Premier League fixtures 2011-12: Manchester United start defence at WBA

Posted Monday, June 20, 2011 by theguardian.com

• Champions play Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea in first five games
• Kenny Dalglish unhappy with timing of opening games

Premier League fixtures 2011-12: Manchester United start defence at WBA
A Manchester United fan celebrates their 19th title win.

Manchester United face a testing start to their defence of their Premier League title with an opening day fixture at West Bromwich on 13 August, followed by home games against Tottenham and Arsenal.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side then travel to Bolton in early September before another tough game against Chelsea at Old Trafford – their third game against a top-six side in their opening five matches.

Arsenal too have a tricky opening, starting at Newcastle – a game in which they blew a four-goal lead last season – followed by a home match against Liverpool and an away trip to Manchester United.

Chelsea and Manchester City appear to have slightly more straightforward starts. Chelsea travel to Stoke on the opening day before taking on West Bromwich and Norwich at Stamford Bridge, while Manchester City begin at home to Swansea, followed by games against Bolton, Tottenham, Wigan and Fulham.

Of the other Premier League newcomers, QPR open with a home match against Bolton, while Norwich travel to Wigan.

Liverpool, meanwhile, start their campaign at home to Sunderland – which means Jordan Henderson may get an immediate match against the team he played for prior to his move to Anfield. Sunderland then face Newcastle the following weekend.

Tottenham and Everton meet at White Hart Lane, Fulham and Aston Villa face each other at Craven Cottage, while Blackburn host Wolves.

The games will kick-off less than 72 hours after many players will have competed in a host of friendlies, including England versus Holland at Wembley. Liverpool's manager Kenny Dalglish said he believes it would have made more sense to put back the start of the season by a day, although that would have impacted on television coverage.

"There's not a lot you can say about the fixture list really but I would ask why the season is starting on a Saturday when there are international friendlies the midweek before," he told the club's website.

"Clubs are doing their best to bring in good players and that usually means they are international players. There is a free week after the first weekend so I don't understand why we can't start the season on a Sunday to prevent players having to travel back on a Wednesday night in time for a Saturday start.

"If you are going to have international games then have them, but surely it makes sense to put the league games back a day if it's possible. To me it's common sense."