Manchester City celebrate after winning the 2017-18 Premier League title. Will they defend it? (Image credit: Getty Images)
Champions Manchester City will travel to Arsenal on the weekend of 11-12 August for their opening match of the 2018-19 Premier League season.
The fixture will be Unai Emery’s first competitive match as Gunners manager.
Elsewhere on the opening weekend, Manchester United host Leicester City, Liverpool entertain West Ham, and Championship winners Wolverhampton Wanderers welcome Everton to Molineux.
Promoted Fulham host Crystal Palace, while Cardiff visit Bournemouth.
Tottenham begin the season with a trip to Newcastle’s St James’ Park – one of three away games in their opening four league matches.
It is unclear if Spurs’ new £850m stadium will be available in time for the start of the new campaign, and they must confirm by Friday if they need to use Wembley for any home fixtures.
The three other fixtures on the opening weekend see Chelsea travel to Huddersfield, Southampton host Burnley, and Watford take on Brighton at Vicarage Road.
The opening weekend in full
| Arsenal v Manchester City |
| Bournemouth v Cardiff City |
| Fulham v Crystal Palace |
| Huddersfield Town v Chelsea |
| Liverpool v West Ham United |
| Manchester United v Leicester City |
| Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur |
| Southampton v Burnley |
| Watford v Brighton |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton |
Emery’s tricky spells
Emery has succeeded Arsene Wenger, who left Arsenal after 22 years in charge.
And the Spaniard has been given a testing opening to Premier League management.
After the opening-weekend game at Etihad Stadium, the Gunners travel to fellow top-six contenders Chelsea.
Emery also has a tough start to December, with a home north London derby against Tottenham on 1 December followed by a trip to Manchester United.
Liverpool’s pre-Europe travels
The Premier League has released dates for all 380 matches, but none have been allotted kick-off times as broadcasters are yet to decide which games will be televised.
The Champions League group stage will commence on 18-19 September, and last season’s beaten finalists Liverpool face an away Premier League fixture before all of their six group games. That includes trips to Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.
Manchester United and Spurs are away four times before group games, while Manchester City are on the road twice before European fixtures.
Fulham’s London start
Four rounds of Premier League fixtures are scheduled before the first international break, which is on the weekend of 8-9 September.
Few supporters will relish the new campaign more than those of Wolves, Cardiff City and Fulham, who all return to the Premier League from the Championship.
Wolves, who won the Championship by nine points, follow the visit of Everton with a trip to 2016-17 champions Leicester, and visit Liverpool on the final day of the campaign.
Fulham begin with London derbies against Crystal Palace and Tottenham, while Cardiff follow their opener at Bournemouth with a home game against Newcastle.
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Source: BBC