Chelsea FC’s fixtures for the 2015/16 Barclays Premier League season were announced this morning, with the Blues set to start their bid to retain the crown at home against Swansea City.
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The season kicks off on the weekend of the 8th August (a week or so earlier than usual) as the Swans side that was so impressive last season attempt to avenge the 4-2 loss handed to them in the corresponding fixture a year ago.
Chelsea then travel up to Manchester to take on the 2014/15 runners-up at the Etihad on the second weekend. This fixture against Manchester City could really set an early tone as to the intentions of both clubs for the rest of the season.
The Blues are scheduled to face cross-town rivals Arsenal around September 19th, before lining up against Liverpool on the weekend of Halloween, both at home.
A fixture with the most hated team (Tottenham) beckons at the end of November, a week previous to welcoming Eddie Howe and the newly promoted Bournemouth to Stamford Bridge.
The festive period sees the West London club face the customary three games in a week with fixtures against Watford and Crystal Palace encompassing what could be a decisive tie away against Manchester United. At this point in the season, the title race really starts to heat up and with expectations that United will be back in the hunt next time around, this is could be a pivotal point in the season’s storyline.
As for the title run in, the schedule has fortunately been relatively kind. Only three out of the last seven fixtures involve the Blues facing a club that finished in the top 10 last season (Swansea, Man City, Tottenham). The game against City is provisionally set for April 16th so it has the potential to be a title decider, or hopefully a title coronation…
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Looking down the list, it doesn’t seem like the reigning Champions have been dealt too bad a hand. There are no particularly tricky run of games with the matches against the top 6 reasonably spread out. A Man Utd-Newcastle United-Southampton treble may be difficult in February, given that all three teams took points off Chelsea last season (The Saints were in fact unbeaten in the two fixtures). Similarly the same could be said about the Arsenal-Newcastle-Southampton stretch around late September.
Now that the fixtures have been announced, any of you die-hard fans can truly start counting down to the new season. It’s worth mentioning that all dates are provisional and are subject to changes due to broadcasting choices as well as clashes with other competitions, but this will largely be the course that Chelsea follow.
The schedule is printed below. Any games you’re particularly (not) looking forward to? Any stretches that you feel will be especially difficult? Sound off in the comments below!
Chelsea FC’s Provisonal 2015/16 Premier League Fixture List (Dates Subject To Change; Credit chelseafc.com)
Sat 8 Aug Swansea City H
Sat 15 Aug Manchester City A
Sat 22 Aug West Bromwich Albion A
Sat 29 Aug Crystal Palace H
Sat 12 Sep Everton A
Sat 19 Sep Arsenal H
Sat 26 Sep Newcastle United A
Sat 3 Oct Southampton H
Sat 17 Oct Aston Villa H
Sat 24 Oct West Ham United A
Sat 31 Oct Liverpool H
Sat 7 Nov Stoke City A
Sat 21 Nov Norwich City H
Sat 28 Nov Tottenham Hotspur A
Sat 5 Dec Bournemouth H
Sat 12 Dec Leicester City A
Sat 19 Dec Sunderland H
Sat 26 Dec Watford H
Mon 28 Dec Manchester United A
Sat 2 Jan Crystal Palace A
Wed 13 Jan West Bromwich Albion H
Sat 16 Jan Everton H
Sat 23 Jan Arsenal A
Tue 2 Feb Watford A
Sat 6 Feb Manchester United H
Sat 13 Feb Newcastle United H
Sat 27 Feb Southampton A
Tue 1 Mar Norwich City A
Sat 5 Mar Stoke City H
Sat 12 Mar Liverpool A
Sat 19 Mar West Ham United H
Sat 2 Apr Aston Villa A
Sat 9 Apr Swansea City A
Sat 16 Apr Manchester City H
Sat 23 Apr Bournemouth A
Sat 30 Apr Tottenham Hotspur H
Sat 7 May Sunderland A
Sun 15 May Leicester City H
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