Paris Saint-Germain head coach Christophe Galtier confirmed Kylian Mbappe's absence from their Ligue 1 opener was precautionary, with the star striker set to return next week.

The France international sat out the first game of PSG's title defence just under a week on from missing their Trophee des Champions triumph over Nantes.

Mbappe's absence was not particularly felt on Saturday, as a Lionel Messi double and a superb four-goal-involvement performance from Neymar helped PSG to a 5-0 rout of Clermont Foot.

But speaking to Canal+ afterwards, Galtier has assuaged fears the 23-year-old could be a long-term absentee, acknowledging he could have risked him had it been a high-stakes game.

Asked if Mbappe could be back next weekend, Galtier said: "Yes, I think so. He had a little problem, [and] we didn't want to take any risks.

"Obviously, if we had been playing a difficult game or a Champions League game, Kylian might have participated.

"We preferred to delay his return and he will be with us obviously, I think, against Montpellier."

PSG will play their first home game of the season against Montpellier next Saturday, with the club hoping to make it three competitive wins on the bounce under their new boss.

The Premier League kicked off on Friday as Arsenal beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, but the first Saturday of the season always feels like the real curtain raiser.

An unusually early August Saturday saw some surprise results, with Liverpool forced to come from behind twice to rescue a draw at Fulham, while another promoted team secured all three points as Bournemouth beat Aston Villa 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium.

The third new arrival in the top flight, Nottingham Forest, were beaten 2-0 at Newcastle United, while Tottenham had to respond to an early setback before eventually running out 4-1 winners against Southampton.

Leeds United also recovered to snatch a 2-1 victory over Wolves despite going 1-0 down inside six minutes, and the late kick-off saw Chelsea edge a 1-0 win at Everton to ruin Blues legend Frank Lampard's opening day.

Here, Stats Perform uses Opta stats to bring you some of the more interesting numbers from the day's action.

Fulham 2-2 Liverpool: Salah's usual opening day goal not enough for Klopp's Reds

It can go either way when you are scheduled to face a promoted team. You either get nervous opponents, or confident ones.

Liverpool got the latter on Saturday as an excellent Fulham performance could easily have led to Marco Silva's men beating last year's Premier League and Champions League runners-up.

Two goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic gave the Cottagers hope of an upset, though substitute Darwin Nunez equalised the first on his debut, before Mohamed Salah cancelled out the Serbian's second, a cool penalty.

Mitrovic became the first player to score two goals for a promoted side on the opening day of a Premier League season since Steve Mounie for Huddersfield Town against Crystal Palace in August 2017.

Salah usually finds the net on the opening day and now has eight goals on matchday one of an English campaign, the joint-most with Alan Shearer, Lampard and Wayne Rooney.

Nunez and Salah provided assists for one another in a promising start to their life together in Jurgen Klopp's forward line, and the Uruguayan became just the third player in Premier League history to both score and assist off the bench on his debut after Sergio Aguero (Man City v Swansea, August 2011) and Alvaro Morata (Chelsea v Burnley, August 2017).

Bournemouth 2-0 Aston Villa: Promising start for Parker as Villans' woes continue into new season

In the battle of former England midfielders in the dugout on the south coast, it was Scott Parker who came out on top against Steven Gerrard.

Jefferson Lerma was the surprise scorer of an early opener, with his goal after one minute and 56 seconds the earliest scored on the opening day by a promoted team in Premier League history.

Kieffer Moore rose to head in the second late on to seal the win, and the Wales international has now scored in each of his past four league games for Bournemouth (five goals in total), as many as he managed in his previous 25 (one appearance for Bournemouth, 24 for previous club Cardiff City).

It was a far from ideal start to the campaign for Gerrard's Villa, who have now lost three of their four opening-day Premier League matches since returning to the top-flight in 2019 (W1), having won three in a row between 2013-14 and 2015-16.

After ending last season poorly, Villa have won just two of their past 12 Premier League games (D3 L7), despite winning three in a row prior to that.

Tottenham 4-1 Southampton: Kulusevski dazzles as Conte's side come back in style

With Antonio Conte in charge and some interesting signings through the door, it is difficult to recall a season where there has been more optimism at Spurs.

