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Further bad news for Man City and Pep Guardiola after opening-day defeat

Pep Guardiola bench Man City Tottenham Aug 2021

History suggests City are unlikely to retain their title after a loss in their first match of the campaign but it is good news for Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool.

Manchester City's title defence got off to the worst possible start at the weekend when they went down 1-0 to Tottenham.

One match doesn't make a season (despite what Manchester United fans might think) but are we able to garner anything from the results from gameweek 1? Well, yes.

Planet Sport has looked through every Premier League season opening weekend to see how the eventual champions fared.

And recent form tells us that if you are to win the title, you win your opening match.

Not since Manchester United in 2013 have the champions not won their first game - Sir Alex Ferguson's last title triumph saw them lose their opening fixture to Everton.

Indeed going into the 30th Premier League season, only nine times have the champions not won their opener. And bad news for Manchester City, only three times have the eventual champions lost their first game.

The 1990s

92/93 Manchester United

The opening Premier League season saw Man Utd famously lose the opening game at Sheffield United, but they recovered to take the title.

93/94 Manchester United

United started the season in better style this time around with victory over Norwich in the opener.

94/95 Blackburn Rovers

The title came to Ewood Park but that famous season they started with a draw at St Mary's against Southampton.

95/96 Manchester United

Another title win for United but another less than perfect start, as they went down 3-1 at Aston Villa. This was the famous you don't win anything with youngsters synopsis from Alan Hansen. Oh how wrong he was.

96/97 Manchester United

Better from United as they romped their way to a 3-0 success at Wimbledon.

97/98 Arsenal

Arsenal managed to wrestle the title off United but they could not win their opener as they drew at Leeds.

98/99 Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson's men were back to winning ways and this was the famed treble season, but again their start wasn't great as they drew 1-1 at Leicester.

The 2000s

99/00 Manchester United

Another title, another opening day failure - this time as they drew at Everton.

00/01 Manchester United

Better from United this time as they opened up with a 2-0 win over Newcastle at Old Trafford.

01/02 Arsenal

A near-perfect start for Arsene Wenger's men as they romped to a 4-0 success at Middlesbrough.

02/03 Manchester United

United once again wrestled the title off Arsenal and they began again with a win as they beat West Bromwich Albion.

03/04 Arsenal

The famed Invincibles season so we know there was no defeat and they indeed started with a victory against Everton.

04/05 Chelsea

Jose Mourinho's first season was a great one as they won the title conceding just 15 goals in the process. And it all started with a brilliant opening success over Manchester United.

05/06 Chelsea

Chelsea defended their title, but it was not an easy start at Wigan. They did, however, manage to sneak a 1-0 success.

06/07 Manchester United

A dominant opening from United as they took the title back, recording an emphatic 5-1 win over Fulham.

07/08 Manchester United

A run of champions winning on opening day came to an end in 2007 as Reading claimed a memorable 0-0 draw at Old Trafford.

08/09 Manchester United

Another title, but again no opening weekend win as United were held again. This time it was Newcastle who took away a point from Manchester.

The 2010s

09/10 Chelsea

Carlo Ancelotti enjoyed his first season at Chelsea with the title win which began with a comfortable opening-day success against Hull City.

10/11 Manchester United

Back to title-winning ways for United and they started the campaign in fine fashion with a 3-0 victory over Newcastle.

11/12 Manchester City

Agueroooooo - yes, you know which season we are talking about. But did Man City start with a win? Indeed they did, a convincing 4-0 success against Swansea.

12/13 Manchester United

Sir Alex's final season and he wins the title, but it did not start too well, with defeat at Everton.

13/14 Manchester City

City regained the title and it began with a convincing victory over Newcastle.

14/15 Chelsea

Burnley away is not an appealing trip for some but Chelsea had no issues opening their season there on the way to title success.

15/16 Leicester City

Leicester's most unlikely of title triumphs began with a victory over Sunderland in their opener.

16/17 Chelsea

Chelsea's last title success came after an opening-day win over West Ham.

17/18 Manchester City

City took the title back and it began with a 2-0 victory on the south coast at Brighton.

18/19 Manchester City

A tough opener for defending champions City but they came through it, beating Arsenal 2-0.

The 2020s

19/20 Liverpool

The Reds claimed their first ever Premier League title, and it all began with a big win over Norwich - their opening-game opponents this time around.

20/21 Manchester City

Back to winning ways for Pep's men earlier this year and it came after an opening success at Wolves.

READ MORE: High Five: All of Mo Salah’s opening day goals for Liverpool

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