Top 5 Premier League matchday 1 upsets
The 2016-17 edition of the Premier League kicks off with some exciting matches. While Everton are set to host Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool travel to Arsenal and Chelsea welcome West Ham on matchday 1 of the new season. While the excitement is shooting through the roofs already, the bigger teams that play “supposedly” weak teams must be cautious as there have been numerous instances where they have slipped on the very first day of the season.
In this segment, we bring to you 5 biggest upsets on the opening day since the league’s inception in 1992.
Sheffield United 2-1 Manchester United 1992
Having missed the League title in the 1991-1992 season by 4 points, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United were expected to mount an even more tenacious challenge for the newly instituted Premier League title. However, things did not go as per plan for the Red Devils on the opening da,y as they lost the game 2-1 to Sheffield United, a side which had finished 9th in the previous season.
Sheffield United had only won once in over 15 years preceding the match and the opening fixture was believed to be a walk in the park for the mighty Manchester club. Brian Deane played the wrecker-in-chief for Sheffield as he scored in the 5th minute and then went on to grab a second early in the 2nd half dealing a blow to United’s aspirations. While Mark Hughes did pull one back for Manchester United in 61st minute, it did not save his club from suffering a shock defeat on the opening day.