The most optimistic football fans did not expect that the start of the English Premier League would be fiery, with a match that witnessed 7 goals, and held breaths until the last minutes.

The opening match was between two champions: Liverpool (Premier League holder) and Leeds United (Champship champion).

Statistics reveal:

  • It is not the first time that the opening match of the Premier League has brought together the champion of the latter and a newcomer to the Premier League, as it has been 6 times in the past.

  • Salah is the first player from Liverpool to score in the opening match for the fourth consecutive season, and the second player in Premier League history after former English football star Teddy Sheringham.

  • The Egyptian star scored his 50th goal in 63 matches at the Reds' stronghold in the Premier League, becoming the second fastest player - after Alan Shearer (50 goals in 47 matches) - to reach this number of goals at Old Trafford.

  • Salah is the first player to score a hat-trick for Liverpool in an opening match in the tournament since John Aldridge against Charlton in the 1988-1989 season.

  • Liverpool won all of the last 35 consecutive Premier League matches in which Salah scored, and the latter outperformed the English star Wayne Rooney, who won 34 consecutive matches in which he scored (September 2008 and February 2011).

  • Dutch defender Virgil van Dyck has made two direct mistakes that resulted in two goals in the last four matches in the Premier League, more than the mistakes he made in the 154 matches he played in the Premier League.

  • The match against Liverpool and Leeds is the second opening match in the history of the Premier League with 5 goals in the first half after the Manchester United and Fulham match in 2006 (4-1 in the first half).