Burnley kicked off the Football League calendar in 2022-23 in stylish fashion tonight as the Clarets earned a 1-0 win at John Smith’s Stadium against Huddersfield Town, earning new boss Vincent Kompany his first win on English shores.
Vincent Kompany’s Burnley get off to a flyer as they beat Huddersfield 1-0 to begin this season’s Championship. ⌚pic.twitter.com/EeoxM9nezV
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) July 29, 2022
Kompany has his work cut out for him this summer after his arrival from Belgian giants RSC Anderlecht after Burnley lost eleven players to the transfer market including James Tarkowski, Nick Pope, Nathan Collins, Wout Weghorst, Dwight McNeil, and Ben Mee.
But the Clarets responded with nine signings of their own and navigated the summer market in strong fashion when it came to the club’s accounts, and one of those summer additions – Chelsea starlet Ian Maatsen – bagged the only goal of tonight’s match to open his account on his debut while spending the season on loan at Turf Moor.
The first goal of the 2022/23 season 🤩
What a start to the Vincent Kompany era at @BurnleyOfficial! #EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/DMTqKsNm8U
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) July 29, 2022
Fellow summer signing Josh Cullen, who followed Kompany from Anderlecht, picked up the Man of the Match award for Burnley tonight after a dominant midfield performance, proving that the former Belgian international may have steered the ship expertly since his arrival.
Most impressively, Kompany has already instilled footballing principles that he was once a part of under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, with Burnley dominating 70% possession on the night while crafting 16-shots to Huddersfield’s 2 en route to completing 507 passes; the equivalent of 5.9% of their total passes during the 2021-22 Premier League season according to Squawka.
With 12-1 odds to achieve promotion back to the English top flight, Burnley has set a benchmark for those ahead of them, Kompany will be hopeful at already putting some distance between both Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion as both clubs are set to be in the thick of the fight for promotion and face-off against each other tomorrow evening.
But the Football League is. not the only focus this weekend, with the annual curtain raiser coming in the vein of the Community Shield clash between Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City set to take place at the King Power Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
Haaland’s debut or Nunez’s debut? 👀💭
Who’s Premier League debut are Jamie Carragher, Micah Richards, and Jamie Redknapp looking forward to seeing the most? ⚽ pic.twitter.com/YmxDR7iNcV
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) July 29, 2022
The major talking point between the budding domestic rivals surely comes down to official debuts for both Erling Haaland and Darwin Núñez after the pair of young strikers look to open their official club accounts after arriving on English shores in the summer.
With the leading Premier League title chasers set to put faith in their summer acquisitions in what could be two new names added to the race for the golden boot this coming season, the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, and Manchester United are hoping for strong campaigns in 2022-23 of their own as the new Premier League season is just one week away.
Arsenal is hoping new signing Gabriel Jesus can become the goalscorer the club was missing last season when the Gunners start their own campaign on Friday night against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Tottenham dynamic duo Harry Kane and Son Heung-min will look to continue their impressive partnership under Antonio Conte when Spurs clash with Southampton, while Manchester United and Chelsea will hopefully secure wins against Brighton and Everton respectfully as Erik ten Hag makes his managerial debut in England, and with Thomas Tuchel looking to close the gap to City and Liverpool on the back of credible summer business.
In what could be one of the most challenging and nail-biting Premier League season’s in recent memory, there have perhaps never been as many gifted managers that currently reside in the top flight of English football while the cadre of goalscoring superstars in the league should make for a show-stopping goalscoring race from start to finish.
As other storylines continue to take shape in the vein of Newcastle’s financial backing, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest’s combined summer transfer whirlwind, and whether or not Frank Lampard can improve on Everton’s near-disastrous 2021-22 campaign, millions of fans the world over wait with bated breath for the start of another season of the world’s most popular league competition.
