The Premier League fixture list for 2017/18 was published at 9am today, granting us the opportunity to pencil in some likely targets for our initial squads.
Early analysis reveals that only two teams – Manchester United and Championship play-off winners Huddersfield Town – manage to avoid all of last season’s top six in the opening six Gameweeks.
Jose Mourinho’s men alternate home/away for those opening rounds, starting off with an Old Trafford visit from West Ham and a trip to Swansea City before facing up to Leicester City, Stoke City, Everton and Southampton.
Huddersfield, meanwhile, begin their season with a trip to Crystal Palace before back-to-back home encounters with Newcastle and Southampton. The Terriers also face West Ham, Leicester and Burnley in the opening six, suggesting they could play a part in our initial plans.
The new schedule has also been relatively kind to fellow promoted pair Newcastle (TOT, hud, WHU, swa, STO, bri) and Brighton (MCI, lei, wat, WBA, bou, NEW), who both face just one of last term’s top six for the first six matches.
Newcastle’s initial five road trips – Huddersfield, Swansea, Brighton, Southampton and Burnley – look promising, bearing in mind that they accumulated more points on the road than any side in last term’s Championship.
Although Brighton face a testing opening home encounter with Man City, nine of their following 10 at home (WBA, NEW, EVE, SOU, STO, CPL, BUR, WAT, BOU) also offer encouragement, with only a troublesome visit from Liverpool in that run. Chris Hughton’s side earned more points at home than any Championship outfit in 201617, with 12 of their 21 clean sheets arriving at the Amex.
Meanwhile, Spurs’ opening schedule suggests that many will be earmarking a place for Harry Kane from the get-go, with Mauricio Pochettino’s men squaring up to only one of last year’s top six in the first eight Gameweeks (new, CHE, BUR, eve, SWA, whu, hud, BOU).
But Man City have also been handed some kind-looking matches (bri, EVE, bou, LIV, wat, CPL) to kick off their campaign and their main attackers could also be quick off the mark.
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s Champions League play-off matches, which follow Gameweek 1 and 2 clashes with Watford and Palace, are worth bearing in mind – all the more so when you consider that they take on Arsenal and Man City in the subsequent two league fixtures.
Elsewhere, Arsenal’s first five home matches – against Leicester, Bournemouth, West Brom, Brighton and Swansea – could promote early investment, particularly if Arsene Wenger looks to rotate for Europa League matches.
Similarly, Burnley and Swansea have some favourable opening fixtures in front of their own supporters.
The Clarets – who claimed 33 of 40 points at Turf Moor last term – welcome West Brom, Palace, Huddersfield, West Ham, Newcastle and Swansea in their first six at home. However, this is offset by an evil run of away matches (che, tot, liv, eve, mci) for Sean Dyche’s side that will, at the very least, keep Tom Heaton busy between the posts.
After hosting Man United in Gameweek 2, Paul Clement’s Swansea then welcome Newcastle, Watford, Huddersfield, Leicester, Brighton and Bournemouth for their subsequent six at the Liberty.
Looking at the tougher schedules, Everton and Leicester have been arguably handed the most testing opening runs across the first six Gameweeks, with both squaring up to four of last term’s top six.
From Gameweek 2-5, in particular, Ronald Koeman’s side look a no-go area, with trips to Man City, Chelsea and Man United in addition to a home clash with Spurs.
The Foxes travel to Arsenal and United and entertain Chelsea and Liverpool, although this is offset by encounters against newcomers Brighton and Huddersfield.
Finally, just a heads-up that the new fixture ticker for 2017/18 is now live on site – here’s a preview movie entailing the features involved.
