June 16, (THEWILL)- The Premier League has unfurled the league schedule for next season of the English top flight division.
In the typical opening of the season, the Community Shield will be contested between current champions Manchester City and Kelechi Iheanacho’s FA Cup winners, Leicester City at Wembley Stadium before City travel to north London to take on Tottenham Hotspur in the opening weekend of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign.
New boys Brentford host Arsenal in their first top-flight game since the 1946-1947 season while fellow newly-promoted clubs Norwich and Watford take on Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively to get up to speed with premiership football again.
Elsewhere, Manchester United will host Leeds United and UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea take on London rivals Crystal Palace.
But, the true derbies do not kick off until September 25 when Tottenham take on Arsenal. The derbies continue with a November 11 Old Trafford cracker between Manchester United and City while the first Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool will be a November 30 midweek fixture.
The battle of the tacticians, which saw Thomas Tuchel of Chelsea completely outclassing Pep Guardiola of Man City last season, will resume on September 25 at Stamford Bridge before the league champions host the Champions League winners on January 15, next year.
United take on old EPL rivals Liverpool on October 23 at Old Trafford with March 19, 2022 being the date for their reverse fixture.
The holiday season is just as packed with the stand-out Boxing Day fixtures including Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool vs Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds, on one hand and Guardiola’s City vs Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester, on the other.
With the plans of the UK government for Wimbledon and the Racing Circuit expected to trial full return of crowds to sporting events, the hope is that by the start of the English domestic leagues, fans will be able to attend football games in their numbers for the 2021/22 season.
FIRST ROUND OF FIXTURES
Brentford v Arsenal
Burnley v Brighton
Chelsea v Crystal Palace
Everton v Southampton
Leicester City v Wolverhampton
Manchester United v Leeds United
Newcastle United v West Ham United
Norwich City v Liverpool
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City
Watford v Aston Villa
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
