75 days after the full-time whistle was blasted in different centres to bring a halt to an entertaining 2021-22 Premier League season, all is now set for the 2022-23 campaign to take center stage.

20 teams will once again begin their journey to different aspirations.

While some will once again be in the race to be crowned champions, others will be in the hunt to pick a ticket to next season’s UEFA Champions League and some will settle for a UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League ticket.

The race for survival will always be in the limelight as teams attempt to escape relegation to the Championship.

All the same, what is certain is that the upcoming season is sure to have fireworks.

West Ham United vs Manchester City – London Stadium (Sunday, August 7, 2022 – 4:30pm)

Manchester City will begin the defence of their title with a trip to the London Stadium to face West Ham United.

Pep Guardiola’s side will definitely not forget their last trip to face the Hammers in May as they rallied from two goals down to earn a point and save their title aspirations, despite Riyad Mahrez missing a penalty which would have won them the game.

Although, the ‘Cityzens‘ have lost some notable names like Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fernandinho, they have also made some big signings Julian Alvarez, Kalvin Phillips and Stefan Ortega Moreno.

However, the new lad on virtually every person’s lips is Erling Haaland.

The Norwegian, who completed a €60million switch to the Etihad from Borussia Dortmund, raised eyebrows and hugged the headlines for the wrong reasons after his miss in the Community Shield against Liverpool.

However, Guardiola will be keen to get his main striker – who netted 62 goals in 67 Bundesliga games – firing as they attempt to put their 1-3 disappointment in the curtain raiser behind them.

Just like City, West Ham completed the signing of a big name striker as they have been busy in the transfer market.

Gianluca Scamacca scored 16 times last season in the Serie A, the Italian completed a €36million move to the country’s capital as David Moyes prepares his side for a journey in the Conference League, completing the signing of Nayef Aguerd while making the loan signing of Alphonse Areola permanent.

The game is sure to have goals as both teams have scored in four of the last five meetings.

Fulham vs Liverpool – Craven Cottage (Saturday, August 6, 2022 – 12:30pm)
The first lunchtime kickoff of the 2022-23 season is at Craven Cottage as newly-promoted Fulham are set to host Liverpool.

The Community Shield win ensured that Jürgen Klopp has claimed every trophy there is to win in England.

However, the German does not seem done yet.

Fresh off signing a new contract towards the end of last season, Klopp will look to rally his Red army to once again attempt to claim all trophies up for grabs.

A major shake up was witnessed at Anfield during the off-season. The departure of Sadio Mané paved the way for the big money signing of Uruguayan hitman Darwin Nuñez and a new bumper contract for Mohammed Salah as well as a renewal for Diogo Jota.

Despite a tricky pre-season, Nuñez has hit the ground running with a goal against City in the Community Shield as well as winning the penalty which Salah dispatched.

Liverpool supporters will be excited to see the former Benfica striker link up with Salah, Jota, Luis Diaz and Roberto Firmino in what looks a scary frontline.

Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay were also brought in during the summer as the Merseyside outfit also bid goodbye to the likes of Divock Origi, Neco Williams and Takumi Minamino.

This will be the fourth time in a row Liverpool will be facing a newly-promoted side on the opening weekend of the new season, however the big and bold question will be if Fulham can stop Klopp’s men from making it a fourth win in a row against a newly-promoted team on the first matchday.

Marco Silva’s side had a season to remember as they were crowned winners of the Championship with 90 points, scoring a total of 106 goals.

The London side have also brought in the likes of Bernd Leno, Kevin Mbabu, Manor Solomon, Andreas Pereira and João Palhinha as they aim to steer clear off the relegation fight.

Serbian marksman, Aleksandar Mitrovic will be a man to watch out for.

The 27-year-old netted 43 goals in 44 games in the second division last term, setting a record for the most goals in a single season in the division.

A shocking fact is that Liverpool have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last three games against Fulham with their last meeting ending in a surprise 0-1 loss at Anfield back in March 2021.

Everton vs Chelsea – Goodison Park (Saturday, August 6, 2022 – 5:30pm)
The 2021-22 season is one Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea supporters would want to forget.

From the Romelu Lukaku saga to the influx of injuries which affected their title race to the sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom government on former owner Roman Abramovich which ultimately led to the takeover from Todd Boehly – the 2022-23 season presents an opportunity for a clean slate.

A rollercoaster of a transfer window has seen the Blues sign Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Carney Chukwuemeka and Gabriel Slonina while also losing players like Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rüdiger and Lukaku – who returned back to Inter Milan on loan.

Although, the West London side have been ridiculed on missing out on players like Jules Koundé, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowki and Ousmane Dembele – there will be renewed optimism thanks to the contract renewal of captain César Azpilicueta and the potential arrival of Marc Cucurella.

Looking to inflict an opening day defeat is former player, captain and gaffer, Frank Lampard.

Lampard and Everton narrowly escaped relegation last season and they have set about ensuring it does not happen this time around.

