Man City begin title defence at West Ham, Man Utd host Chelsea

Premier League 18/19 Chamions Manchester City

Champions Manchester City begins their Premier League title defense capmaign with a away trip to West Ham, while Manchester United will host Chelsea in a blockbuster meeting to start the campaign after next season's fixtures were revealed on Thursday.

Manchester City will be confident of a fruitful start after scoring four times in each of their last three visits to the London Stadium, but face a tougher clash when Champions League finalists Tottenham Hotspur visit the Etihad on the second weekend of the season.

Runners-up and Champions League winners Liverpool begin with a home game to newly-promoted Norwich. Last season top two meet at Anfield on November 9 with the return at the Etihad scheduled for April 4, subject to TV confirmation.

Chelsea will begin life without the influential Eden Hazard at Old Trafford with United in need of a fast start after a dismal end to last season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

On their return to the top-flight Aston Villa host Spurs, whilst Sheffield United are away at Bournemouth.
Manchester City only edged Liverpool by a point in last season's thrilling duel but would appear to have the easier run-in this time around should the title go down to the wire once more.

In contrast, the European champions travel to Arsenal and host Chelsea before a visit to Newcastle in their final three games of the campaign.

For the first time in Premier League history, the clubs will get a short mid-season break in February.
Over a two-week period, there will be only five matches on one weekend, with the other five games taking place the following weekend, ensuring that each team gets one week off.

With the UEFA Super Cup scheduled between the premier league, Liverpool and Chelsea face on each other after their first respective Premier League match for the coveted trophy. In an all English Final, last season for both the European competitions, Liverpool emerged victorious against spurs While Chelsea defeated Arsenal 4-1 in the UEFA Europa league final.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the news of Manchester City facing Chelsea in their opening game:

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