That may have been dampened briefly when James Ward-Prowse volleyed Southampton in front, but it did not take long for the hosts to fire back, with goals from Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier, a Mohammed Salisu own goal and the impressive Dejan Kulusevski sealing a big opening-day win.

It was Spurs' biggest win on matchday one of a league season since August 1986, when they beat Aston Villa 3-0.

Kulusevski both scored and assisted in a Premier League game for the third time since signing for the north London club in January, with the Swede having been directly involved in 15 goals (six goals, nine assists) in his past 17 league matches.

It was a landmark day for Sessegnon, who scored his first Premier League goal for Spurs (22nd appearance), 1,319 days after his last goal in the competition, which came for Fulham against Wolves in December 2018.

For the Saints, they have lost all four of their opening games of a Premier League season under Ralph Hasenhuttl – the worst 100 per cent losing record for a manager in the competition.

Everton 0-1 Chelsea: Jorginho penalty enough for Tuchel as Mendy records another clean sheet

'The Narrative' will always be a threat whenever Lampard comes up against Chelsea, where he made such a name for himself as a player.

But a tight game at Goodison Park was ultimately settled in the visitors' favour by a penalty at the end of the first half, when Ben Chilwell was fouled in the box by Abdoulaye Doucoure, and Jorginho calmly slotted his spot-kick into the corner of the net.

Both teams went into the game with impressive opening-day records, and Chelsea have now won their first match of a Premier League season for the 20th time, with no side winning more such games in the competition (Manchester United also 20).

Everton came into the match with the longest unbeaten run on matchday one, having previously not lost since a 1-0 defeat to Queens Park Rangers in 2011.

Jorginho's effort was the 139th penalty scored in Premier League history for Chelsea, now the outright most of any team (above Liverpool on 138).

Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy more than played his part in keeping Everton out, and he has now kept a clean sheet in 47 per cent of his Premier League starts (31/66) – only Manchester City's Ederson (50 per cent) has a higher clean sheet ratio among goalkeepers to have started at least 50 games.

Australia produced an excellent second-half showing to come from behind and secure a 41-26 victory against Argentina in Mendoza in the 2022 Rugby Championship.

Having suffered a 2-1 series defeat at the hands of former coach Eddie Jones' England last month, the Wallabies may have been fearing the same with Michael Cheika leading Argentina.

But Australia avoided a similar fate on Saturday despite a spirited first-half performance from the hosts.

Los Pumas scored the first try after just five minutes, with Pablo Matera picking up a short pass before diving over the line.

An Australian penalty was followed by two for Argentina, before the Wallabies fought back to narrow the deficit to three points after 17 minutes as Jordan Petaia was given the ball out of a scrum before powering through the opposition defence to cross.

The boot of Emiliano Boffelli added more penalty points shortly thereafter, with the contest becoming more tense as Argentina attempted to pull away, but a stubborn Australia side managed to stay in the game.

Boffelli scored another three points just before the break as his team went in 19-10 ahead, but Fraser McReight scored Australia's second try eight minutes into the second half off the back of a rolling maul.

Argentina may have thought they had seen off their opponents when they responded with a try of their own through Juan Martin Gonzalez as he went over in the corner, but when a collapsed maul led to a penalty try for Australia in the 55th minute, with lock Matias Alemanno receiving a yellow card, it provided the impetus the visitors needed.

Reece Hodge scored a penalty to give the Wallabies the lead, before a try from Folau Fainga'a took the wind out of Argentina's sails and Len Ikitau rubbed salt in the wounds with another deep into overtime, sealing an entertaining win for Dave Rennie's team.

Pumas feel comeback brunt

Having come back from 31-20 down with 15 minutes to go to beat Scotland in July, Cheika's new team know what it takes to overturn a deficit.

Unfortunately for him, his former side also have the capacity for a comeback, as they demonstrated with vigour when taking full advantage of dropping Argentinian heads, scoring 24 unanswered points after Gonzalez's try in the 55th minute.

Loss of Alemanno makes all the difference

A yellow card for Alemanno after the collapsed maul that led to Australia's penalty try was the real turning point in the game.

