Premier League fixtures 2018-19: Man City face Arsenal on opening weekend

Manchester City were crowned champions of the 2017/2018 Premier League after a 0-0 against Huddersfield

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.

Tottenham visit Newcastle first, then play Fulham at Wembley while their new £850m stadium is completed.

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.

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

New Arsenal boss Emery’s tricky spells

Arsenal go into the season under new management after Unai Emery succeeded Arsene Wenger, who has left after 22 years in charge.

And the Spaniard has been given a testing opening to life in the Premier League.

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.

Spurs set for Liverpool showpiece

Tottenham begin the season with three away games in their opening four league matches as they wait to play at their new home.

Their one home fixture in that run – against promoted Fulham – will take place at Wembley on the weekend of 18-19 August.

Spurs’ first match at their new stadium – built on land adjacent to their former home White Hart Lane – will be against Liverpool on the weekend of 15-16 September.

Prior to that they will run a series of test events.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino said the new stadium would be “worth the wait”, adding: “We discussed the timings and the ability to play away games and I think it is a good solution to have an earlier home game.

“Wembley was great for us last season and we are even more used to that than we are the new stadium.”

Reds 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.