Saturday review

Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool
Liverpool got their tricky first win of the season on the first day, thanks to a late Steven Gerrard effort. This is the sort of result they need to be keeping up. Little Martin will be please at how his side held one of the top teams.

Bolton 1-3 Newcastle
Big Sam proved a lot here - first, that he can buy some quality players, and second that he can still get miracles out of problematic players. Towards the end of last season Oba Martins and Charles N'Zogbia were upsetting the dressingroom and seemed to have little future; here they score 2 and 1, respectively. The unsightly war of words between Big Sam and Bolton Chairman Phil Gartside is underscored by Sam's absolute dominance of this match. And his favoured 4-3-3 was in evidence here with three centre forwards and two wingers.

Derby 2-2 Portsmouth
A good start for Derby with their tough squad; Pompey will be disappointed, if they are to push for Europe this season.

Everton 2-1 Wigan
A quality debut by Bramble, heading into his own net for Anichebe's goal, almost conceding a penalty and being at fault for the opener. Wigan are determined to buy relegation, despite what Sibierski's solid determination thinks.

Middlesbrough 1-2 Blackburn
Boro led for much of the match, hospitalised Benni McCarthy, but ultimately lost. I expect much of that to happen this season. Blackburn continue to fight and drag out victories.

Sunderland 1-0 Tottenham
Like Liverpool, Spurs need to lose their habit of starting terribly. They failed here, a dreary match capped by a late winner (by Newcastle reject Michael Chopra), in the vein of Sunderland's Quinn/Philips partnership ten years ago. Big Martin might need to rethink his midfield on the back of this, and Berbatov was disappointing. There's a real pressure on the young Spurs squad, the oldest players are 27. If the likes of Newcastle and Everton keep their form up, Spurs may struggle to break the Top 6.

West Ham 0-2 Man City
The big spenders faced up here, and Sven's continental surprise put West Ham back where they were last season. Many suspected the Hammers team spirit to haul them through this match, but without Tevez they are a potentially bad side.