EPL Saturday: Six things we learnt on matchday 1 as Leicester were upset and City scraped through

It was a rather sedate opening day of the new Premier League season, at least, compared to the years gone by. There were no frenzied 3-2 finishes, no slew of red cards, no flurry of goals. Seven games were played, with wins and losses in four of them, including the surprise result in Leicester versus Hull.

The upset of the day came at the very beginning when Hull City surprisingly rolled over champions Leicester for a 2-1 victory at the KC Stadium. Hull helped Leicester create dubious history as the Foxes became the first defending champions in the history of the Premier League to lose a match on opening day.

The title triumph was great, and the celebrations at Jamie Vardy’s party even better, but an entire summer of cherishing what was once a pipe dream has passed. It’s down to business again, and Leicester will need to be up and running instead of basking in past glory.

Yes, it was only the first day of a brand new season, but there were several talking points and stories of interest across the League as some questions were answered, paving the way for new ones.

Teams can no longer be surprised by Leicester

It’s not a question of whether the champions played poorly on the day, but the respect that their opponents gave them. Hull were fully aware of the threat that Riyad Mahrez posed and often double-marked the Algerian on the wing.

Vardy, who fluffed his fair share of chances, was well-marshalled by the Tigers defence as new signing Ahmed Musa had to shoulder the main responsibility of the attacking play. Teams have a dossier marked "Leicester" now and Claudio Ranieri will have to find a new way to out-fox the opposition.

King struggles in Kante role

After the match, both Ranieri and captain Wes Morgan readily accepted the fact Leicester were second-best in most parts of the pitch. Before the match, we had asked who would fill N’Golo Kante’s small but powerful shoes.

Andy King was given the job again but was removed in the second half as the game completely passed the midfielder by. King struggled to make any impact whatsoever, as Danny Drinkwater was left to shield the defence.

King is a decent midfielder and a loyal club servant, but to ask a player who started just nine games last season to be your mainstay in midfield is surely too far-fetched.

Idrissa could be the Gueye for Everton

Last season, while Kante topped the charts for interceptions and tackles, Idrissa Gueye with 4.1 tackles and 4 interceptions per game stood second to Kante not only in the Premier League but across Europe’s top five leagues. It is important to remember that the 26-year old Senegalese central midfielder played for Aston Villa, a club which finished dead last.

Everton manager Ronald Koeman is known to be an organiser of defences. He will look to use Gueye to protect a defence which let in 55 goals last season, fewer than only five other clubs.

On Saturday, Gueye was imperious, chasing down balls, harassing the Spurs attackers, not allowing them an inch of space as Tottenham sought to push forward after an early set-back. Gueye made seven tackles, three more than anyone else on the pitch, and two interceptions as he and fellow new signing Maarten Stekelenburg kept Harry Kane, Eric Lamela and Co. to a solitary goal, speaking of which…

At the moment, Kane is not quite able

When Harry Kane became the first striker since Gary Lineker to score more than 30 goals for Spurs in a single season, hopes were high for the 23-year old, who was also expected to lead the line for England at the Euros.

After a confusing European tournament where Kane was force to take corners and free-kicks for Roy Hodgson’s men, the Tottenham striker looked sluggish and devoid of ideas against a well-marshalled Everton defence.

In his 90 minutes, Kane completed only 22 passes, the lowest of any player to have lasted the entire match, and lost the ball with a game-high six bad touches. But it would be foolish to write the Englishman off, as Kane won the Golden Boot last season after scoring only once in his first nine games. For now, Pochettino will keep the faith.

Mere Pep talk will not do

Pep Guardiola has a lot of work left to do, as Saturday’s narrow and fortuitous win over Sunderland showed. Against opposition that City were expected to comfortably beat, the hosts took an early lead but were ineffective in the final third.

All their domination – 76.9% possession, 678 completed passes versus Sunderland’s 188 – was sterile as City could only muster four shots on target, one of them being the penalty that gave them the lead. When Sunderland levelled the scores, it looked like City would have to settle for one point, but an own goal off an admittedly excellent cross saved the day for the Citizens and their new manager.

John Stones was partly culpable for Sunderland’s equaliser, and Guardiola’s plan to turn Stones into a new Gerard Pique is nowhere near fulfilment. That Manchester Derby on September 10 suddenly looks a lot closer.

City have a change of Hart

The biggest news coming through before kick-off was that Willy Caballero would start in goal for City. Rumours have been circulating all summer that the new boss was not comfortable with the idea of Joe Hart in goal. And so it proved against Sunderland.

The 29-year-old Englishman has enjoyed a long run in goal for club and country, but not with the utmost consistency. He had a terrible Euro and was partly responsible for England’s debacle against Iceland.

It was Manuel Pellegrini who had bought Caballero last summer as competition for Hart. Now, Guardiola seems to be driving the stake through the Hart as poor Joe’s days at the Etihad look numbered.

The Results

• Hull City 2 (Adama Diomande, Robert Snodgrass) beat Leicester 1 (Riyad Mahrez penalty)
• Burnley 0 lose to Swansea City 1 (Leroy Fer)
• Crystal Palace 0 lose to West Bromwich Albion 1 (Salomon Rondon)
• Everton 1 (Ross Barkley) draw with Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Erik Lamela)
• Middlesbrough 1 (Alvaro Negredo) draw with Stoke City 1 (Xherdan Shaqiri)
• Southampton 1 (Nathan Redmond) draw with Watford 1 (Etienne Capoue)
• Manchester City 2 (Sergio Aguero penalty, Paddy McNair own goal) beat Sunderland 1 (Jermain Defoe)