From that point on, Argentina did not score another point, with Rennie's side wearing them down with relative ease in the closing stages.

Frank Lampard admitted Everton's injury situation could force the club's hand in the transfer market, as he revealed Ben Godfrey had suffered a suspected fractured fibula in the Premier League defeat to Chelsea.

Jorginho's first-half penalty was enough to give Thomas Tuchel's Blues a 1-0 win at Goodison Park on Saturday, ending their run of four consecutive league defeats on the ground.

While Chelsea were indebted to Edouard Mendy for preserving their clean sheet with fine saves from James Tarkowski, Demarai Gray and Abdoulaye Doucoure, Lampard's side were hampered by injury problems on the opening day of the new campaign.

Having already been left without a recognised striker through Dominic Calvert-Lewin's injury and Salomon Rondon's suspension, the Toffees saw Godfrey leave the pitch on a stretcher following an ugly collision with Kai Havertz, before Yerry Mina was also forced off after 70 minutes.

After seeing Everton lose their opening league game for the first time since 2011-12 (v Queens Park Rangers), Lampard bemoaned their selection woes and revealed Godfrey's injury is thought to be serious. 

"It makes it hard, you know? Ben gets that injury, we think it's a small fracture of his leg, his fibula," he told Sky Sports.

"We'll see how long that will be, and Yerry, it's an ankle injury that we don't know much about at the moment. 

"We've had that here a little bit; it's hard to put your finger on those freak injuries. I think Ben's foot was caught in the grass, Yerry's I didn't see. They're not muscle injuries, they're freak injuries, so we have to make sure the squad is strong enough to handle those things."

Asked whether the setbacks would impact Everton's recruitment plans, Lampard added: "Maybe, maybe not. We've got centre-backs at the club, but we're looking at different areas where we know what we want to do. 

"We're not going to declare them now, but I think everyone can feel that there's movement and that we're trying to move in the right direction.

"My main focus today is the performance of the lads that were on the pitch. You saw the fans at the end of the game, they responded to what the players did today.

"It's one game out of 38 and we didn't get the point that I felt we probably could've got, but we have to take confidence in not only what the players did out there today, but in how we're going to look going forward, because we're looking to bring in a few players to help the squad."

One area in which Everton are certainly targeting reinforcements is in attack, with Calvert-Lewin expected to miss up to six weeks after suffering a knee injury in training.

Lampard insists replacing Calvert-Lewin, who scored 16 goals in 33 Premier League appearances during the 2020-21 campaign, is crucial after Everton squandered opportunities to snatch a point against Chelsea.

"We're looking at that, because Dominic being out three days before the first game and you can't replace him, Salomon's suspended… We need to look at that to make sure that we've got not just adequate players to play, but players to bring in," he added.

"We've got nine subs now, you look at Chelsea's bench and you understand the difference.

"I think our overall performance deserves us to put the ball in the net once or twice, and of course we'll look for those types of players."

Pep Guardiola insisted winning the Champions League is "not an obsession" for Manchester City, as he refuted suggestions European success could determine whether he stays at the Etihad Stadium.

Meanwhile, Guardiola has backed Jack Grealish for a successful second campaign with the club, praising his contribution to last season's Premier League title win.

Guardiola's team have won four of the last five Premier League titles and are heavily fancied ahead of the 2022-23 campaign after recruiting Erling Haaland and Kalvin Phillips during a busy transfer window.

However, City are yet to experience European success under Guardiola, with last term's humiliating Champions League semi-final collapse against Real Madrid representing the latest of several near misses on the continental stage.

But the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach, who has just one year remaining on his City contract, insists the absence of a Champions League title will not impact any decision on his future.

"It's not about that. I would like to win it, it's not an obsession, it's a dream, a target we can do," Guardiola said ahead of Sunday's trip to West Ham.

"I'm completely aware how good the opponents are and how difficult this competition is. I said many times, maybe people don't believe me or think I'm making an excuse, I didn't come here to win the Champions League.

"I'm the first to want it, [but] it was the same in Munich. In Barcelona we won it twice, I wanted to win four! The 30 or 40 seasons where I'm a manager, I want to win every single Champions League, [but] I don't feel a failure when we don't win it.

