Liam and Noel Gallagher have finally settled their differences to reunite Oasis next year, though their allegiances towards Manchester City have never altered.

Manchester's great duo are, after years of wait, heading back to England's biggest stages, with the news announced on Tuesday to confirm their comeback as definitely, not maybe.

Having last played at V Festival in late August 2009, the pair split just before their beloved City fired to centre stage, rising from the third tier to dominate the Premier League since the brothers' ill-tempered farewell.

With eight Premier League titles, one Champions League crown, three FA Cup wins and six EFL Cup successes, City have transformed their fortunes since Oasis' split.

Here, we unpick the data behind City's success, watching rivals Manchester United Slide Away from the top spot for the city's bragging rights since the Gallaghers parted ways on August 22, 2009.

Champion Supernova

City have lifted eight Premier League titles since Oasis' final performance, winning a massive 1,252 points across that period – 152 more than nearest challengers Liverpool in the same timeframe.

That points tally is also 163 more than neighbours United, with Supersonic City's 385 top-flight wins (219 at home, 166 away) in the aforementioned span far greater than second-placed Liverpool's 322.

The four-in-a-row champions have also managed 1,306 goals, a total that Liverpool (1,112), Arsenal (1,074), Chelsea (1,044) and Man Utd (1,008) can get nowhere near.

Pep's Masterplan

Pep Guardiola may be the only man in Manchester able to rival the Gallagher's fame, with the City boss leading his side to unprecedented heights since his arrival in England eight years ago.

In the same Oasis-less period, Guardiola's 227 Premier League wins are the most of any City manager, ahead of Roberto Mancini (82), Manuel Pellegrini (70), Mark Hughes (five) and caretaker Brian Kidd (one).

That dominance owes to the fact Guardiola is the longest-serving City boss of the span, though his winning percentage of 74% is once again greater than nearest rivals, Mancini (62%) and Pellegrini (61%).

Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Newcastle

Some Might Say no team can keep up with City in the Premier League, but Newcastle United are the side to have struggled most with the Oasis-stricken blues.

Man City have defeated Newcastle 22 times in the Premier League since that fateful last Oasis performance in 2009, suggesting the Magpies are at least Half The World Away from the Citizens' quality.

As Newcastle's hopes of a rare win over City appear to have faded away Little by Little, West Ham have also lost 21 games in that period against the Manchester club, with Villa third on 18 defeats.

Whatever the other teams have struggled with, Middlesbrough – now in the Championship – have suffered no such issues, remaining as the only Premier League side to have not lost against City in the period (two draws in two matches).

Gundowall

Ilkay Gundogan was, at least in jest, said to have played a part in Oasis' reunion after the same Gallagher brothers attempted to lure the Germany midfielder back to the Etihad Stadium.

His 44 goals for City in the period without Oasis rank him 11th on the list of Premier League scorers for the club, which is headed by Argentina's Rock 'N' Roll Star Sergio Aguero, on 184.

The striker's tally is more than double his nearest competitor, Raheem Sterling (91), who makes up the top five with Kevin De Bruyne (69), Erling Haaland (67) and Yaya Toure (62).

As for appearances, former midfielder David Silva answered City's call the most to Stand by Me, racking up 309 league appearances – ahead of Aguero, who is just behind on 275.

Samuel Iling-Junior has joined Bologna on a season-long loan from Aston Villa.

The 20-year-old joined the Villans at the start of July as part of a double transfer from Juventus with Enzo Barrenechea for a combined £18.6million.

However, he has not featured in either of Villa's matchday squads since the start of the Premier League season, with Leon Bailey and Morgan Rogers preferred in the wide areas.

Iling-Junior made 27 appearances for Juventus in all competitions last season, scoring once and registering two assists, helping the club to win the Coppa Italia in May.

Bologna are yet to win this season in Serie A, drawing with Udinese and losing to Napoli, but are set to compete in the Champions League, having qualified for the tournament for the first time since 1964. 

We're into the swing of the new Premier League season, with matchday two bringing plenty more thrills and spills.

Big wins for Chelsea and Manchester City were accompanied by hat-tricks for Noni Madueke and Erling Haaland, while Everton's miserable start to 2024-25 continued as they were thrashed 4-0 at Tottenham.

But who were the lucky winners and the unlucky losers to emerge from this weekend's set of fixtures, according to the underlying metrics?

