LONDON: Champions Manchester City will kick off their 2019-20 Premier League season with an away trip to West Ham United while Liverpool get the ball rolling with a Friday evening home clash against promoted Norwich City.

The fixtures, released at 0800 GMT on Thursday, also included a meaty first-weekend clash with Manchester United hosting Chelsea, who finished third last season.

Tottenham Hotspur, who completed the top-four last season, are at home to Aston Villa, who returned to the top flight via the playoffs after a three-season absence.

Arsenal travel to Newcastle United while Sheffield United, the other promoted club, start at Bournemouth.

Leicester City host Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley face Southampton, Crystal Palace host Everton and FA Cup runners-up Watford are at home to Brighton and Hove Albion.

The season starts on Friday, August 9.

The upcoming top flight season will be the first to include a brief mid-season break. 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.

It will also feature the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system for the first time.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who completed an unprecedented domestic treble last season, have a relatively comfortable start to the new campaign, although they do face Tottenham, who knocked them out of last season’s Champions League in the quarter-finals, at home on the second weekend. They then travel to Bournemouth, host Brighton, visit Norwich and then take on Watford at the Etihad.

The first game between last season’s title rivals takes place at Anfield on November 9. That starts a tough run of games for City heading into the holiday period, with Chelsea, Man United and Arsenal being three of the champions’ next five opponents.

City are trying to win the league title for the third straight year, which would match United’s achievement from 2007-09.

Premier League runners-up and European champions Liverpool, seeking a first league title since 1990, have a harder start to the season with games against Arsenal, Chelsea, United, Tottenham and City in their first 12 games. If the Reds are still in title contention heading into May, their final three games are at Arsenal, against Chelsea and at Newcastle.

City’s finish sees the team play Brighton, Bournemouth, Watford and Norwich in its last four games.

Liverpool must also travel to Etihad Stadium to play City on the opening weekend in April, which would be days before the Champions League quarterfinals start.

Tottenham and Arsenal fans will not have long to wait for the season’s first North London derby, with the sides meeting at the Emirates on August 31.

Other notable dates include Liverpool’s trip to Manchester United on October 19 and the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium on December 7. The first Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton will also be in early December, on a midweek night.

City are the bookmakers’ favourites to retain the title, followed by Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea.

Sheffield United, who have returned to the Premier League for the first time since 2007, are favourites for the drop.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2019