The Kelly Criterion: Things we learned from Premier League opening weekend

Frankly, it’s illogical to do so after one game of the new Premier League season.

But there are interesting pre-season questions that can now be answered with some confidence — small takeaways that can be helpful in our contemplation of the bigger, longer-term picture.

Answering questions early gets us ahead in the information game, and Friday night's curtain-raiser is a good place to start.

A Kompany man at Burnley

Burnley-Manchester City was an intriguing first fixture from the moment it was announced, perhaps the ultimate litmus test for Vincent Kompany and his footballing ideologies.

Not only did his Burnley team press hard, attempt to play out from the back under pressure and look to hold possession when possible against the reigning champions, but they were tactically flexible in the process, appearing far more astute than in a 6-0 defeat to the same side in March.

Conceding early did not dissuade Kompany's side from their principles, either, causing City problems in the opening half despite starting with six debutants.

Indeed, six of Burnley's seven high turnovers came in the first half, the Clarets just lacking the requisite composure to take advantage.

There is no shame in losing to this dominant Pep Guardiola City side, and having a distinct knowledge of who you are as a team will only serve Burnley well in the most challenging league in the world.

It also serves the watcher/punter well.

Kompany repeatedly stated his team would improve with every game and I tend to agree. The opposition only gets easier from this point and there are plenty of positives to be taken from their performance.

It's always nice to know you're on the other side of a Richard Keys take, too.

Positional answers provided?

If gaining valuable information is the incentive behind this column's very creation, confirmation of player positions and team roles can be vital in the early parts of the season.

Arsenal’s shape in possession was interesting in their narrow win over Nottingham Forest, but may be taken with a pinch of salt due to the opposition and absence of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel.

However, talk of Kai Havertz being used in a midfield role came to fruition. Mikel Arteta deployed him deeper despite being without Gabriel Jesus, choosing to play Eddie Nketiah up top.

Saturday was certainly a good day for debutants.

Newcastle's Sandro Tonali scored and was far more forward-thinking than anticipated in their big 5-1 win, while Moussa Diaby produced plenty of output for Aston Villa in a central support role to Ollie Watkins, netting his team's only goal and proving to be one of the few positives between the lines for Unai Emery's side.

New Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola deployed Philip Billing in a much more defensive role than the one he occupied last season under Gary O'Neil.

The Cherries did start their defensive actions far higher up the pitch against West Ham, though, and I'm keen to see Iraola's philosophies in action this season.

João Pedro started and scored for Brighton in an extremely bright debut, often drifting to the left side and creating huge issues for Luton when linking up with Pervis Estupiñán and Kaoru Mitoma.

Eberechi Eze was gifted room to roam as a 10 in Crystal Palace's dominant display at Sheffield United, logging 13 shot-creating actions in the match, more than any other player this weekend.

On Sunday, Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham looked predictably attack-minded and predictably shaky in defence in his first Premier League game in charge.

The Australian did invert his full-backs, Destiny Udogie and Emerson Royal, too.

Yoane Wissa accompanied Bryan Mbeumo on Brentford's forward line in Ivan Toney's absence, while their wing-backs, Aaron Hickey and Rico Henry, were given a fair bit of licence to get forward.

Not much to take from Stamford Bridge chaos

Mauricio Pochettino was adamant in his post-match comments that Levi Colwill was the left-back in a defensive four, with Ben Chilwell tasked with covering the inverting Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Chelsea's game against Liverpool was absolute chaos, however, and I wouldn't like to draw many conclusions from it, aside from the fact that Nicolas Jackson is Pochettino's man at the point of the Blues attack.

Hopefully these micro takeaways from opening weekend help with the macro.

And on that note, keep an eye out for The Kelly Bet later in the week, where I'll try to put the work to gain valuable information to good use!

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