Premier League MVP, matchday one: Aleksandar Mitrovic proves doubters wrong as Fulham hold Liverpool

Doesn't it feel good to have Premier League football back at last after a long summer?

Matchday one proved to be exciting, thrilling and, of course, controversial as Liverpool struggled to a hard-fought draw with Fulham, Manchester City bested West Ham United and Chelsea won away to Everton.

Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur got off to a winning start at home to Southampton, while Manchester United boss Erik ten Haag suffered a losing start to his reign at Old Trafford on a difficult afternoon against Brighton & Hove Albion.

What better way, then, to begin the new season with a new series: The Sporting News' Premier League MVP.

Sending the fans wild 🤩#WHUMCI | @ErlingHaaland pic.twitter.com/Ek2jTifsYe

— Premier League (@premierleague) August 7, 2022

Each matchday, our editorial team will be diving through the data to declare which player is our standout performer. The winner won't necessarily be the player who scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 victory; instead, we'll aim to pick out a player who played a pivotal role in his side's result. We're also going to add an Under-21 MVP each week.

So, without further ado, let's announce our picks from matchday one of the 2022/23 Premier League season.

MORE: How Erik ten Hag explained Man United loss to Brighton: Red Devils manager talks 'easy goals' and Cristiano Ronaldo after Premier League debut ends in defeat

MVP: Aleksandar Mitrovic

Who said Aleksandar Mitrovic couldn't score in the Premier League, then?

As Liverpool found out the hard way on the opening weekend, this season might prove to be a little bit different as the Serbia forward netted twice in a 2-2 draw with the Premier League title-hopefuls. 

Much had been made in the build-up to this new English top-flight campaign of the 27-year-old's previous poor goalscoring form in the division. His 24 goals across 104 previous Premier League appearances for both Fulham and Newcastle United simply hadn't cut it and had seen his side relegated on three separate occasions. 

It was crucial that Mitrovic hit the ground running this time around, and that's just what he did against Jurgen Klopp's side. 

Coming up against arguably the Premier League's strongest all-round defence and individual centre-back in Virgil van Dijk, the Fulham forward bullied his opponents for 90 minutes, proving completely unplayable at times.

Alongside the 18 duels that he won on the day — the most of any player on matchday one across the league — Mitrovic dominated in the air, winning 11 aerial duels, one of which saw him rise above Trent Alexander-Arnold to power home Fulham's opener. 

He perhaps saved his best for the second half, though. After threatening to take Liverpool's defence apart when he sidestepped Van Dijk and James Milner on the halfway line, he then won a penalty in the 71st minute with some clever play. 

Pressuring Van Dijk into a rash decision, Mitrovic poked the ball past the Dutch defender, who then clumsily tripped up the Fulham star in the process. The striker netted the subsequent penalty to again give his side the lead, his fourth successful spot-kick in 2022. 

Attempting three shots — two of which were on target — as well as having 51 touches of the ball and five in the opposition penalty box, Mitrovic was vital to Fulham grabbing what could be an important opening-day draw against Liverpool, a result that saw the west London outfit take points in a Premier League opener for the first time since August 2013. 

Under-21 MVP: Moises Caicedo

You'd be forgiven for thinking Brighton's 20-year-old midfielder Moises Caicedo would have arrived at Old Trafford on Sunday full of nerves after making just eight Premier League appearances in 2021/22, his first season in the competition.

You'd then be forgiven for watching his performance against the Red Devils and thinking he'd done it a hundred times before, such was his composure and talent on the biggest stage against Erik ten Haag's side.

As Brighton won for the first time in 15 attempts away to Manchester United, Caicedo proved pivotal in the visitors' midfield as Graham Potter's side deservedly claimed a 2-1 victory. It also means Brighton have still lost just once with Caicedo on the pitch in the Premier League (W6, D2).

From the off, the Ecuadorian midfielder proved a problem for United pair Fred and Scott McTominay in the centre of the park. Winning eight duels — the second-most of any player on the pitch —Caicedo both protected his defence solidly and offered his side an avenue into attack throughout the match. 

By the end of the afternoon, he'd created three chances, made three interceptions, two successful tackles and nine ball recoveries, all either match-high figures overall or top amongst Brighton players. His dominance through the middle was clear for all to see.

Premier League 2022/23 TV channels, live streams

UK: Matches are carried across Sky Sports and BT Sport streaming and TV platforms, with select matches on Amazon Prime.

USA: Select matches are televised on USA Network (English) and Telemundo or Universo (Spanish), and all three channels can be streamed on fuboTV. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers.

Canada: Every Premier League game streams live and on demand exclusively via fuboTV.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream matches live and on demand on Optus Sport.