Following the departure of Richarlison, the Toffees have welcomed Dwight McNeil, Ruben Vinagre and James Tarkowski to the side.

However, one negative to point out before Saturday’s late kickoff is the absence of striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

The Englishman picked up a knock in training and will be unavailable for upcoming games due to the knee injury.

Although, goals have been lacking in this fixture due to the fact that in the last four meetings between both sides, more than two goals have not been recorded.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Southampton – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (Saturday, August 6, 2022 – 3:00pm)

The appointment of Antonio Conte as the new Tottenham Hotspur boss at the midway point of last season paid off in superb fashion.

The Italian took the North London club from ninth place to a fourth placed finish as they pipped bitter rivals Arsenal to a Champions League place.

This season is all about consolidating and potentially going one step further to challenge for silverware.

Spurs have already brought in the likes of Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma Richarlison, Djed Spence and Clement Lenglet as Conte continues his rebuild.

The first test of this new look side will be against a Southampton team, who have also strengthened their playing personnel.

Ralph Hasenhüttl has moved swiftly to recruit the likes of Armel Bella-Kotchap, Romeo Lavia, Joe Aribo and Sékou Mara.

This games has all the ingredients to be a spicy one as both teams have scored in each of their last six encounters while the game has also recorded more than three goals in four of the last five games.

One fun fact is Spurs have been unable to keep a clean sheet in their last 15 games against the Saints.

Crystal Palace vs Arsenal – Selhurst Park (Friday, August 5, 2022 – 8:00pm)
The new Premier League campaign gets underway with a cracking London derby.

Crystal Palace will play host to Arsenal in a game which has recorded more than three goals in eight of the last 10 ties – with both teams scoring the same number of times in the same number of games.

Palace gaffer, former Arsenal captain and legend Patrick Vieira will set out to kill the fast-growing optimism of the Arsenal faithful ahead of the new season.

The Gunners came out unscathed in all their pre-season games with fantastic displays while the new players also made their mark.

Former Man City stars Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko while the returning William Saliba stood out with the Brazilian striker netting seven times in five friendlies.

Mikel Arteta will be keen to take his side back to competing with Europe’s elite in the Champions League with Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and new captain Martin Ødegaard expected to play a key role.

Many have tagged Arsenal, surprisingly, as an underdog in the title race while some believe a top four place will be easily achievable this season but as they say ‘experience is the best teacher’ and ‘it is not over until it is over’.

Arteta and many Arsenal fans will remember they had their top four destiny in their hands last season but they somehow bottled it and it all started when they visited this same Palace team in April, suffering a 3-0 loss.

Manchester United vs Brighton and Hove Albion – Old Trafford (Sunday, August 7, 2022 – 2:00pm)

There is a new name at the helm of affairs at Old Trafford and his name is Erik ten Hag.

The Dutchman will be latest manager at the dugout following a disappointing 2021-22 season which saw Ole Gunnar Solksjær sacked and Ralf Rangnick appointed on an interim basis.

The former Ajax coach came in knowing there was work to be done.

The 52-year-old has started his rebuild by signing the likes of Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia.

Departures have also been in full swing with Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Andreas Pereira and Edison Cavani all leaving the Red Devils while Dean Henderson and Alex Telles have also been shipped out on loan.

While ten Hag is still hoping for at least one more signing, he was greeted with the news of Cristiano Ronaldo’s intention to leave the club.

Although, United and ten Hag remain adamant Ronaldo is not for sale, the new boss publicly expressed his dissatisfaction at the Portuguese legend’s recent action of leaving a pre-season game at half-time.

Man United supporters will be hoping the off-field distractions will not affect their team’s on-field performance as they hope for a much better season.

One of the results which particularly caused an uproar last season was United’s 4-0 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion in May.

Graham Potter’s side eventually finished ninth on the log last term in what was an impressive season for them.

However, with the departure of Yves Bissouma and the potential exit of Marc Cucurella, Brighton faithfuls will hope their side can hold their own in the Premier League this season.

There are other enticing fixtures to look forward to as Leicester City host Brentford on Sunday while newly-promoted sides AFC Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest will face Aston Villa and Newcastle United respectively and after their great escape last season, Leeds United will welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to Elland Road.

Matchday one fixtures in full

Friday, August 5, 2022
Crystal Palace vs Arsenal – 8:00pm

Saturday, August 6, 2022
Fulham vs Liverpool – 12:30pm
Tottenham Hotspur vs Southampton – 3:00pm
Leeds United vs Wolverhampton Wanderers – 3:00pm
AFC Bournemouth vs Aston Villa – 3:00pm
Newcastle United vs Nottingham Forest – 3:00pm
Everton vs Chelsea – 5:30pm

Sunday, August 7, 2022
Manchester United vs Brighton and Hove Albion – 2:00pm
Leicester City vs Brentford – 2:00pm
West Ham United vs Manchester City – 4:30pm
(All times in WAT)