Premier League 2018/19

[Lineker]

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Fixtures for the 2018-19 Premier League season will be announced at 09:00 BST on Thursday, 14 June.

Dates for all 380 matches will be revealed, with the league campaign running from 11 August to 19 May.

Tottenham must confirm by Friday whether they will need to use Wembley - their home ground for 2017-18 - for any games next season.

It is unclear if their state-of-the-art £850m new stadium will be available in time for the start of the new season.

Four rounds of Premier League fixtures are scheduled to be played before the first international break, which is over the weekend of 8 and 9 September.

The league resumes on 15 September, before the Champions League group stage begins on September 18.

Manchester City are the reigning champions, with promoted sides Wolverhampton Wanderers, Fulham and Cardiff City all returning to the Premier League.

Regarding that line about us - I imagine that we will be refused that by the Premier League and we'll end up on the road for the first four games - which is fine.

Predictions! Some seemingly obvious, some bold and unlikely to actually happen...

• Top 4 - Man City, Spurs, Man Utd, Liverpool. In a lot of ways I see it being a re-run of last season at the top.
• Emery improves Arsenal but they still fall short of cracking back into the CL spots.
• Chelsea struggle due to being so delayed with everything this summer (Conte's prolonged goodbye, unknown futures of Hazard and Courtois).
• Wolves finish in the top half of the table.
• Cardiff, Huddersfield, and Southampton to go down.
• Warnock wins the sack race; dismissed by Christmas

[Kaney]

Top four are Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Man United. Spurs and Chelsea battle for Europa league spot after they lose Kane and Hazard respectively and struggle.

[DavidMarrio]

It's our year  

[MDK]

14 minutes ago, Spainanite said:

Top four are Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Man United

[stokeriño]

These days my main interest in the new fixtures is whether the home/away weekends align nicely for my regular weekend trips to York.

What will happen in the Premier League next season? Pfffffffft.

[Kaney]

I like timing how long it takes between me posting and the little red notification that myke has quoted me showing up.

He has been quicker.

[Rich]

3 minutes ago, Spainanite said:

I like timing how long it takes between me posting and the little red notification that myke has quoted me showing up.

He has been quicker.

His longies aren't that long, trust me.

[Lineker]

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Manchester City will start their Premier League title defence at Arsenal. The 2018-19 fixtures, announced on Thursday morning, handed Pep Guardiola’s record-breaking team an Emirates Stadium opener on the weekend of 11-12 August – a fixture that will be Unai Emery’s first competitive match as Arsenal manager.

City, who amassed 100 points and 106 goals en route to finishing 19 points clear of Manchester United in 2017-18, do not face another top-six side until the trip to Liverpool in October. Games against the newly promoted trio Wolves, Cardiff and Fulham are part of a sequence that also includes Huddersfield, Newcastle and Brighton – the three teams who came up last year.

It is a similar story for Manchester United, who begin at home to Leicester. The 2017-18 runners-up have Tottenham at home in their third game, with Brighton, Burnley, Watford, Wolves, West Ham and Newcastle their other early-season opponents.

Liverpool’s start appears more challenging. After hosting West Ham, Jürgen Klopp’s side face Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City in a run that also includes Crystal Palace, Brighton, Leicester and Southampton.

Tottenham start their second successive campaign at Newcastle before hosting Fulham at Wembley on 18 August. Their new £850m stadium at White Hart Lane will not be ready until the 15 September fixture against Liverpool.

Arsenal face a tough first two games without Arsène Wenger. After hosting the champions, they are at Chelsea for a London derby.

Chelsea travel to Huddersfield on the opening day and, after the trip to Arsenal, come Newcastle, Bournemouth, Cardiff, West Ham, Liverpool and Southampton.

First home game is at Wembley against Fulham. Surprised they agreed to that. Then first proper home game at the new stadium is against Liverpool on September 15/16. Brilliant opener!

[Colly]

Maybe Lejeune can cripple Harry Kane for half a season this time round. 

