Manchester City have one of the easiest starts to the 2023/24 Premier League season after the full fixture list was revealed.
Pep Guardiola's treble-winners will be looking to defend their title once again after winning five of the last six Premier League crowns. They have been dealt a generous hand by the supercomputer.
City start their campaign with a reunion against Vincent Kompany's Burnley, scheduled to be the first match of the season on Friday Night Football. That is followed up by home matches against Newcastle United and Fulham either side of a trip to Bramall Lane to play Sheffield United.
Although they face Champions League Newcastle, City have two newly-promoted sides in the opening four rounds, giving their opponents an average league position of 14.3 last season, with former Championship sides given the position of 21, 22 and 23 for the purposes of the calculation.
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Only Chelsea have an easier start to the season, as they play Liverpool, Luton Town and Nottingham Forest at home, with a trip to West Ham their only away game in the first four. That is an average league position of 14.5 for their opposition last year.
Following City and Chelsea, West Ham (14.0), Brighton (13.5) and Luton (13.3) have the next easiest starts on paper. Manchester United have one of the toughest starts to the 2023/24 Premier League season, by contrast.
Erik ten Hag's side host Wolves on the opening day of the season at Old Trafford. They then visit Ange Postecolgou's Tottenham Hotspur with home matches against Nottingham Forest and a trip to the Emirates following that.
Based on last season's Premier League standings, only four teams have a tougher opening four matches. United's opponents’ average finishing position last season was 9.8, underlying the tough nature of their start in August.
Newcastle United have the most difficult beginning to the season, though.
The Magpies host Aston Villa on the opening day, before travelling to champions City, then facing Liverpool at home and Brighton away from home, giving their opposition an average league position of 4.8 last year. They are followed by Fulham (7.3), Bournemouth (9.0) and Wolves (9.3).
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