With the help of Opta data, let's find out.

Lucky winners: Chelsea

While Chelsea's thumping 6-2 win at Wolves was the most emphatic victory of a goal-laden matchday, perhaps fortune smiled on the Blues as they got off the mark under Enzo Maresca.

Chelsea's six goals came from an expected goals (xG) figure of just 1.68, with the Blues giving up chances worth 1.96 xG at the other end. 

Madueke was joined on the scoresheet by Nicolas Jackson, Cole Palmer and Joao Felix as Maresca became the first manager in Premier League history to see his team score six goals in his first away game at the helm.

Unlucky losers: Wolves

It might be a tad generous to suggest Wolves were unfortunate after shipping six goals on home soil, four of them coming in a miserable second half as they attempted to chase the game.

However, it is certainly fair to say the scoreline did not tell the full story of a game in which Gary O'Neil's men managed 12 shots to Chelsea's 14 and bettered the Blues' 21 touches in the area, registering 25.

Chelsea's xG overperformance of 4.31 is the largest of the season by some margin, with Brighton and Spurs both outdoing their underlying figures by 1.57 in their victories over Everton.

No team managed a bigger overperformance than that throughout the entirety of last season, either, with Newcastle's eight goals from 3.92 xG versus Sheffield United the closest any team got.

Lucky winners: Arsenal

Chelsea's win at Molineux was one of just two games in the Premier League on matchday two where the victors lost the xG battle.

But on a weekend where justice was largely done, Arsenal could perhaps count themselves fortunate to leave Aston Villa with a 2-0 victory.

The Gunners accumulated just 0.87 xG to Villa's 1.28, but goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey maintained their 100% start to the season.

This is the third time they have won their first two matches of a top-flight campaign without conceding a goal, having previously done so in 1924-25 and 1971-72.

Unlucky losers: Aston Villa

Villa were a lucky winner on matchday one as they escaped the London Stadium with a 2-1 victory over West Ham, but there was to be no repeat against Arsenal.

Unai Emery's team only hit the target with three of their 11 shots, and striker Ollie Watkins was particularly wasteful as he failed to net from two efforts worth 0.87 xG.

That is the second-highest figure registered by a player who failed to score in a Premier League match this season, after Nottingham Forest's Nikola Milenkovic versus Southampton on Saturday (0.98 xG).

Bukayo Saka became the third-youngest player in Premier League history to reach 100 wins in the competition when he helped Arsenal beat Aston Villa on Saturday.

Saka set up Thomas Partey to make it 2-0 to the Gunners at Villa Park, ensuring a second win of the season for Mikel Arteta's team.

The England international scored and assisted in Arsenal's 2-0 win over Wolves in their opening game of the season.

And in the process of helping Arsenal make it two wins from two to start 2024-25, he joined an elite club of youngsters to have hit the milestone of 100 Premier League victories.

Only Wayne Rooney (22 years, 87 days) and Cesc Fabregas (22 years, 180 days) hit the landmark at a younger age than Saka (22 years, 354 days).

When it comes to Arsenal, just Fabregas and Cliff Bastin (22 years, 171 days) have reached 100 league wins sooner.

Reflecting on his achievement, Saka, who has netted 48 top-flight goals, posted to social media: "Proud to make it to 100 Premier League wins for my club."

Saka's 100th win came in his 172nd Premier League appearance. The record for a player hitting 100 wins in the fewest matches belongs to Phil Foden (127).

Unai Emery believes Arsenal was a "test" for Aston Villa to understand where they are in the season and how they can build on that going forward.

Second-half strikes from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey earned the points for Arsenal in a 2-0 win at Villa Park on Saturday.

However, it could have been a much different story for Emery's men, as Ollie Watkins missed a glorious chance in either half, while Amadou Onana struck the bar.

While the Spaniard was left frustrated by the result, he was left optimistic by the performance in their first home game of the season.

"You have to accept Arsenal they are more experienced, more mature. They are strong," Emery told Sky Sports. "Today was a test for us to understand who we are.

"We competed, we faced them, we could have won, drawn or lost. I think it's going to give us a lot of information about the team, the squad and players and how we can close this week in the transfer window and finish this month playing Leicester.

"I think the way we played today will be a good way to understand how we can process our style, our competitive way.

