Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

The biggest loser - and you cannot say this very often - was Aston Villa manager Unai Emery.

Not only did he see his team 4-0 down and reduced to ten man at Brighton, he then had to face questions about the absence of Ollie Watkins, his silence suggesting the England striker had downed tools amid talk of a move to Saudi Arabia.

Never write off Emery though, he's a winner.

Image source, Getty Images

Brighton's first half display against Aston Villa was a dream.

The Seagulls dominated the Europa League holders and scored four goals inside 31 minutes.

Two of them came from one of their own, Jack Hinshelwood, both within a minute of each other, as he became the only player (so far) to score more than once on the opening weekend.

The Worthing lad is currently the Premier League's top goalscorer.

Brighton took their foot off the gas in the second half, but the damage had been done.

The emphatic result will give them the world of confidence as they head into the second leg of their UEFA Conference League playoff with Norwegian outfit Tromso on Thursday, after the first leg finished goalless.

Image source, Getty Images

On the other side of the coin, we've another nominee for the weekend's top winners.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

Ian, Worcester: I fear for Villa. In the season when they could have a real go in the Champions League, they have sold all their best players. Konsa, brilliant for them and England, was the final straw. The club is falling apart. Unai Emery to leave next, disgruntled and disillusioned?

Hello, Ian. Not sure Aston Villa are falling apart. There is no doubt they have lost big players in Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa, while Unai Emery is clearly very unhappy with how Ollie Watkins has acted amid talk of a move to Saudi Arabia.

Villa, however, have always tried to back Emery where they can and he has huge power at the club, which his results justify. He also had a poor start last season, remember. He will expect big support between now and the end of the transfer window, and I expect him to get as Villa know he is the brilliant strategist behind their successes.

This was Villa's joint-heaviest opening-day defeat of the Premier League era, matching a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Newcastle in 2023.

That season, they went on to finish fourth.

Image source, Getty

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Like many, Aston Villa are a selling club, mainly down to necessity, and have been for a number of years.

They must comply with Uefa's squad cost ratio (SCR) which restricts them to spending 70% of their football related revenue on player and staff wages, transfer fees and agent fees.

They have already been fined twice by Uefa for breaches, being hit with a £9.5m sanction last year and a £19.4m fine in June, although £12.9m was suspended after Villa came to a settlement agreement with Europe's governing body. But it has meant the club's hands are tied in the transfer window.

The Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) also limited financial losses to a maximum of £105m over a rolling three-year period.

In their latest accounts, ending 30 June 2025, Villa had a post-tax profit of £17m but their two previous years showed losses of £119.6m (2023) and £85.4m (2024).

The regulations have now been replaced by SCR, meaning the Premier League falls in line with Uefa's model.

"It's necessity because of the rules," one former Villa executive told BBC Sport, when asked about the sales. "The PSR, the SCR, issues are well documented.

"It does seem slightly unfair they're having their ambition capped at this level. But it has forced this very big churn of players, which is unfortunate.

"Some will be forced due to PSR, some will be player demand. Combined it makes a big problem for Emery and certainly it is a lot to swallow in one go and to try and replace."

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We know who Phil's biggest winner of the weekend was and we'll find out who he thought was the biggest loser of the weekend shortly.

In the meantime, our chief football writer is standing by ready to answer your questions. Send them in using the 'Get Involved' button on this page.

On the basis of Aston Villa's 2025-2026 campaign - in which they secured Champions League football, a fourth-placed finish, and the Europa League trophy - the only way should be up for Unai Emery's side.

But Villa have had the rug swept from under them across a summer of huge change, with ten first-team players sold, and the future of key players Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez still unclear.

Villa conceded four goals in the first 31 minutes of their opening game at Brighton's Amex Stadium.

Bad went to worse when Villa midfielder Joao Gomes was shown a red card, leaving Emery's side 4-0 down with ten men - with more than a half of football left to play.

Fortunately, the Seagulls failed to inflict any more damage. But it was a chastening defeat for Villa, who have a lot of work to do if they're to come close to the successes of last season.

Image source, Getty Images

Let's move on.

More winners and more losers are on the way.

For our next nominees, we're heading from East Yorkshire down to the south coast.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

The biggest winner from the Premier League's opening weekend was Hull City manager Sergej Jakirovic, who masterminded their superb win against Manchester United.

He was bullish about The Tigers' chances after they were written off as relegation certainties - now can they build on that great start to defy the odds and justify his optimism?

Image source, Getty Images

Ah yes, a timely reminder from Gary there about Man Utd, who struggled against plucky newcomers Hull City.

Their next fixture? Home to freshly-promoted Ipswich Town...

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Winners of their first match since returning to the Premier League, Hull City stunned football fans and Michael Carrick's Manchester United.

However, the household of Hull midfielder Matt Crooks may feel torn between winners and losers.

Crooks spent several years at Manchester United as a youth player and grew up supporting the Red Devils.

He spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live breakfast about his families' reaction after his sides bombshell win: "One of my boys walked down the stairs this morning with his Rashford top on, so I think the allegiances have switched back already.

"The family have always been big United fans, been season ticket holders for a long time, I took my eldest to his first game last season so yeah it was nice to have my kids there watching on as well and having that moment with them."

On his team's winning start, the 32-year-old said: "I think a lot of people probably wrote us off for the game, I mean it's a squad full of world class talent and we've come up through the play-offs, but we kind of have a momentum from that time really.

"We have this momentum of togetherness and kind of riding a wave a the minute."

Crooks revealed manager Sergej Jakirovic only told the squad Tuesday that they will be playing five at the back after playing with a 4-2-3-1 throughout pre-season.

He said that Jakirovic's main message before his team faced United was to "remember they're not robots, it was a game of 11 men going against another 11 men."

Image source, Getty Images

"No disrespect to them, but we should be coming to Hull and winning the game," Manchester United defender Luke Shaw said after his side lost 2-0 to the newly-promoted Tigers.

The MKM Stadium hosted Championship matches last season and so, seemed a good place for Michael Carrick to set out his stall as he began his first full season as Man Utd boss since his permanent appointment in May.

But United put in a performance which former Premier League striker and pundit Alan Shearer described as "dreadful", with players' fitness called into question as Carrick's side was accused of lacking intensity.

It's the first time in history that United have lost their opening game to a team who are new to the division.

The side finished the 2025-2026 season on a wave of optimism, but their opener did not reflect the ambition that fans crave.

Our inbox is absolutely stacked with opinions - so thank you to everyone who is writing in.

Shall we take a look at our first loser of the weekend, then?