Tottenham continued their form from late last season to earn a comfortable 4-1 home win against a desperately poor Southampton side.
Dejan Kulusevski was the star of the show as he was for most of the second half of last season with a commanding display that was rewarded with a goal and an assist.
The Swede has the most assists in Anotnio Conte’s side this year and he only joined the team for the second half of last season.
It could have been a totally different game though, after Southampton went ahead early on in the game through their club captain James Ward-Prowse following some shocking defending from Spurs.
But Ryan Sessegnon, Eric Dier, Dejan Kulusevski and own goals from Mohammed Salisu sealed a one sided affair from then for Spurs.
The only downside for Tottenham would be that they scored four and both Son Heung-min and Harry Kane did not get on the score sheet.
The ruthless nature of the win is a huge statement to opponents who will be visiting the Tottenham Hotspur stadium this season.
Antonio Conte’s men did not have to break sweat once they went ahead and on the evidence of today’s display, they will be one of the teams to look up to as the season progresses into the business end.
There were debuts also for Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma and highly-rated Clément Lenglet late in the game to introduce them to their new surroundings.
This was a perfect afternoon for Antonio Conte and the kind of start that could lead to a special season.
Here is how we rated everyone of them toady.
1. Hugo Lloris
Would have been disappointed with the goal he conceded but was his usual self after that and handled everything that came his way well-6.5 | AFP via Getty Images
2. Cristian Romero
Another solid performance from the Argentine who is building a reputation as a tough customer to deal with-6.5 | Getty Images
3. Eric Dier
Scored to put his side ahead and was rock solid as has been the case since Antonio took over-6 | Getty Images
4. Ben Davies
Dependable and efficient even in the face of heightened competition- 6.5 | Getty Images