English Premier League Fixtures

Sam Allardyce takes his new club Newcastle up against his old club Bolton and Tottenham and Everton face off as the computer gets quirky again.

Yesterday, the list of fixtures for the upcoming season of the English Premier League were released and, as usual, there was a frenzy of excitement over the entire procedure. Quite why is difficult to fathom, as we all know beforehand that every team is going to play each other twice during the season, and 2007/08 will be no different.

Due to mercenary money grabbing from the authorities, I’m unable to actually publish the fixtures without paying an extortionate licensing fee, but there are some interesting quirks in the calendar.

For example, manager Sam Allardyce’s first game in charge of new club Newcastle will be against his old club, Bolton. That promises to be an interesting clash.

Arsenal look like they have been truly stiffed by the fixture computer in April, where they will face key clashes against Chelsea, Bolton, Liverpool and Manchester United within a three week period.

Newly promoted Birmingham face a tough task on their opening day, travelling to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea, while the two main candidates for breaking into the top four, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, face each other on the opening day.

Steve Coppell’s Reading have been handed the rawest deal in terms of opening fixtures, however – they face Manchester United and Chelsea in their first two games. You can’t get any tougher than that, now.