The World Cup is just getting into full swing but Premier League fans will already be thinking about the season ahead after the fixtures were announced last week. The English Premier League fixtures are out and there are some exciting matches coming up to look forward to at the start of the season.
Barclays Premier League Champions Manchester City kick off their season with a visit to Arsenal, in the most exciting opening day fixture. The TV schedule is yet to be announced, so that game could move to the Sunday in what will be an eagerly awaited return of Premier League football.
No VAR in Premier League – yet!
VAR has been the main topic of debate through the World Cup so far but VAR Premier League will be at least another season away, as clubs voted against using it for Premier League fixtures 2018/19.
The early fixtures to look out for
Newly promoted Fulham will be very excited to play their first game against London rivals Crystal Palace in their first game. Match day 2 sees Chelsea host Arsenal in another London derby, which will see a new look Arsenal following the departure of Arsene Wenger.
The following week’s pick of the matches is the game between Manchester United and Tottenham at Old Trafford, giving both teams an early test to indicate how their respective seasons may pan out.
Tottenham Hotspur to play Liverpool in first game at their new stadium
In Match day 5, Tottenham will play Liverpool, which is ear-marked as the game where they will play their first match in their new stadium. They will be hoping that they can repeat last year’s result where they beat the Merseyside team 4-1. Meanwhile, the Champions League finalists will be keen extract revenge and ruin the house-warming party at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Will Conte still be at Chelsea?
For Match day 7, Liverpool are back in London, this time to play Chelsea at the end of September. Will Conte still be the manager by then? The bookies suggest that he will not be, so this could be a very different Chelsea team to the one that missed out of Champions League qualification. Sometimes being out of the Champions League helps the team to concentrate on the Premier League, as Chelsea have proven before.
Derby days
Arsenal’s first derby is an early one against Chelsea on 18 August. On 1st December, Arsenal play Tottenham, on the same day that Liverpool play Everton in the Merseyside derby. The first Manchester derby takes place on 10 November and 15 December sees fierce rivals Liverpool and Manchester United meet at Anfield.
For the next few weeks, we can continue to enjoy the World Cup before normal service resumes in the Premier League with those exciting matches that we miss all summer.