[The Lusophone]

My only prediction is that City will win the league when we lose to Everton on April 20th.

[Lineker]

Can't wait for us to get in there now. @Jimmy @GoGo Yubari @ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster @Chris2K @Moses Julep @lanky316

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

It looks VAST.

[Lineker]

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Maurizio Sarri is growing increasingly confident agreement will be reached between Chelsea and Napoli to smooth his appointment as head coach at Stamford Bridge, with the Italian likely to be joined by his compatriot Gianfranco Zola in some capacity at the club.

Chelsea’s managerial situation has effectively been in limbo for almost a month, with Napoli having opted against releasing Sarri from his contract despite appointing Carlo Ancelotti as his successor, and Antonio Conte, the incumbent at the Premier League club, in the dark over his future.

A £7m buyout clause in Sarri’s contract has expired, with the Napoli president, Aurelio de Laurentiis, to negotiate the terms of his manager’s release with any prospective employer.

De Laurentiis has indicated publicly a willingness to enter into talks with Sarri’s suitors, with suggestions in Italy he would be prepared to drop his compensation demand – previously considered prohibitive – to closer to £3.5m. That could still be considered too much by Chelsea, who had hoped Sarri’s lawyers might secure the 59-year-old’s release, but it is understood there is optimism on all sides that an agreement of sorts can be reached.

“If [Chelsea open talks] I would sit politely and listen, reflect and then give the response that was best for Napoli,” De Laurentiis told Corriere dello Sport. “I want to make one thing clear: this is not a club to be pillaged, this is not a club to be underestimated. I am here to discuss and have already said that, if called, I would be reasonable.”

Chelsea will have to pay Conte up to £9m in compensation to cover the last year of his contract, as well as pay-offs for members of his backroom staff, when they formally dismiss their head coach of two years. There had been some hope the Italian might secure another job, with the position at Real Madrid having been touted, and achieve a mutual agreement over his departure, but it seems more likely now that he will take a sabbatical and collect his pay-off.

Regardless, Sarri is believed to be increasingly confident he will secure his move to London and will lean on the hugely popular Zola, who played more than 300 games for Chelsea and has been voted the club’s best ever player by supporters, to help his transition into the English game. Zola has managed West Ham United and Watford, as well as Cagliari and Italy’s junior sides, but has been out of work since leaving Birmingham City in 2017.

The 51-year-old could join Sarri’s coaching staff, but may even be considered a replacement for Michael Emenalo as sporting director. Regardless, the new head coach could lean on Zola’s English, as well as his extensive experience with the Premier League, through his early weeks at his new club.

There have been claims in Italy that Sarri would be accompanied by Giovanni Martusciello as his assistant, and add Marco Ianni, Davide Losi, Massimo Nenci and Davide Ranzato to his staff. The fitness coach Paolo Bertelli and the goalkeeper coach Gianluca Spinelli could remain from the Conte era.

[Adam]

Two years is about as long as I should be happy with as far as Chelsea not having someone dislikeable as manager. They seem to alternate between cool guy and awful guy.

[Lineker]

Jens is off. Lehmann departs along with Neil Banfield, Tony Colbert, Gerry Peyton and Boro Primorac. New head coach Unai Emery will be joined by assistants Juan Carlos Carcedo and Steve Bould, the latter of whom worked under Arsene Wenger.

[Gazz]

I can't tell if he's criticising or praising the U15's or talking about the Invincibles.

[FLiam]

I don't really understand that statement at all, it's confusing. But this is Mad Jens Lehmann after all.

By all accounts he was very serious about his coaching career at the club and really wanted to work his way up the ladder. I thought Bould was more likely to leave than Lehmann so I am surprised.

[Adam]

He's referring to those who were around during the Invincibles season there surely?

[Lineker]

Tobes is going to be a dad!

[Adam]

2 hours ago, Switzerlineker said:

Tobes is going to be a dad!

That kid is going to look so cute in a little Man Utd top in 9 months time!