Manchester City to start their Premier League title defence at West Ham
Pep Guardiola’s men have a good record at the London Stadium where they will begin the 2019-20 campaign.
Manchester City will start the defence of their Premier League title at West Ham.
The 2019-20 fixtures, announced on Thursday morning, handed Pep Guardiola’s team an opening match at a venue which has proved to be productive for them since 2017.
City, who have won successive Premier League titles, have picked up three points in east London in the last three seasons – scoring four goals on each occasion.
The champions follow their August 10 lunchtime trip to the London Stadium with a home match against Tottenham. Games against Bournemouth, Brighton, Norwich and Watford follow.
Last season’s top two meet at Anfield on November 9, subject to TV confirmation, with the return at the Etihad scheduled for April 4.
The run-in would also appear to favour City, who do not face any teams who finished in the top half last season in their final six matches, following that visit of Liverpool. In contrast, Jurgen Klopp’s side have a home game against Chelsea sandwiched between trips to Arsenal and Newcastle.
Manchester United, who finished sixth last time around, have an eye-catching opener, at home to Chelsea on Sunday, August 11. Whether Maurizio Sarri is still in charge of the visitors remains to be seen, with the 60-year-old Italian linked with the vacant managerial role at Juventus.
Arsenal start at Newcastle, also on the Sunday, with the other opening day fixtures taking place on the Saturday.
The evening match sees Aston Villa, who secured a top-flight return with victory over Derby in the Championship play-off final, face a tough opener at Spurs – who finished fourth last season.
There is a sense of deja vu as Watford host Brighton in a repeat of last season’s opening match, while Turf Moor opponents Burnley and Southampton faced each other at St Mary’s first time around in 2018-19.
Elsewhere, Crystal Palace are at home to Everton and there is a Midlands derby with Wolves travelling to Leicester.
The first full midweek schedule takes place on December 3 and 4 and features Manchester United’s home match against Tottenham and the Merseyside derby at Anfield. The Boxing Day programme sees United host Newcastle, while City and Liverpool are at Wolves and Leicester respectively.
Details have also been revealed about the top-flight’s first mid-season break, with one round of matches to be split over two weekends. Five fixtures, yet to be confirmed, will take place on the weekend commencing February 8, with the remainder being played the following weekend.
