Manchester City will open the defence of their Barclays
Premier League title with a trip to Newcastle on August 16.
City secured their second championship in three seasons
on the final day of the 2013-14 campaign last month with a 2-0 win over West
Ham, beating Liverpool by two points and Chelsea by four.
Liverpool are at home on the opening day of the season,
providing new Southampton manager Ronald Koeman with a tough first game in
charge.
There is a home start for new Manchester United manager
Louis Van Gaal, with the Old Trafford support getting an early chance to
welcome him as they take on Swansea on the opening weekend.
Burnley have a dream start to life back in the Premier
League, welcoming Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, with all three teams promoted from
the Sky Bet Championship handed home openers.
Champions Leicester City host Everton and QPR, who came
up through the playoffs, take on Hull City at Loftus Road.
The opening day fixture list also provides two London
derbies with Arsenal hosting Crystal Palace and West Ham taking on Tottenham at
Upton Park, a tough baptism of fire for new Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Alan Irvine's first game in charge at West Brom will come
at The Hawthorns, with Sunderland the visitors, while Stoke City are at home to
Aston Villa.
The second weekend of the season sees the first clash
between last season's title contenders with City hosting Liverpool, and QPR's
first away trip is a short one as Harry Redknapp makes the return to White Hart
Lane to take on former club Spurs.
There is an early Merseyside derby on the schedule with
Liverpool taking on Everton at Anfield on September 27, and the first
Manchester derby takes place at the Etihad Stadium on November 1.
Boxing Day sees two London derbies with Arsenal hosting
QPR and West Ham making the trip to Chelsea, with another huge clash on New
Year's Day when Tottenham play host to Chelsea.
If there is another exciting race for the title, the
closing set of fixtures on May 24 sees Arsenal host West Brom, Chelsea at home
to Sunderland, Liverpool travel to Stoke and City take on Southampton at the
Etihad.
In the Sky Bet Championship, relegated Norwich open their
bid to return to the top flight on August 10 with a trip to newly-promoted
Wolves - a match you can see live on Sky Sports. Cardiff go to Blackburn for
the first TV game of the season on Friday August 8 while you can also watch
Fulham's opener at Ipswich on the first Saturday of the season.
Brentford begin life in the second tier with a London
derby against Charlton while Rotherham face Derby who narrowly missed out on
promotion to the Premier League last time out.
Scottish champions Celtic have to wait a week to begin
their title defence due to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. They open with St
Johnstone on August 13. Aberdeen kick off the new season when they entertain
Dundee United on August 9.
Premier League Opening fixtures - weekend of August 16
Arsenal v Crystal Palace
Burnley v Chelsea
Leicester City v Everton
Liverpool v Southampton
Manchester United v Swansea City
Newcastle United v Manchester City
QPR v Hull City
Stoke City v Aston Villa
West Brom v Sunderland
West Ham v Spurs
Culled from Teamtalk
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