"We want it, but if we win it I'm not the master of the universe. We tried, we were closer last season, we will try this season.

"Improving the team, playing better, this is main reason I'm here. I'm sad because we lost the Community Shield, but especially because we didn't play as we can do. The only thing I'm here for is to make the team play better, to see the team, watch on the touchline and say, 'I like it'.

"The consequence is to win or lose, we are going to lose sooner or later the Premier League. Nothing is eternal, not even this team that has done many good things in the last years. To win four Premier Leagues in five years is something extraordinary.

"We can improve. We can do better, this is the only reason [I'm here]. I'm not leaving here [saying] 'I have to win the Premier League, what happens if I lose the Premier League?'"

As City successfully defended the Premier League title last season, only Kevin De Bruyne (87) and Bernardo Silva (59) created more chances than Grealish (53) for Guardiola's men in all competitions.

However, the England international has faced criticism from some quarters after registering just eight goals and four assists in all competitions following a club-record move from Aston Villa.

But Guardiola insists Grealish's contribution was vital to City's triumph last term and wants to see more from all of his attacking stars, not only the 26-year-old.   

"The most important thing you have to know is Jack Grealish won the Premier League. That's why we bought him, to help us to win the Premier League, and we did it," Guardiola said.

"Jack is incredibly loved in the locker room, he's incredibly humble. Of course, I want more, but not just for Jack, for everyone.

"Of course, I definitely want more, he has to fight because the competition up front is so big, we have really good players.

"We're optimistic because he arrived very well, we know they have the World Cup around the corner, Gareth [Southgate] has to make big selections because there are many good players in the England team, and everybody knows what they have to do."

Grealish will likely assume a more important role after the departures of fellow attackers Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, and Guardiola believes a refresh of his title-winning squad was necessary.

"Always I thought that after five or six years together, we need to change. Changing the manager is an option, or to change a few players, always," he added. 

"To the old players, it's normal, new players bring new energies, new desire. You have to take decision always before it's going to happen. Always the intention is to get better."

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel is hoping to welcome more new faces to Stamford Bridge before the end of the transfer window as he confirmed Marcos Alonso is close to joining Barcelona.

Jorginho's first-half penalty was enough to get Chelsea's 2022-23 Premier League campaign off to a winning start on Saturday, ending a run of four consecutive defeats for the Blues at Goodison Park.

New signings Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling started the hard-fought victory, the latter twice coming close to a debut goal, while Marc Cucurella also made his Chelsea bow from the bench.

Having already parted with substantial fees for that trio, Chelsea have also been linked with moves for Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana and Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong.

After Chelsea won their opening Premier League match for the third consecutive season despite failing to produce a fluid performance, Tuchel insisted more recruits are required. 

"Yeah, if we can add, we'll add," Tuchel told Sky Sports.

"Maybe not midfielders as a first option but we are open for everything, and I think we can use new energy, new legs, and fresh input to bring us to a new level.

"If not, then we will push this team, but I think we could use some more input and some more quality. We are on it, but we will not tell you!"

Having dominated the opening period on Merseyside, winning the second-most corners on record in the first half of a Premier League match (13, second to Tottenham's 15 v Aston Villa in December 2012), Chelsea were indebted to Edouard Mendy for making two strong saves to preserve their lead after the break.

Mendy has now kept a clean sheet on 47 per cent of his Premier League starts (31/66) – only Ederson (50 per cent) has a better record among goalkeepers to have started at least 50 games in the competition.

But with Chelsea having struggled for results at Everton in recent seasons, Tuchel was content with the Blues picking up a victory despite not being at their best.

"We struggled last season to get points here, we have the points, a win is a win," he added. "It's most important for everything to get better, because we have to get better.

"I could assume that we are maybe not on our highest level. We have players in, but they came in late, pre-season was a bit turbulent. 

"The last week in training was promising, some situations in the first half were quite good, and in the second half we had simply not enough movement on the ball. It was a strange second half without the rhythm from our team and the interruptions, 10 minutes extra time... a bit strange.

"But we hung on and we did what was necessary to keep a clean sheet, so there are positive things and from there we go.

