LONDON: Liverpool's title challenge got off to a disappointing start on Saturday when they were held to a 2-2 draw away to newly promoted Fulham.

Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic continued the form that saw him score 43 goals in the Championship last season, when he put his side ahead in the 32nd minute, said Xinhua.

Liverpool's new signing Darwin Nunez came off the bench in the second half and levelled with a back-heel just after the hour, but Mitrovic's second of the game - this time from the penalty spot - after he had been fouled, put Fulham back in front with just 18 minutes left to play.

Nunez then turned provider eight minutes later with a cross for Mohamed Salah to level the scores and although Jordan Henderson hit the bar deep in injury time, Liverpool had to settle for a draw.

Tottenham fought back from conceding an early goal to James Ward Prowse to beat Southampton 4-1 with a result that will only serve to improve their title hopes after a good pre-season.

Ryan Sessegnon pulled Spurs level in the 21st minute and Eric Dier put Antonio Conte's men ahead 10 minutes later.

An own goal from Mohammed Salisu increased Spurs' lead in the 61st minute and Dejan Kulusevski rounded off the scoring three minutes later.

There was plenty of incident in Chelsea's 1-0 win away to Everton as the game had to be stopped for nearly 10 minutes after Everton defender, Ben Godfrey suffered a bad ankle injury.

Chelsea took the lead in the ninth minute of injury time when Jorginho scored a penalty after fit-again Ben Chilwell was pushed.

New signing Marc Cucurella made an impressive Chelsea debut in the second half, shortly before the game was again stopped in the 85th minute, this time for a medical emergency in the crowd.

Play resumed minutes later but there was no way back for a disappointing Everton despite another 10 minutes injury time.

Leeds United also came back from behind thanks to Rodrigo Moreno and an own goal from Rayan Ait Nouri, who put the ball into his own net under pressure, after Daniel Podence had opened the scoring for Wolverhampton in just the sixth minute of their match at Elland Road.

Bournemouth had a morale boosting return to the Premier League with a 2-0 win at home to Aston Villa thanks to goals from Jefferson Lerma after just two minutes and a second from Kieffer Moore with 10 minutes left to play.

Nottingham Forrest had a tougher time of things as they lost 2-0 away to Newcastle United, who claimed all three points thanks to second half strikes from Fabian Schar and Callum Wilson, with Forrest failing to get an effort on goal.

Arsenal kicked the season off on Friday night with an assured 2-0 win away to Crystal Palace thanks to Gabriel Martinelli's first half opener and a Marc Guehi own goal in the closing minutes.

It was a confident display from Arsenal, who looked resilient after a good pre-season had raised hopes around the Emirates Stadium.

-- BERNAMA