Season 8 begins, and this time the goals have names on them

Season 8 is under way. Twelve clubs are entered in both the Premier League and the Champions League, over nineteen Gameweeks running to the fourth of September.

The Premier League is a straight twenty-two rounds — 132 matches, everyone against everyone. The Champions League is new in shape: a Swiss league phase of six rounds, and a knockout drawn from it, rather than the groups of previous seasons.

One other thing is new, and it appears on no fixture list. From this season the association records who scored. Seven seasons of results sit in the archive with not one goalscorer attached to them; from today every goal, every assist and a man of the match in every fixture goes on the record. In September there will be a Golden Boot with a name on it, for the first time.

Victor Osimhen of NR Elite takes the first player of the week.