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• West Ham left with 'lots to improve' after opening day defeat to Aston Villa

  Julen Lopetegui was left feeling his West Ham side had much to improve on after losing 2-1 to Aston Villa in his first game in charge.

  Villa took the lead after just four minutes through Amadou Onana before Lucas Paqueta levelled from the spot before half-time.

  There would be no dream start to Lopetegui’s time at the helm, however, as Jhon Duran scored the winner after 79 minutes, before Tomas Soucek missed two clear opportunities to level at the death.

  Instead, the Spaniard was left pondering improvements to his new side after a disappointing display.

  "We're going to have a lot of things to improve. Above all in the second half we have a big opportunity to win the match and we lost. We have to learn and improve in the next step," he told Sky Sports.

  "In the second half we started well, we had the initiative. Maybe in the last moments we didn't take the right decisions. 

  "They get to score a second goal. I am not happy again because we suffered one goal in set-pieces that in these kinds of matches these little details are going to be key."

  Onana’s opener came from a corner, unsurprisingly given all of his Premier League goals (four) have been headers. However, it called into question the host’s defence as Michail Antonio struggled to mark the Belgium international in the box.

  But Lopetegui was also disappointed with the Hammers' lack of edge at the other end of the pitch.

  "We had the last 20 minutes under control and had a good chance to score the second goal, but didn't," he later told BBC Match of the Day.

  "We suffered with their second goal, but after that we had two clear chances [to equalise]. We didn't [take them] and we have to keep the good things. It's a pity for us and for our fans – we had big expectations and ambitions for this match."

  West Ham's big misses were evident in their 2.4 expected goals (xG). In comparison, their opponents proved far more clinical, with their goals coming from 1.89 xG.

  There was some reason for optimism for Lopetegui, however, as he handed out six debuts during the match, the most for West Ham in a single game in the Premier League since 2018 against Liverpool (also six).

  "For a lot of players it was their first match in our stadium. Max [Kilman] did well. Guido [Rodriguez] too," the former Spain coach added.

  "A lot of them have to improve and push the players in the line-up to be more competitive."

• West Ham 1-2 Aston Villa: Duran denies Lopetegui first point in charge of Hammers

  Julen Lopetegui lost his first Premier League game in charge of West Ham, as Jhon Duran's strike secured a 2-1 victory for Aston Villa at the London Stadium.

  West Ham have spent big in the transfer market to back their new coach, but the Hammers ultimately fell short in their opening match of 2024-25.

  Lucas Paqueta's penalty cancelled out an early opener from Villa debutant Amadou Onana, while Leon Bailey had struck the woodwork for the visitors too.

  Substitute Duran – who was reportedly a target for the Hammers – would have the final say though, neatly finishing off a team move to restore Villa's lead with 11 minutes of normal time remaining.

  Villa's win takes them into the top four, while West Ham sit in 15th, albeit both teams will not be paying too much attention to the table just yet.

  Data Debrief: Villa end London Stadium woes

  A trip to the London Stadium to start the season was probably not what Villa fans were hoping for when they saw the fixture list, having lost each of their last nine Premier League trips to east London.

  But, they dug deep to end that run on Saturday, getting their first away win against the Hammers since April 2011 when they won 2-1 at Upton Park.

  Duran proved the hero in the end - he has scored six Premier League goals from just 616 minutes played in the competition, an average of one every 103 minutes; among players to have scored 5+ Premier League goals, only Erling Haaland (85) averages a better minutes-to-goals rate

  Meanwhile, West Ham have lost their opening game 16 times in the Premier League, more than any other team in the competition's history. 

• Nuno confirms Danilo suffered broken ankle in Bournemouth draw

  Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo has confirmed Danilo suffered a broken ankle during their 1-1 draw with Bournemouth on the opening matchday of the Premier League season.

  The 23-year-old sustained the injury just minutes into the new campaign, falling awkwardly following a challenge involving Antoine Semenyo, who scored an 86th-minute equaliser for Bournemouth after Chris Wood put Forest 1-0 up.

  The midfielder was treated by medical staff for over eight minutes and Nuno has now confirmed the severity of his injury, saying he will be a big miss for his side.

  "It was a horrible moment for everybody. It’s serious, we’re going to miss him, not only on the pitch," Nuno said after the game.

  “He’s a wonderful boy. He’s always smiling, always with joy and we wish him all the best.

  “I think we have a good squad that allows us to have options coming from the bench, but we are going to miss Danilo because he is a top player.”

  While Danilo's injury exacerbated Forest's frustrations as they dropped two points in the dying stages, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola was delighted by the fight shown by his side.

  “I am pleased because you score at the end and you feel like you recovered one point," Iraola said to BBC Sport.

  "We had the momentum and we were pushing a lot, I could feel the win was close. But unluckily for us we didn’t put it in, we had to live with the point."

  Iraola was also encouraged by the fluidity of his forward line in their first match since the club-record sale of striker Dominic Solanke to Tottenham.

  He said: "We didn’t have a specific number nine and were changing a lot of times. 

  "I think we dealt quite well, right now we have to push and everyone has to adapt to the situation."