"We created three very good chances, like them, but our chances were more clear. We competed like we could do; I have to be proud of the players. We have to keep building. Not the result but the way we did [play] this is what we want."

Watkins fired a close-range effort wide in the first half before being denied by a wonderful save by David Raya in the second when he tried to turn in the rebound of Onana's strike.

The England international is yet to score this season, having failed to manage a single shot in their opener against West Ham, but Emery maintains his confidence in the striker to get back to the form that saw him net 19 goals last season.

"The most important thing is to create chances, of course, he is not finishing them all, but I am very happy how he progressed from the first match at West Ham," the Spaniard added.

"His progress has been performing better and creating chances. Ollie Watkins, chances like that in the future, he will score."

Mikel Arteta believes that David Raya's save to deny Ollie Watkins changed the momentum during Arsenal's 2-0 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday. 

The Gunners maintained their winning start to the Premier League season through second-half strikes from substitute Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey at Villa Park. 

But the encounter could have taken on a different complexion had it not been for a crucial intervention from Arsenal's goalkeeper eight minutes after the interval. 

Amadou Onana saw his deflected effort come back off the crossbar and into the path of Watkins, who looked certain to get his tally up and running for the campaign. 

However, Raya produced a remarkable instinctive save to deny the Villa striker, who had spurned another golden opportunity in the opening 45 minutes. 

"We had to change momentum, we had a 10-minute gap when we didn't get the rhythm, and they were on top," Arteta told Sky Sports. 

"They had the big chance and David made an unbelievable save, and it was the magic moment of the game. 

"We conceded really little, and it's a big credit to the team as it is a difficult place to come, but when we needed him he was there, and he made a terrific save."

Arteta was also full of praise for Trossard, who emerged from the bench to net the game's opening goal just 110 seconds after being introduced. 

The Belgian produced a fine finish from the edge of the area after good work from Bukayo Saka, placing a low right-footed effort beyond the grasp of Emiliano Martinez.

It was Trossard's 14th goal for the club and his sixth as a substitute, while he also registered the most shots (three) of any Arsenal player in his 25-minute cameo.

"The competition is big, we have great players in each position, and they are going to have to accept that," Arteta said.

"We have a huge season in front of us, a long one, and you need players to impact.

"He did that last year when he started and when he was a sub, and he has given us a headache for next weekend."

Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey’s second-half goals ensured Arsenal continued their winning start to the Premier League season as they beat Aston Villa 2-0 at Villa Park.

In an entertaining contest that saw Ollie Watkins squander glorious chances in either half, Mikel Arteta’s side would hit the front in the 67th minute.

Substitute Trossard struck 110 seconds after his introduction with a fine finish from the edge of the area, with Partey’s powerful effort sealing the triumph 10 minutes later.

Martin Odegaard could have added further gloss to the Gunners’ impressive display but blazed over from inside the area after being picked out by Declan Rice.

Arsenal join Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion at the top of the early-season table with six points from their first two games, while Aston Villa are down in 12th. 

Data Debrief: A performance of potential champions?

Having struggled to find a way behind Villa's defence, the Gunners did not shy away from the intricate passing play that has brought them so much success in recent seasons, with that performance potentially crucial for their title aspirations this early in the season. 

Trossard once again proved how important his impact is valued by Arteta from the bench, with six of his 14 Arsenal goals in the Premier League coming as a substitute. 

The Belgian's 25-minute cameo saw him record the most shots (three) of any Arsenal player, producing an expected goals (xG) of 0.21 to the Gunners' 1.13 total. 

Arsenal made a solid start to their latest Premier League title challenge last week, beating Wolves 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium with goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.

Matchday two, however, promises to present a far tougher challenge for Mikel Arteta's team as they face the team that could be considered responsible for their failure to finish as champions in 2023-24.

Aston Villa – under former Arsenal boss Unai Emery – beat the Gunners home and away last term, with April's 2-0 win at the Emirates allowing Manchester City to inch ahead at the top of the table and claim a fourth straight title.

Villa also started with a win last week, with Jhon Duran stepping off the bench to fire them to a 2-1 victory at West Ham.

Ahead of Saturday's headline clash at Villa Park, we run through all the best Opta facts and stats around the game.

What's expected?

The Opta supercomputer makes Arsenal favourites for victory on matchday two, though not overwhelmingly.

