that late slump was a lack of options in attack following the departure of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich the previous summer.

Those issues have remained this season, with new £65m signing Dominic Solanke injured on his debut against Leicester and Richarlison either unfit or injured.

That has contributed to some poor finishing which cost them points against Leicester and Newcastle, an issue they hope will be rectified when Solanke returns to fitness.

It has been another busy summer at Chelsea, with 10 players arriving for £203m, 12 leaving for £150m and Enzo Maresca replacing Mauricio Pochettino as manager.

Maresca has looked to implement a new style but familiar failings remain, despite the high turnover in players.

It is an inconsistent, young team which is liable to miss chances and make defensive mistakes.

That is reflected in the two wins, one draw and two defeats in all competitions so far, though that includes progress to the Europa Conference League group stages and an impressive 6-2 win at Wolves.

This season marked a fresh start for Emile Smith Rowe as he left Arsenal to join Fulham.

Injuries curtailed his chances to become a key player in the Gunners midfield, but he will be hoping to achieve that at his new club.

He has played in all three of Fulham’s Premier League games so far, putting in an excellent performance in his home debut against Leicester and capping it with a goal.

Smith Rowe was not as influential in the 1-1 draw against Ipswich last time out but an inconsistent start is perhaps to be expected as he is still finding his feet.

It has been a summer of change for West Ham with a new manager in Julen Lopetegui and several new players.

Therefore it will probably take more than three games before we see the true West Ham, but the early signs have been encouraging.

They have also had a tough start, with games against two of last season’s top four and a Crystal Palace side that ended last season as the Premier League’s form team.

Lopetegui got his first win with a 2-0 win at Selhurst Park and against Manchester City last weekend, they were the better side for long periods in the second half, but were ultimately undone by Erling Haaland’s hat-trick.

An opening day win over Fulham was followed by back-to-back defeats against Brighton and rivals Liverpool.

Casemiro struggled against Liverpool, where he made two mistakes leading to goals, and manager Erik ten Hag will hope new £50.5m signing Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte can make a difference in midfield which is susceptible to counter-attacks.

The Red Devils are currently without striker Rasmus Hojlund, left-back Luke Shaw and £52m defender Leny Yoro, while Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee are still bedding in after joining in the summer.

With just two goals scored so far, United also need Marcus Rashford and the rest of the forward line to start firing.

Left-back also remains a problem position, with right-back Diogo Dalot beginning the season out of position.

It has hampered any attempt to bring cohesion to the partnerships from goalkeeper Andre Onana forward through the defence to the midfield.

Jamie Vardy made a dream return to the Premier League by scoring in his first game back as Leicester drew with Tottenham in their opening fixture.

At 37, he probably can’t be leaned on two heavily in the Foxes’ bid to stay up this season, but he has started all three league games so far, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 loss at home to Aston Villa at the weekend.

Vardy had just 20 touches of the ball in that game, the fewest of any outfield player, but with Odsonne Edouard signed from Crystal Palace on deadline day, it may be that he soon transitions into more of an impact player from the bench.

The Foxes’ successful appeal against a charge for breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules , which might have brought a points deduction, is a further boost in their quest to avoid an immediate return to the Championship.

Crystal Palace have made some good signings this summer but one of their biggest results of the window was to keep hold of Eberechi Eze.

The forward was a big player for the Eagles last season and is even more so now after Michael Olise departed for Bayern Munich.

Against Chelsea at the weekend, he scored a sublime equaliser, with a curled strike that very few goalkeepers would have been able to save.

The goal was Eze’s first of the season but he could easily have had three or four already, having had a goal disallowed and a shot hit the woodwork in previous games.

It has been a tough start to life back in the Premier League for Ipswich with Liverpool and Manchester City their opponents in their first two games, and unsurprisingly they both ended in defeat for the Tractor Boys.

However, last weekend’s game against Fulham provided a more realistic opportunity to give an indication of how competitive they could be this season, and the signs were encouraging.

They drew 1-1 but had chances to take all three points, with Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno made several important saves.

The performance was particularly impressive considering eight of the 11 who started played their football in the Championship last term.

Wolves played five at the back last season as Gary O’Neil led them to a 14th-place finish in the Premier League, but he has switched things up this term by playing 4-4-2.

That primarily is to enable new striker signing Jorgen Strand Larsen to play with a partner in attack, and in that sense it has worked with Norwegian looking impressive so far.

But the cost has been to the defence, which was ruthlessly exposed by Chelsea in their 6-2 win.

Wolves were more solid at the back in the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest last time out and now have the international break to further tighten things up.

Three games in and three defeats show that Southampton are currently struggling to adapt to being back in the top flight.

Russell Martin is known for playing an attractive, possession-orientated style of football and he is determined to stick to his principals, despite the poor results so far.

Burnley tried the same last season but ultimately went down, and with just one goal scored so far in their three league games, Martin will know things need to improve quickly.

Three new faces on deadline day brought their total summer signings to 14. That gives Martin plenty of options to choose from but may mean it will take time before he settles on a preferred starting XI.

Having battled against relegation in recent seasons, Everton fans will understandably have been hoping this year would be different.

However, the Toffees could hardly have made a worse start as they sit bottom of the table on zero points.

A victory was in their grasp at the weekend as they led 2-0 against Bournemouth with four minutes remaining, but capitulated to lose 3-2.

Until that late collapse Everton were the better side, but the Premier League is ruthless and the pressure will be mounting on Sean Dyche.

Additional reporting by Nizaar Kinsella and Simon Stone