Just Six days after Manchester City set the seal on the 2022-23 season by completing a Premier League/FA Cup/Champions League treble, the countdown to the 2023-24 campaign has begun with the release of the new Premier League campaign fixture.
Pep Guardiola’s City will attempt to become the first club in English league history, dating back to 1888, to win four successive titles. Meanwhile, last season’s runners-up Arsenal will hope to mark the 20th anniversary of Arsene Wenger’s team winning the league as the “Invincibles” by ending their two-decade wait to be crowned champions again.
Luton Town will be the smallest team to play in the Premier League, nine years after winning promotion from the National League, by hosting games at their 10,356-capacity Kenilworth Road Stadium. Their only objective will be to survive in the top flight.
Mauricio Pochettino (Chelsea) and Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham Hotspur) start new managerial jobs, aiming to revive their clubs after disappointing seasons last time around.
With the fixtures now published and managers, players and supporters able to plot their path to success or otherwise, here are the big talking points of the 2023-24 Premier League schedule.
Pep Guardiola’s treble winners start the season by facing two promoted teams in their first three games, with a trip to Burnley, managed by former City captain Vincent Kompany, launching their campaign on Friday, August 11, 2023. After facing Newcastle United at the Etihad on August 19, City then travel to Sheffield United before a home game against Fulham takes them into the first international break in early September.
There is a flip side, of course, to playing promoted teams early in the season. Confidence is still high from the previous campaign, and the positive momentum can give those teams the impetus to start well. But compared to their rivals, City have a dream start. Aside from the early clash with Newcastle, the first tricky fixture on their list is the away game at Arsenal on October 7.
A six-week period in the autumn could be City’s big test, with a trip to Manchester United on October 28, followed by Chelsea (away, November 11), Liverpool (home, November 25) and Tottenham (home, December 2). And after being handed a dream start, City also close the season out with games they will expect win against Nottingham Forest (away), Wolverhampton Wanderers (home), Fulham (away) and West Ham United (home).
Tough start at Chelsea for Pochettino
After enduring a nightmare season last time around under three different managers; Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard, Chelsea need to start well under new boss Mauricio Pochettino, but the former Spurs coach could hardly have been handed a tougher beginning to the job.
August 13 Liverpool (H)
August 19 West Ham (A)
August 26 Luton (H)
September 2 Nottm Forest (H)
September 16 Bournemouth (A)
September 23 Aston Villa (H)
Chelsea open with a home game against Liverpool on August 13 before travelling to East London for a derby game against Europa Conference League winners West Ham six days later. Two fixtures loaded with history and rivalry, so the pressure will be on Chelsea and Pochettino to make a positive start before back-to-back home games against Luton and Forest.
Pochettino, who guided Spurs to a Champions League final in 2019, returns to his old club for the first time on November 4, before Chelsea face Manchester City the following weekend. With no European football at Stamford Bridge this season, however, Chelsea’s ability to focus solely on domestic fixtures could help Pochettino put the team back on track.