The 2023-24 Premier League season starts next weekend, and there are some eye-catching games to get the new campaign under way.
Mauricio Pochettino’s first league game as Chelsea manager will be at home to Liverpool, while Vincent Kompany will face his former boss Pep Guardiola as Burnley host Manchester City on Friday night.
There will be much attention paid to how much stoppage time is added on the opening weekend, with a new directive to discourage time-wasting already subject to a backlash from players and managers. It comes as part of a revamp of the rules in general.
Five of the ten fixtures on the opening weekend are being televised. See below for details.
You can pick out your team’s fixtures in the full list here.
What are the opening weekend fixtures?
- Burnley vs Manchester City ( Friday August 11, 8pm ) - Sky Sports
- Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest ( Saturday August 12, 12.30pm ) - TNT Sports
- Bournemouth v West Ham United ( Saturday, 3pm )
- Brighton vs Luton Town ( Saturday, 3pm )
- Everton vs Fulham ( Saturday, 3pm )
- Sheffield United vs Crystal Palace ( Saturday, 3pm )
- Newcastle United vs Aston Villa ( Saturday, 5.30pm ) - Sky Sports
- Brentford vs Tottenham Hotspur ( Sunday August 13, 2pm ) - Sky Sports
- Chelsea vs Liverpool ( Sunday, 4.30pm ) - Sky Sports
- Manchester United vs Wolves ( Monday August 14, 8pm ) - Sky Sports
When are the big local derbies?
- Manchester United vs Manchester City (October 28)
- Manchester City vs Manchester United (March 2)
- Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur (September 23)
- Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal (April 27)
- Liverpool vs Everton (October 21)
- Everton vs Liverpool (March 16)
‘Big six’ in focus – which games could decide the title?
By Sam Dean
Manchester City
A run of games against Arsenal, Brighton and then Manchester United in October appears tricky. A month later, City then play Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in consecutive matches. Their big games come in bursts. The run-in appears simple enough: their last four games are against Nottingham Forest, Wolves, Fulham and West Ham.
Arsenal
On paper, a relatively straightforward start to the season, with games against Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Fulham first up. Mikel Arteta’s side face a tricky autumn, though, when they meet Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle United in the space of one month. Two of their last four games are against so-called ‘big six’ opponents, as Arsenal meet Spurs in late April and then travel to Manchester United in mid-May.
Manchester United
United will travel to north London twice in their first four games: they face Spurs away in mid-August before playing Arsenal away in early September. December looks complicated, as they come up against Newcastle, Chelsea and Liverpool in the space of four games.
Liverpool
An opening-day trip to face Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea represents a difficult start to the campaign, and they then travel to Newcastle United in their third match. Back-to-back matches against United and Arsenal during the busy December period could be difficult.
Tottenham Hotspur
Ange Postecoglou’s first Premier League match will be away at Brentford, which is among the trickier opening-day fixtures that Spurs could have got. His first home game, meanwhile, will be against Manchester United. The spring could be make-or-break: from mid-April to early May, Spurs have a run of matches against Newcastle (A), City (H), Arsenal (H) and Liverpool (A).
Chelsea
Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea career starts with Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on the opening weekend. From there, his first few weeks look relatively straightforward. Things become tricky in November and December, though, when Chelsea have a run of fixtures against Spurs (A), City (H), Newcastle (A), Brighton (H) and United (A).
What are the Boxing Day fixtures?
- Bournemouth vs Fulham
- Arsenal vs West Ham United
- Brentford vs Wolverhampton
- Brighton vs Tottenham Hotspur
- Burnley vs Liverpool
- Chelsea vs Crystal Palace
- Everton vs Manchester City
- Manchester United vs Aston Villa
- Newcastle United vs Nottingham Forest
- Sheffield United vs Luton Town
What are the final day fixtures?
All fixtures 4pm kick-offs, Sunday May 19
- Arsenal vs Everton
- Brentford vs Newcastle United
- Brighton vs Manchester United
- Burnley vs Nottingham Forest
- Chelsea vs Bournemouth
- Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
- Liverpool vs Wolverhampton
- Luton Town vs Fulham
- Manchester City vs West Ham United
- Sheffield United vs Tottenham Hotspur
Which Premier League games are on TV?
The TV selections have been made for matches up to and including the first weekend of October. Of these 33 games, seven are on TNT Sports, with the remainder on Sky Sports.
Manchester United will play on TV seven times; Newcastle six times; Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham five times; Brentford, Everton and Liverpool four times; Aston Villa, Brighton, Man City , Sheffield United, West Ham and Wolves three times; Bournemouth, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Luton , and Nottingham Forest twice; and Fulham only once.
