Premier League Matchday 2 has been and gone and the new season is already starting to shape up nicely. We haven’t had too many surprises in terms of results just yet but, as always, the Premier League continues to be filled with great drama. There are a host of talking points to go through as we go through our Premier League Matchday 2 review.

That includes victories for the big sides, red cards, VAR controversy and much, much more.

So, check out our Premier League Matchday 2 review as we summarise another fantastic weekend of English soccer. Did you know we give weekly picks for the Premier League? Sports Hub provides its users picks for English top flight action, allowing you to not only enjoy the soccer but to earn profits as well! 

We had plenty of high-scoring games during Matchday 1. The new Premier League season kicked off in style. The big teams managed to pick up victories, including Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United. Chelsea and Liverpool shared the points in their battle at Stamford Bridge, whilst Newcastle United inflicted a vehement triumph over Aston Villa. 

Here is the full list of results from Matchday 1:

 It wasn’t a good start to the season for the Premier League new boys as they all suffered defeats. Burnley, Luton Town and Sheffield United all lost on the opening day. 

Everton got off to a poor start as they lost 1-0 at home to Fulham. Head coach Sean Dyche is now in charge at Goodison Park in his first full season but it is a worrying beginning to the 2023/24 campaign. 

We had a fantastic game in West London as Brentford drew 2-2 with Tottenham. The new era at Spurs kicked off in an entertaining fashion. How will they deal without Harry Kane this term? 

Now that you’re up to speed with the opening Premier League weekend, it’s now time for our Premier League Matchday 2 review. 

Premier League Matchday 2 was yet to offer any real shock results but we are now starting to see some interesting trends that will be incredibly useful for bettors as the season progresses. Continue reading our Premier League Matchday 2 review to find out some useful betting tips!

Manchester City, Arsenal and Brighton are the only teams left to take full points from the opening two games of the season as they all found victories in Matchday 2. 

Ange Postecoglu got his first victory as the new Spurs boss as they defeated Man United 2-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It has not been a great start to the new campaign for Erik Ten Hag and the Red Devils. 

Here’s the full list of results from Matchday 2: 

Aston Villa bounced back from their 5-1 defeat away to Newcastle last weekend with an emphatic victory over Everton. Pressure is mounting on Dyche already and the Toffees continue to flirt with relegation. 

West Ham delivered a fantastic performance to defeat Chelsea 3-1 at the London Stadium. The Blues are without a win from their opening two matches, despite owner Todd Boehly spending close to £1 billion since taking over the club.

HALF-TIME West Ham 1-1 Chelsea

An exciting first 45 at London Stadium ends level thanks to Alphonse Areola's late penalty save#WHUCHE pic.twitter.com/KpnXrAnj7x

— Premier League (@premierleague) August 20, 2023

Two teams failed to play this week as the match between Luton and Burnley was postponed. Luton’s stadium – Kenilworth Road – is still not up to Premier League standards after their promotion from the Championship last term. 

We’re now all up to date with all of the results and outcomes from the Premier League so far. Now, our Premier League Matchday 2 review will take a look at some key trends so far that will be beneficial for bettors. It hasn’t been full of surprises just yet but it has still been an incredibly intriguing couple of weekends. 

We will be able to get a clearer picture of how the English top flight will look in a few more weeks. However, these opening weekends are still able to tell us a lot about how the season may unfold. 

Despite being just two weeks into the new season, we have already highlighted some key trends for the new season in our Premier League Matchday 2 review. 

We have already seen a lot of cards being handed out by Premier League referees so far. New rules indicate that players will be penalised for time-wasting and that has already played a big role. 

Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu dealt with that on Monday night. The Gunners were penalised for time-wasting as they took their time to take a throw in. Referee David Coote had already warned Thomas Partey and the rest of the team earlier on for taking their time. 

Despite Tomiyasu not specifically wasting time himself, he received a booking for taking too long to take a throw, essentially taking one for the team. Not long after, he received another yellow card for a foul on Andre Ayew and was dismissed by Coote. 

What does this mean for bettors? 

Since referees are seemingly handing out yellow cards more frequently, bettors should start taking a look at odds for cards. We saw a total of five red cards just in Matchday 2 alone and that has indicated that players will be penalised harsher this year. 

The Premier League was considerably more lenient than the rest of Europe’s top five leagues last season. However, with the new rules for time-wasting in play, we are likely to see a lot more cards, especially during the early part of the season. 

As ever, the Premier League has controversy surrounding the Video Assistant Referee. Our Premier League Matchday 2 review will take a look at some of the big decisions. 

Alexis Mac Allister red card 

Alexis Mac Allister received a straight red card for a tackle on Ryan Christie in the second half. After a VAR review, the decision still stood. Both head coaches in Andoni Iraola and Jürgen Klopp agreed that the red card should not have stood. 

Arguments remain about intent and force. Since Mac Allister led with his studs, he effectively endangered Christie and so the red card decision was not overturned by VAR. It remains to be seen whether Mac Allister will receive a three-game ban, with Klopp set to appeal the red card decision. 

No penalty for Cristian Romero Handball 

Penalties and handballs remain at the centre of controversy in the Premier League. VAR decided not to award a penalty as the ball struck Spurs defender Romero following a shot by Man United’s Alejandro Garnacho. 

The Premier League is remaining lenient with these decisions and this would have been awarded in the rest of the top five leagues. The decision was made not to award the penalty since Romero was too close to the strike. However, we have seen these decisions given before and the subjectivity of the matter continues to prove confusing for players, coaches and fans.

High-scoring games are a clear trend. Our Premier League Matchday 2 review will analyze this trend below. 

In Matchday 1, we saw five out of ten games have over 2.5 goals. We also saw six games where both teams scored in them. Looking at Matchday 2, six out of the nine matches had over 2.5 goals. Four of the nine games saw both teams score. 

The following teams have seen both teams score in each of their two opening fixtures: 

The following teams have seen over 2.5 goals in each of their two opening fixtures: 

• Nottingham Forest 
• Aston Villa 
• Brentford 
• Brighton

What does this mean for bettors? 

Being able to identify teams that have high-scoring trends will allow bettors to make the most out of Premier League betting markets such as “both teams to score” and “over 2.5 goals”.  

For example, Brighton and Nottingham Forest have seen over 2.5 goals in each of their opening two matches, as well as both teams to score. Brighton, in particular, score a lot of goals themselves but they are also susceptible to conceding. This makes Brighton a good candidate. 

Nottingham Forest certainly have the ability to score goals, despite usually being considered the weaker team in matches. Nevertheless, they could be a good team to bet on for high-scoring games. 

With more injury time being added on by referees this season due to time-wasting, that also means that games will likely see a lot more goals. High-scoring games are likely to be a trend for the 2023/24 Premier League season. Therefore, bettors should look to the “both teams to score” and “over 2.5 goals” markets.