Across 10,000 pre-match simulations conducted by the supercomputer, Arsenal were victorious in 51.1% of cases. Villa repeated last season's heroics against the Gunners in 24.7% of scenarios, while 24.2% saw the points shared.

Villa's double over the Gunners last term accounted for 40% of the Premier League defeats suffered by Arteta's team (2/5). They have recorded three straight Premier League wins against them on two previous occasions, in November 1993 and February 2021.

In fact, Villa have won five of their last nine Premier League meetings with Arsenal (four defeats), keeping a clean sheet in every victory. 

That is as many wins as they had managed in their previous 46 league matches against the Gunners (14 draws, 27 defeats).

Arsenal, though, have won 14 away Premier League games against the Villans, their joint-most wins at a single away venue in the competition, having also triumphed 14 times at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park.

The Gunners have also scored 98 Premier League goals against Villa in total, only netting more against Everton (124), West Ham (109) and Tottenham (105). Liverpool and Manchester United (five opponents each) are the only teams to have netted 100 or more Premier League goals against more different clubs.

Watkins to cause more Arsenal woe?

Villa may have made a winning start to their campaign, spoiling Julen Lopetegui's West Ham debut with an entertaining win at the London Stadium, but Emery will be looking for a more convincing performance this time out.

Only Liverpool (2.65 versus Ipswich Town) created a higher expected goals (xG) figure than West Ham's 2.46 on matchday one of the Premier League season, albeit 0.78 of that figure came from a Lucas Paqueta penalty – perhaps harshly awarded against Matty Cash.

Of the 11 teams to give up the most expected goals against (xGA) in the division last weekend, Villa were the only one to taste victory – Brentford were the next-most porous victors, allowing Crystal Palace 1.17 xG in a 2-1 win on Sunday.

Villa will need a far better defensive display if they are to stifle Arsenal on Saturday, while they will also be desperate to get more service to Ollie Watkins, who did not attempt a single shot before his 62nd-minute withdrawal versus the Hammers.

Watkins only registered two touches in the West Ham area, one fewer than his replacement Duran, also recording the fewest touches (15), passes attempted (five) and completed (four) of all 22 starters.

Facing an Arsenal side likely to press high and leave space in behind could suit Watkins, though, as he plays his way back into peak condition after helping England reach the Euro 2024 final.

Watkins capped April's 2-0 win at the Emirates with a delightfully dinked finish that put Arsenal on the back foot in the title race, his fifth goal in eight Premier League meetings with the Gunners.

He has been on the winning side in four of those eight games (four losses), and only against Brighton and Hove Albion (six) has he scored more top-flight goals than he has versus Arsenal. The visiting defence must be wary.

Solid spine key for the Gunners?

Villa are the only team to beat Arsenal in the Premier League in 2024, with Arteta's team winning 17 of their 19 games this calendar year (one draw, one loss). In English Football League history, the most wins ever recorded by a team through their first 20 matches in a year is 18, by Liverpool in 1982 and Man City in 2019 and 2021.

The Gunners have been particularly impressive on the road, winning on eight of nine Premier League road trips (one draw) in 2024, scoring 28 goals, conceding three and keeping seven clean sheets in that time.

Arsenal only allowed opponents to create a total of 5.89 xG in those matches, an average of 0.65 per game. The league's next-best ever-present defensive team this year, Man City, have given up 12.39 xGA in 10 road trips.

In the last two seasons, the Gunners have kept 21 away clean sheets (10 in 2022-23, 11 in 2023-24), more than they managed in their previous four campaigns combined (20).

If they can maintain similar levels of solidity in 2024-25 – particularly on their travels – then another title tilt appears a realistic goal.

Arsenal did endure some shaky spells against Wolves last time out, with Jorgen Strand Larsen and Matheus Cunha guilty of passing up huge chances to level when Gary O'Neil's team built up a head of steam, but the Gunners gave up just 0.47 xGA – the fifth-lowest figure of any team on matchday one.

Jurrien Timber came on to steady the ship for the Gunners late on after missing the majority of 2023-24 through injury, while new signing Riccardo Calafiori was an unused substitute.

It remains to be seen whether Arteta will introduce either player to his lineup at Villa Park, where Arsenal must be wary of the direct running of Watkins, Leon Bailey and company.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Aston Villa – Jhon Duran

Duran came on to score the winner against West Ham last week, having been linked with the Irons throughout the transfer window.

