The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsThe highly anticipated day has finally arrived and next seasons fixtures for the English leagues have been announced, and here at Sports Lowdown our writer Ethan Gore will be analysing and discussing the fixtures for the Premier League and will go into depth on the opening day, the final day, derbies & who has the easiest/hardest start.
Opening day:
The opening day is what gives every team a kick-start to their season but it is not a true reflection exactly of how the season will end – obviously not. Newly promoted Bournemouth will kick-off their season at home against Tim Sherwood’s Aston Villa, this was a fixture that occurred last season however only in the FA Cup and Villa came out on top with a 2-1 victory, could they replicate this again or will Bournemouth get revenge?
The other newly promoted teams Norwich and Watford will face relatively difficult starts to their season, Norwich will play Crystal Palace at home whilst Watford face a tricky away trip to Goodison Park against Everton. Premier League champions Chelsea will play Swansea at home and Garry Monk’s men certainly won’t shy away as they proved last season against Manchester United on the opening day when they stunned the whole of England with a brilliant 2-1 away victory.
A win for Chelsea would be crucial in their attempt to retain the title but Swansea will need points on the board themselves as they aim to qualify for the Europa League for only the second time in their history. Stoke and Liverpool go head-to-head again which could be a very entertaining fixture especially as the last-time both these teams played a competitive game it was against each other in which Stoke mauled the Reds 6-1, so revenge could be on the cards for Liverpool but Stoke will be confident of securing yet another victory against Liverpool who have won just once at the Britannia since the Potters were promoted in 2008.
Arguably the most exciting fixture of the day will be Manchester United v Tottenham and likely TV coverage for that game and things could be interesting should Harry Kane transfer over to the Red Devils, this game will give chances for new signings Memphis Depay (Manchester United) and Kevin Wimmer (Tottenham) to impress their coaches and their fans.
Other games include Arsenal v West Ham in a partial London rivalry, Leicester v Sunderland which could be a relegation six-pointer, Newcastle v Southampton two teams in the hunt for European competition and West Brom v Manchester City and here it will be vital that Man City can get off to a good start to their campaign as they will be chasing the title alongside Chelsea, Arsenal and possibly Manchester United.
