Premier League

Good news for all the Chelsea haters out there: you are still permitted to hate them.

The bad news is that Chelsea are still eminently hateable because they keep winning in that eminently hateable Chelsea style of theirs. Based on Monday's 2-1 win against West Ham, Antonio Conte's side won't finish 10th again this season.

The first Chelsea goal of the Antonio Conte era came via an Eden Hazard penalty, which seemed inevitable after Chelsea players kept running into the area then falling down, writhing and shrieking. Oscar is particularly adept at this.

What Claudio Ranieri and his guys did last season was something for the history books. It seemed impossible at the time, and it’s still hard to believe someone could pull another league upset like Leicester City did. And yet, we’ve seen lightning strike the same place twice before when it comes to soccer. So, here is the team that could surprise and come out on top when the curtains close: Middlesbrough.

Football is back and, apparently, better than ever. Liverpool and Arsenal played out a seven goal thriller in London, the Merseyside club racing to a 4-1 lead before surrendering two late goals and giving Arsene Wenger’s men a brief moment of joy.

After a first half for Manchester United that could be described as "about as anonymous as is possible," Zlatan made good on his track record in major league debuts and scored from 25 yards out. He's now scored in every major league debut: La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Champions League...and Premier League.

Here's his long shot at the 64' that managed to slip past Bournemouth keeper Artur Boruc:

In two seasons with Sunderland, Jermain Defoe has managed to save Sunderland from relegation twice. Goals are key to survival, and Defoe consistently provides them from the forward position. He’s been doing so for almost sixteen years — since his Premier League debut with West Ham United during the 2000-01 season.

Defoe’s greatest EPL return was 18 goals during the 2009-10 season. You’d expect, at 33 years of age, that his goalscoring ability would’ve plummeted since then. You’d be wrong.

Leicester City opened their title defense in the worst possible fashion on Saturday, losing to a newly promoted Hull City side whose own preseason has bordered on the shambolic.

Leicester became the first ever reigning Premier League champions to lose their opening game, and they’ve been defeated by the early favorites for relegation, Hull City.

Leicester’s far-reaching preseason, including matches against Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, doesn’t appear to have sufficiently readied the East Midlands club. 

The big kick off is here, and, wouldn’t you know it, the stars have aligned in the perfect manner for fans wanting to do nothing but watch football all weekend.

It’s as if Premier League, Liga MX, MLS, Olympic, Bundesliga and La Liga representatives all got together and did this for us. Head to the store tonight, grab all the sustenance you need to survive Saturday and Sunday, and bunker down.

Football is back.

The eagerly anticipated return of Paul Pogba in Manchester United red will go on for at least another five days after the Football Association informed United that the midfielder must serve a one-match ban for a suspension he accumulated in Italy.

Pogba picked up two yellow cards in the Copa Italia, resulting in a one match ban that’s followed him to England. He was cautioned in consecutive matches, the semi-final against Internazionale and the final against Milan, resulting in an automatic one-match ban.