Brighton were the first of Arsenal, Brentford and Brighton to score during the 2026–27 Premier League opening weekend.
Arsenal played the opening match on Friday, 21 August 2026, while Brentford and Brighton played on Saturday and Sunday respectively. In the completed opening round, Arsenal beat Coventry City 3–0, Brentford beat Tottenham Hotspur 3–0, and Brighton beat Aston Villa 4–0.
Although Brighton did not play until Sunday, their four-goal victory gave them the best goal difference among the opening-round winners. The wording here concerns the club’s final opening-weekend standing among the three named teams, not the chronological order in which their matches were played.
A common mix-up is to interpret “first” as first to play. Arsenal were first to play because they opened the season on Friday. Brighton’s distinction was instead finishing ahead of the other named winners in the early table, helped by their plus-four goal difference.