Memorable Premier League opening day weekend goals

Jonathan Victoria • 16 Aug 2024 Features

Liverpool seems to love the first weekend of a new season.

A new Premier League season is almost upon us. All the training, transfers and pre-season warmup games have been in preparation for this weekend - undoubtedly the best weekend of Premier League football every year, opening day weekend.

Yes, that last sentence doesn't sound like it makes sense, but don’t focus on that, focus on these goals that we are presenting to you as they are our picks for some of the best we’ve ever seen on the opening day weekend (doubling down on it now).

From David Beckham to Hugo Rodallega, here are our top 10 most memorable Premier League opening day weekend goals of all time.

Annoyingly, we couldn't get a video for every goal, so for half of them you'll have to do with the beautifully worded description.

Jack Harrison

Liverpool 4-3 Leeds United, 12th September 2020

Mo Salah had already put Liverpool ahead in the fourth minute, but Harrison responded eight minutes later, bringing down a lofted ball to him way out on the left side.

He then cleverly dinked the ball past Trent Alexander-Arnold, cut inside, went through a charging Joe Gomez’s legs before slotting the ball home past Alisson’s near post.

It was a stunning goal that perfectly showed Marcelo Bielsa’s men were afraid of no challenge.

Reece James

Brighton 1-3 Chelsea, 14th September 2020

Credit: Reece James' SCREAMER vs Brighton | Goal Of The Day #shorts (chelseafc, YouTube)

Keeping on the same opening weekend, Chelsea’s Reece James decided to make his first goal as a Blues player one to remember.

Up against Brighton at the AMEX, he simply gets the ball played to him in the middle of the pitch, he takes one set-up touch into all the space he had on his right side and unleashes a wicked shot from around 30 yards that rocketed into the top corner.

It was a great way to start a season which saw them emerge as Champions League winners for the second time at the end of it.

Philippe Coutinho

Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool, 15th August 2016

Liverpool do love the opening day weekend, and 2016 perfectly shows that. It was the Reds' original seven-goal thriller, this time up against Arsenal.

Down by one with the halt time whistle soon about to blow, Liverpool drew a foul from around 30 yards out.

Up stepped Philippe Coutino, combining power and placement perfectly to put the ball past Petr Cech and into his top right top corner.

The much-needed goal helped Liverpool power through the half and produce more moments of brilliance, such as…

Sadio Mane

Arsenal 3-4 Liverpool, 14th August 2016

Credit: Sadio Mane's first Liverpool goal (Sky Sports Retro, YouTube)

That’s right, there wasn’t just one stunner from this game but two, this time from new signing Sadio Mane who took no time at all to introduce himself to Reds fans.

Already up 2-1 at this point, Mane had the ball played to him down the right side. He then used his speed and strength to blow by one defender as he started to cut inside, used skilful footwork to get by another defender, and then while essentially running away from goal hit an off-balance left-footed shot that simply glided into the far corner.

Ivan Campo

Bolton 2-0 Tottenham, 19th August 2006

A name that probably only the Bolton faithful will remember, Ivan Campo scored an audacious goal in a surprising 2-0 victory for the Wanderers over Tottenham.

A half-clearance from a Spurs defender fell to Campo, who was barely inside the Tottenham half, and he hit it with zero hesitation. The ball stayed low and flew towards goal, curling intensely away from the goalkeeper at speed to nestle into the bottom corner.

Steven Gerrard

Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool, 11th August 2007

Credit: Steven Gerrard - Magnificent goal VS Aston Villa (Daniel Škevin, YouTube)

One last Liverpool entry, this time from all-time great Steven Gerrard who did what he did best - hit the ball and made sure it stayed hit.

It was a free kick from roughly 30 yards out. Gerrard stood over the ball, eyeing up his target, before unleashing an inch-perfect shot that soared into the keeper's right-hand side corner. No stopping that one.

Zoltan Gera

West Brom 3-0 Liverpool, 18th August 2012

We’ve bigged up Liverpool enough during this, time to bring them back down a peg.

Another player pulled from deep in the memory bank, modern-day West Brom legend Zoltan Gera pulled off a sensational goal in a very surprising and emphatic 3-0 win over Liverpool on the first weekend of the 2012/13 season.

A West Brom corner is cleared by a Reds defender only to fall to Gera just outside the box. He brings the ball down with his chest, lets the ball bounce once, and even with a defender closing him out, he hits a clear volley that flies past the keeper.

Hugo Rodallega

Aston Villa 0-2 Wigan, 15th August 2009

Credit: Aston Villa 0-1 Wigan (Rodallega).mp4 (vadimlukomski, YouTube)

A true ‘streets will never forget’ player, Hugo Rodallega from Wigan Athletic was a menace in the Premier League for his four seasons in the Prem, especially so in the 2009/10 season.

And it all started with this outrageous strike. A hoofed ball upfield from a Wigan defender is flicked backwards by an Aston Villa player, only to fall for Rodallega, who let the ball bounce just once as he set himself for the volley from the outside corner of the box.

The ball looped and flew over the keeper's head and into the opposite side corner for the first of Wigan’s two goals in their 2-0 win at Villa Park.

Mario Stanic

Chelsea 4-2 West Ham, 19th August 2000

Not a household name by any stretch, Mario Stanic’s Chelsea legacy is basically this outrageous goal.

He gets the ball in no man's land roughly 35 yards out. He kicks it up, juggles with it for three touches before unleashing a wicked volley that flies past the near post into the corner.

It was an outstanding goal that came out of nowhere from one of the most unsuspecting players on the pitch, and for that, he gets all our respect.

David Beckham

Wimbledon 0-3 Manchester United, 17th August 1996

Credit: David Beckham scores from the halfway line against Wimbledon (Sky Sports Retro, YouTube)

This final goal of the list was completely unnecessary as it came in the 90th minute when United already had the game wrapped up. Beckham just did it because, well, he could!

If you didn’t guess already, it’s his iconic halfway-line goal. He sees the keeper off his line, he hits a perfect lofted ball with enough power that the goalie can’t get back in time, and all he can do is stand and watch it fly over and into the back of the net. 

Premier League on Sky Sports

The 2023/24 Premier League season gets underway on Friday as newly promoted Burnley takes on the reigning champions Manchester City (sounds somewhat familiar), the apprentice (Vincent Kompany) taking on the master (Pep Guardiola).

You absolutely won’t want to miss the opening day weekend of the season so be sure to get yourself setup with Sky Sports if you haven’t already so you can watch that game, as well as the late kickoff on Saturday, all of Sunday’s games, and the special treat Monday night fixture.

Check out the best Sky Sports deals and see which one takes your fancy. You can also add TNT Sports (BT Sports recently rebranded to TNT Sport) to your service so you won’t miss a single game of the season (provided you also have Amazon Prime for those pesky Christmas & New Year's games on the streaming service).

Rejoice all, Premier League football is finally back!