It’s a day in the footballing calendar that all fans can be equal in anticipation, as the fixtures for the new Premier League season were announced earlier.
Arsenal will kick off their campaign at home to Liverpool, before travelling to the Premier League champions Leicester City in search of a positive start to the season. Bookies such as sboth believe both of these games are simply too close to call.
Fans of the Gunners reacted with mixed feelings to the announcement, with some hopeful the tough start will urge Wenger to prepare the mentality of his players better this year.
We’ve picked out just five of the 38 fixtures to make sure are marked down in your calendar, because with new arrivals both on and off the pitch, this season promises to be electric.
Please note, all games are subject to TV scheduling changes.
Liverpool (h)
- Date: August 13th
- Venue: Emirates Stadium
- Manager: Jurgen Klopp
Arsenal haven’t been a fan of the opening day Premier League fixture in recent years, but that could be about to change with the chance to host a strong Liverpool side.
Supporters have argued that the Gunners haven’t had the right mentality to kick off the season in style, and the pressure will be on the home side with the fans expecting a vast improvement.
It’s difficult to predict how this one may turn out because both sides will undoubtedly welcome new signings this summer, but three points could be huge to silence Wenger’s critics from the off.
Manchester United (h)
- Date: May 6th
- Venue: Emirates Stadium
- Manager: Jose Mourinho
If you could define ‘tasty’ in a fixture then this has to be it, not only is it a chance to resurrect that memorable 3-0 victory in this tie last year, but the Gunners will be welcoming an unpopular man.
Arsene Wenger may have thought he’d seen the last of Jose Mourinho, but the old foes will meet once again in the first big battle of the managers for Arsenal.
United will have huge pressure to deliver trophies this year following the disappointment that both LVG and David Moyes has left surrounding the Red Devils over the past three seasons.
Manchester City (a)
- Date: December 17th
- Venue: Etihad Stadium
- Manager: Pep Guardiola
Moving in to Christmas and Arsenal have a fairly balanced festive schedule on paper, but we all know things can and will not go by the script when it comes to December.
Guardiola and Manchester City have now combined to form the galactico club of the Premier League, but it’ll be interesting to see how the boss deals with a club who have had their problems.
City’s opening three away games feature Stoke, United and Tottenham so it’s not an easy start to life in England for the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager.
West Bromwich Albion (h)
- Date: December 26th
- Venue: Emirates Stadium
- Manager: Tony Pulis
Whether you’re going to the Emirates or are sat at home trying to sweat out Christmas Day’s turkey, this is a fixture we can all save room for and Arsenal have done well.
A home tie against a West Brom side that are always so difficult to predict is just what will be on many supporters wish list, but three points has to be the late present for Wenger.
Hopefully this will be a point in the season where Arsenal are really starting to kick on, and ahead of the FA Cup run-in it’ll be vital to have as many squad players available.
Tottenham Hotspur (a)
- Date: April 28th
- Venue: White Hart Lane
- Manager: Mauricio Pochettino
Other than the reverse fixture, this has to be the tie of the season for many Arsenal fans and there could be every chance that Arsenal lift the trophy at this stage.
Although that’s a fairytale waiting to happen, the reality is that Wenger will want to collect all the points in the final North London derby played at White Hart Lane.
Spurs will play their Champions League fixtures at Wembley this season to relieve themselves of work currently being carried out on the site which will feature their new 60,000 seater stadium.
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