Among all players to score at least five Premier League goals, Duran has the second-best minutes-per-goal ratio (six goals, one every 103 minutes), behind only Erling Haaland (one every 85 minutes). 

Five of his six strikes, meanwhile, have come as a substitute (83%). That is the second-highest ratio by any player to ever score at least five Premier League goals, behind Matt Derbyshire, who scored nine of his 10 goals from the bench.

Arsenal – Bukayo Saka

Saka registered a goal and an assist in Arsenal's victory over Wolves last week, also creating the joint-most chances (three) of any player on the pitch. He has now been on the winning side in 99 of his 171 Premier League matches with Arsenal. 

Another victory would make him the fourth player to reach 100 wins in the competition before turning 23, after Wayne Rooney, Cesc Fabregas and Phil Foden.

The England winger was involved in 11 attacking sequences against Wolves on matchday one, more than any other player on the pitch, ahead of Havertz and Thomas Partey (eight apiece).

Nottingham Forest have signed Aston Villa full-back Alex Moreno on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent deal.

Moreno joined Villa from Real Betis in January 2023 and has made a total of 40 Premier League appearances for Unai Emery's men, including 21 last season.

He started 11 times last term but spent most of his time as a backup to Lucas Digne, who made 27 starts as Emery's team finished fourth to secure Champions League qualification.

He becomes Forest's eighth signing of the current transfer window, after Elliot Anderson, Nikola Milenkovic, Ramon Sosa, Jota Silva, Marko Stamenic, Carlos Miguel and Eric da Silva Moreiro.

Forest's chief football officer Ross Wilson said: "Alex is a player we have had a long-standing interest in so we are naturally all very happy to see him arrive at Nottingham Forest. 

"He has amassed significant experience in LaLiga and the Premier League, and he brings all of that quality and experience to our group now."

Emiliano Martinez wants to win a trophy with Aston Villa after penning a new long-term contract with the club.

The Argentina goalkeeper has signed a new deal to remain at Villa Park until 2029, having impressed since joining the club from Arsenal in September 2020.

The World Cup winner is delighted with the constant progression of the club, culminating in Champions League qualification last season, but he still hopes to achieve more success in the coming years.

He told the club's website: "Since I joined the club, my dream was to be in the Champions League. We have achieved that. Like I said, the club is improving every year."

Martinez, who has won two Copa America titles with his national side along with the World Cup, now wants to translate his international success to the club stage, as Villa have been without a major honour since 1996.

He added: “I achieved everything in international football with Argentina and now I still think we can win a trophy here.

“That is something missing in this club. And I will have a go here in the next four years to achieve that.”

Emiliano Martinez has signed a contract extension with Aston Villa to keep him at the club until 2029.

His current contract was set to run out in 2027, but he has now signed a new deal which will keep him at Villa Park for five more years.

The World Cup winner joined Villa in September 2020 for a fee of £17million from Arsenal and has made 160 appearances for them in all competitions.

In his debut campaign, he kept 15 clean sheets, equalling a club record for a single season, and has gone on to keep 54 shutouts in all competitions since.

Martinez's penalty shoot-out heroics in the Europa Conference League last season helped the club to the semi-finals, while he was also a key figure as they secured Champions League football by finishing fourth in the Premier League.

The Argentinian has missed just eight Premier League games since his debut, with the team losing six of those and conceding an average of 2.5 goals per game without him, compared to just 1.3 with him between the sticks.

Martinez's form at Villa caught the eye of Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni, as he was given his debut for the national team, and has since won the Copa America twice and the World Cup.

The Premier League is back, and it was complete with plenty of thrills and spills on the opening weekend.

Champions Manchester City began their title defence with a relatively routine 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, while Liverpool kick-started the Arne Slot era by beating promoted Ipswich Town by the same scoreline.

Manchester United left it late against Fulham, new Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler enjoyed a fantastic start to his tenure, though that was not the case for Julen Lopetegui at West Ham, and Arsenal were comfortable victors over Wolves. 

However, who were the lucky winners and unlucky losers based on the underlying metrics from this weekend's matches?

With the use of Opta data, let's find out.

Lucky winners: Aston Villa

Jhon Duran's cool finish got Villa over the line against West Ham, with Unai Emery's team clinching a 2-1 win at the London Stadium. The Hammers, who handed debuts to six players during the match, had cancelled out Amadou Onana's early opener when Lucas Paqueta converted a penalty.

