Barclays Premier League Table: 2016 EPL Outlook After Saturday’s Week 3 Results

Champions Leicester City earned their first Premier League win of the new season after beating Swansea City 2-1 at the King Power Stadium. Jamie Vardy and skipper Wes Morgan scored for the Foxes in a match played under a heavy electrical shower.

The three points are welcome for Leicester, but it’s Chelsea who sit at the top after an emphatic 3-0 home win against Burnley. Manager Antonio Conte’s team kept first place on alphabetical order, despite Manchester United pinching all three points, thanks to Marcus Rashford’s injury-time goal at Hull City later in the day.

There was also a much-needed win for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, who turned on the style to get off the mark at Watford.

At the bottom, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth remain winless after scrapping to a 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park, with the former needing a very late Scott Dann goal to rescue a point.

Here are the final scores from Saturday’s matches:

Here’s what the table looks like:

    

Foxes Survive Late Scare

Leicester bossed the Swans early on, dictating possession and pressing in the areas that matter. A graphic of their average positions, per BBC Match of the Day, highlighted the home side’s first-half dominance:

#lcfc on top…As shown by the average positions so far .#LCFC 0-0 #Swans https://t.co/hEtyCVB3O3 pic.twitter.com/PZwIeWR76U

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) August 27, 2016

Yet, for all their possession, Leicester were finding the visitors tough to break down. The hosts were struggling to make their pace count until the final 10 minutes of the half.

It was then that the breakthrough came from a very familiar route, as BBC pundit Gary Lineker described:

The old Drinkwater over the top for Vardy works a treat! Leicester showing the form of Champions!

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) August 27, 2016

The goal marked a creditable personal milestone for Vardy, per Sky Sports Statto:

.@LCFC’s Jamie Vardy has scored his 50th goal in senior English League football, in his 136th app. Scored 1st goal at Blackburn in Aug 2012

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) August 27, 2016

Morgan doubled the lead from close range early in the second half, and Leicester appeared to be coasting. However, Dutch midfield man Leroy Fer got a smart goal back for Swansea.

His effort ensured a tense finish, with the Swans pushing hard for the equaliser as the torrential rain continued to fall. However, Leicester did just enough to hang on in the end.

In the process, the champions guaranteed a nice personal distinction for manager Claudio Ranieri, according to OptaJoe:

100 – Claudio Ranieri has won his 100th Premier League game as a manager & is the 5th non British/Irish boss to reach the landmark. Century

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 27, 2016

Later in the day, Rashford made history when he turned home a low cross from Wayne Rooney …

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