Premier League fixtures 2017/18: The key matches featuring Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United

Sport360 staff 16:43 14/06/2017
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  • DERBIES

    The first derby of the season is set to be a cracker – and we won’t have to wait long. Tottenham could hardly have been handed a tougher fixture for their first-ever Premier League clash at Wembley, with champions and fellow Londoners Chelsea set to visit on the second weekend of the season (August 19). Spurs will look at it as a chance to lay down a marker early in the season, with an opportunity to beat the side to whom they narrowly lost the title to last season.

    The return fixture at Stamford Bridge will be on March 31, and could be pivotal in the title run-in.

    October 14 will see the return of the fixture widely regarded as the biggest in English football, with Manchester United traveling to Anfield to face Liverpool. Last year’s corresponding fixture was a drab, 0-0 draw, but with both sides looking to establish themselves as genuine title challengers, hopefully this time they’ll serve up a better contest. Liverpool will travel to Old Trafford on March 10.

    The first Premier League North London Derby at Wembley won’t be until February, but before that, Arsenal and Spurs will face off at the Emirates Stadium on November 18. The fixture will come right before a European week, but there’s absolutely no chance either side will rest players for the marquee clash.

    Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola will have to wait until December to resume hostilities, with the first Manchester derby of the season scheduled for December 9 at the Etihad Stadium. The fixture is likely to yet again feature two of the most expensively-assembled squads in Premier League history, with Manchester City already having spent over £90 million this summer and set to spend more, while United are supposedly ready to spend £200 million to improve their squad.

    Old Trafford will play host to the second Manchester derby of the season on April 7.

    Arsenal will have a chance early on in the season to see if they’ve closed the gap on Chelsea, with a trip to Stamford Bridge on September 16. The return fixture will be eagerly awaited, as it falls on New Year’s Day. It should be an excellent way to kick-off 2018.

    Liverpool and Everton clash first at Anfield in December, before the return fixture at Goodison Park in April.

    TOP SIX CLASHES

    With two Manchester and three London clubs in the top six, derbies and title-deciding clashes often coincide, but there are a few fixtures that will (hopefully) be all about the title race.

    Manchester City’s title credentials will get a stern test early in the season, as they’re due to face Chelsea on September 30 at Stamford Bridge. Given how far behind City were of Chelsea by the end of last season, Pep Guardiola’s men will relish the chance to show the watching world that they’re more serious challengers this time around.

    Manchester United were Tottenham’s final opponents at White Hart Lane, but the corresponding fixture at Wembley this season won’t come until the end of January, by which time we’ll know more about how strong the two sides’ title chances are.

    And then there’s the small matter of Jose Mourinho taking on Chelsea. The former Blues manager brings United to Stamford Bridge in November with the chance to avenge last year’s 4-0 away loss, with the reverse fixture in February.

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