"Very classic that we win 1-0 with a penalty from Jorginho. Like I said, we know that we need to get better but first of all, a win helps us to be open for improvement and for the atmosphere and spirit."

Meanwhile, with Chelsea acquiring Cucurella this week, they look set to allow fellow wing-back Alonso to leave for Barcelona.

The Spain international was left out of the squad for the trip to Merseyside, and Tuchel confirmed that decision was the result of his desire to join the Blaugrana.

Asked whether Alonso's absence indicated a move to Camp Nou was close, Tuchel told reporters: "That is the case. 

"He tries to leave and we agreed to this wish. That's why it would not have made sense to put him on the pitch today. 

"He would've been on the pitch otherwise but in this situation, it was the right thing to do."

New York Giants rookie offensive lineman Marcus McKethan will miss the entire 2022 season after the team confirmed Saturday that he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee. 

The Giants’ fears were confirmed after McKethan, 22, was carted off the MetLife Stadium turf during Friday’s scrimmage. 

A fifth-round pick out of North Carolina, McKethan had worked at both guard and tackle during camp and was playing right tackle when the injury occurred. 

With the season’s start still five weeks away, New York is already facing attrition on the offensive line after ESPN reported this week that Matt Gono’s persistent neck problems could prematurely end his playing career. 

The Giants signed journeyman tackle Will Holden on Friday. 

McKethan started 37 career games for North Carolina and was an honourable mention All-ACC selection in his final two seasons in Chapel Hill. 

The Giants’ offense lost 267 yards last season on sacks, ranking 18th in the NFL. 

Ashleigh Buhai was in superb form as the South African took the lead heading into the final round at the Women's Open.

Even though she trailed Chun In-gee heading into the weekend, Buhai was arguably the star on Friday with a brilliant 65, and the 33-year-old dazzled again at Muirfield.

Buhai carded a low score of 64 to take a six-shot lead at 14 under, with a bogey on the last the only blot on her scorecard, which included eight birdies.

Hinako Shibuno, who led heading into round two, propelled herself up to second place alongside Chun with a bogey free 66.

Chun holed costly bogeys on the ninth and 15th, yet regained her composure to finish with a birdie and a par, keeping her at nine under.

Madelene Sagstrom and Park Inbee are tied for fourth on seven under after respective rounds of 71 and 70, but will require a slip up from Buhai to truly be in contention on Sunday.

World number two Minjee Lee endured something of a mixed bag, with three bogeys and four birdies, and the Australian is T6, nine off the lead alongside Stephanie Kyriacou and Miyu Yamashita.

Nelly Korda had another difficult day, with the Olympic gold medallist and world number three sitting on three over for the tournament after carding 72.

With just five weeks until the open of the NFL season, the Carolina Panthers still do not know who their starting quarterback will be. 

After both Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield took part in Saturday's scrimmage, head coach Matt Rhule said that the team will wait at least two more weeks before naming a starter. 

Rhule pointed to the team’s joint practices and August 19 pre-season game with the New England Patriots as the next evaluation point. 

"I'm not putting a timetable on the quarterback position until after we get back from the Patriots week," Rhule said Saturday. "The Patriots week is a true litmus test for us. That will really show us where guys are."

Neither Darnold—Carolina’s 2021 opening-starter—nor the freshly acquired Mayfield has yet to emerge as the favorite, and Rhule gave both players mixed reviews after the weekend scrimmage. 

"The disappointing thing is each guy had an interception," Rhule said. "We’ve got to protect the football."

The Panthers open their regular season on Sept. 11 by hosting the Cleveland Browns, Mayfield’s former club. 

The two signal-callers will be forever linked as the top two quarterbacks taken in the 2018 draft, with Mayfield going first overall and Darnold being chosen third. 

Darnold spent three seasons with the New York Jets before being traded to the Panthers for draft picks last April. He won his first three starts with Carolina last season before finishing 4-7 with nine touchdown passes and 13 interceptions. 

Mayfield started 59 career games for the Browns, and his efficient play in 2020 helped lead Cleveland to its first playoff victory since the 1994 season. 

Mayfield’s injury-marred 2021 campaign was a letdown, however, and the Browns chose to pursue DeShaun Watson in the trade market.