Friday 11 August 2023
Burnley v Man City, 8pm Sky Sports
Saturday 12 August 2023
Arsenal v Nottingham Forest, 12.30pm TNT Sport
Newcastle v Aston Villa, 5.30pm Sky Sports
Sunday 13 August 2023
Brentford v Tottenham Hotspur, 2pm Sky Sports
Chelsea v Liverpool, 4.30pm Sky Sports
Monday 14 August 2023
Man Utd v Wolves, 8pm Sky Sports
Saturday 19 August 2023
Tottenham Hotspur v Man Utd, 5.30pm Sky Sports
Man City v Newcastle, 8pm TNT Sport
Sunday 20 August 2023
Aston Villa v Everton, 2pm Sky Sports
West Ham v Chelsea, 4.30pm Sky Sports
Monday 21 August 2023
Crystal Palace v Arsenal, 8pm Sky Sports
Friday 25 August 2023
Chelsea v Luton, 8pm Sky Sports
Saturday 26 August 2023
Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur, 12.30pm TNT Sport
Brighton v West Ham, 5.30pm Sky Sports
Sunday 27 August 2023
Sheffield Utd v Man City, 2pm Sky Sports
Newcastle v Liverpool, 4.30pm Sky Sports
Friday 1 September 2023
Luton v West Ham, 8pm Sky Sports
Saturday 2 September 2023
Sheffield Utd v Everton, 12.30pm TNT Sports
Brighton v Newcastle, 5.30pm Sky Sports
Sunday 3 September 2023
Crystal Palace v Wolves, 2pm Sky Sports
Arsenal v Man Utd, 4.30pm Sky Sports
Saturday 16 September 2023
Wolves v Liverpool, 12.30pm TNT Sports
Everton v Arsenal, 5.30pm Sky Sports
Sunday 17 September 2023
Bournemouth v Chelsea, 2pm Sky Sports
Newcastle v Brentford, 4.30pm Sky Sports
Saturday 23 September 2023
Brentford v Everton, 5.30pm Sky Sports
Burnley v Man Utd, 8pm TNT Sport
Sunday 24 September 2023
Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur, 2pm Sky Sports
Sheffield Utd v Newcastle, 4.30pm Sky Sports
Saturday 30 September 2023
Aston Villa v Brighton, 12.30pm TNT Sports
Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool, 5.30pm Sky Sports
Sunday 1 October 2023
Nottingham Forest v Brentford, 2pm Sky Sports
Monday 2 October 2023
Fulham v Chelsea, 8pm Sky Sports
Are player taking the knee again this season?
**By Tom Morgan **
Premier League teams will take the knee for another season after team captains agreed the gesture should continue for “specific matches”.
The demonstration, which was first adopted by players after the Black Lives Matter movement in the summer of 2020, will return for this weekend’s games. It also takes place on dedicated ‘No Room For Racism’ fixtures in October and April, and the Boxing Day fixtures.
Top-tier captains said in a joint statement that they were “unified in our belief that any form of discrimination has no place within football, or wider society, and are committed to using our platform to help celebrate diversity and show our support in the fight against racism”.
“Therefore, we will continue to show solidarity by taking the knee at significant moments during the forthcoming season,” they added. “Diversity is central to the success of the game and we feel strongly that people should respect others, regardless of their ethnicity or background.”
In a statement, the Premier League said it “supports the players’ decision and will continue to work alongside clubs… to elevate anti-discrimination messaging”.
Fans have been broadly supportive of taking the knee in the past, but there have been boos for players at some club matches and international fixtures.
The announcement that the gesture will continue came as research from the charity Kick It Out detailed how 73 per cent of football fans feel the game has become more inclusive in the 30 years since it was founded.
However, even higher numbers believe more still needs to be done to tackle abuse in stadiums and online.
Kick It Out’s Impact Report, released to mark the organisation’s 30th anniversary, also found 85 per cent said more needs to be done to tackle discrimination towards fans in stadiums and 87 per cent said more needs to be done to tackle abuse towards players at stadiums.
Is there a winter break this season?
The Premier League’s winter break returns after last season’s World Cup-affected campaign. This break will last from the weekend of January 13 to January 30. On each weekend, there will be five Premier League fixtures, ensuring each team gets what is in effect a two-week break.
What are the Premier League title odds?
- Manchester City 8/11
- Arsenal 5/1
- Liverpool 8/1
- Manchester United 11/1
- Chelsea 12/1
- Newcastle United 14/1