And even though Villa got the job done, they were not exactly defensively solid, with only Ipswich (2.65) registering a higher expected goals against (xGA) than Emery's team (2.46) this weekend, albeit a large chunk (.78) of that was down to the Hammers' penalty.

That being said, Villa did face 14 shots, with Tomas Soucek squandering some big chances late on, while having 15 going the other way and accumulating 2.03 xG themselves, so a draw would have perhaps been a fair result.

Lucky winners: Newcastle United

There was plenty of drama at St James' Park, with Newcastle overcoming Fabian Schar's dismissal to beat Southampton 1-0.

Southampton created 1.77 xG, with Villa the only team to have won at the weekend while registering a higher xGA than Newcastle.

The Magpies had only three shots - the lowest figure of any team this weekend - and produced just 0.25 xG, but it is the scoreline that matters, with Joelinton's goal clinching three points.

Unlucky losers: Southampton

Naturally, with Newcastle coming in as a lucky winner, then Southampton classify as an unlucky loser.

Russell Martin's team love to have the ball, and they capitalised on their numerical advantage by having 77.8% of the possession, registering 649 passes to Newcastle's 118.

It was certainly not a case of keeping the ball for the sake of it, though. Southampton had 48 touches in Newcastle's box (going the other way, the hosts had only 14) and made 67 final-third entries, mustering 19 shots. Getting only four of those attempts on target is obviously an issue, but Martin can consider his team unfortunate.

Unlucky losers: Chelsea

Manchester City were comfortable winners at Stamford Bridge, but is there cause for some positivity for Enzo Maresca after his first competitive match in charge?

Chelsea limited City to 0.77 xG from 11 shots (0.07 per attempt), while accumulating 1.01 going the other way from 10 efforts.

Indeed, had Nicolas Jackson not needlessly strayed offside before capitalising on Ederson's first-half parry to slot home, it might have been a different story for the Blues, so there is some reason to be cheerful.

Unai Emery has said he wants to keep Jhon Duran despite transfer speculation after scoring the winner in Aston Villa's 2-1 victory over West Ham.

Duran slotted home the winner in the 79th minute after Lucas Paqueta’s spot-kick had ruled out Amadou Onana's early opener.

It was Duran's sixth Premier League goal in just 616 minutes of action in the competition, meaning he has averaged a goal every 103 minutes. That rate has only been bettered by Erling Haaland among those who have scored more than five goals.

Duran's goal was all the more fitting given he was seemingly on the verge of joining the Hammers earlier this summer, with the Colombia international even gesturing with an "irons" celebration in a social media video.

But Duran has so far stayed at Villa Park, and Emery is keen to keep it that way, although the Spaniard warned there are no guarantees.

"We were open with every player to accept a good offer and one of those players is him. But we know how much we believe in him and if he leaves it's because the offer is very good, but I want to keep him," Emery told the media.

“We believe in Duran and in his potential. We are always open to working with him if he's like he is today, helping the team and he was fantastic."

Speaking on other possible transfers, Emery suggested Alex Moreno was the most likely left-back to depart the club this summer. 

Having joined in January 2023, Moreno appears to be behind Lucas Digne and new arrival Ian Maatsen in the pecking order, and Nottingham Forest are among the clubs reportedly interested.

"We signed Ian Maatsen and we were speaking with different players in this position. The difficulty is to manage with three left-backs. Moreno is the player who is now close to leaving," he explained.

Debutant Onana headed in Villa's first goal, and while impressed with the midfielder's display, Emery knows there is more to come from the former Everton man.

"There’s still a lot of adaptation ahead, in training and in matches. Today it was his first official match with us. He was very mature, responsible and intelligent," he said.

“I think this is the first step we need. The adaptation is going to be long, because there are a lot of things we want to get out of him, but his potential is most important."

Villa bucked a poor record away at West Ham having gone without a win in their previous nine encounters away from Villa Park.

Despite West Ham’s superior 2.4 expected goals, Emery felt his side were deserving of their victory.

"The first 30 minutes were very good. We were in control of the game, with good positioning. We did'’t concede a corner until the 28th minute. We scored one and had a chance to get a second with Leon Bailey [hitting the post]," he reflected.

"They got a goal too, and we started the second half a bit softly. But we started controlling the game more again and deserved to win."

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."

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.