The Premier League finally returned for action this weekend, and the league's biggest clubs fielded plenty of English players from the first minute to kick off the new campaign.

In total, 22 English players started for the 'Big Six' in the Premier League's opening weekend, with 13 of those players also aged 25 or under – meaning there's a glut of Young Lions finally getting senior minutes at an elite level for the country's best club sides, like Man City, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United.

Notable performers included Raheem Sterling, who notched a hat-trick for Man City against West Ham, Trent Alexander-Arnold, who got his fifth assist in as many Premier League games for Liverpool against Norwich, and Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka's solid debuts in Man United's 4-0 victory over Chelsea, who also handed 19-year-old midfielder Mason Mount a debut start for his boyhood club.

As reported by Football 365 there were 22 players who started at "top six" clubs on the weekend. Harry Winks, Ross Barkley, Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane, Tammy Abraham, Kyle Walker, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Harry Maguire, Raheem Sterling, Calum Chambers, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson, Danny Rose, Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock, Joe Gomez, John Stones, Kyle Walker-Peters, Jesse Lingard and Aaron Wan-Bissaka all featured from the get-go for their respective sides on the weekend, asserting a strong English influence for the biggest clubs in the country.

While the figures may not be sustained as new signings start to feature more prominently in match days to come, the future is looking bright for English football ahead of EURO 2020 next summer.

In other England player news, Raheem Sterling could be about to sign a £100m boot endorsement deal with Jordan Brand.