It’s finally back.
The 2013 off-season was painful for all diehard football fans with only the two-week long FIFA Confederations Cup providing adequate respite from the lack of middle-of-the-night, sleep-depriving action that the English Premier League delivers.
Joining the class of 2013-14 are Welsh new boys and English Championship winners Cardiff City, runners-up Hull City, and playoff winners Crystal Palace, skippered by Australian midfielder Mile Jedinak.
The opening weekend kicks off from Anfield on Saturday night (9:45pm EST) as Liverpool entertain Stoke City and culminates in Manchester early Tuesday morning (5am EST) where reigning runners-up Manchester City host Newcastle United.
The full list of first round fixtures is as follows:
Liverpool vs Stoke City (9:45pm Saturday EST)
All the talk of whether or not Luis Suarez is leaving Anfield will be muted for at least 90 minutes when Stoke City arrive on Merseyside Saturday lunchtime. Liverpool’s star Uruguayan will watch from the stands as he continues to serve his ten-match suspension for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic at the end of last season.
Stoke City, now under the lead of Mark Hughes, will be looking to impress their new manager and not ‘park the bus’ as they so often did in a disappointing previous campaign.
Prediction: Liverpool 1 Stoke City 0
Arsenal vs Aston Villa (Midnight Sunday EST)
Arsenal’s inactivity in the summer transfer market has once again been a hot topic for England’s media. But Arsene Wenger and co always seem to find a way inside the top four come mid-May and I expect they’ll do so again.
The Gunners will be looking to get off to a strong start at home but shouldn’t expect an easy ride from the Midlands side that have held onto their Belgian star Christian Benteke while also adding further depth to their squad. This game will be closer than many think.
Arsenal 2 Aston Villa 1
Norwich City vs Everton (Midnight Sunday EST)
Roberto Martinez is forced to travel for his first game in charge of Everton and will be looking to take his flowing style of football to another club run on a shoestring budget. Everton’s 10 years under David Moyes were largely successful and Martinez will be hoping for a winning start to the season or the fans could begin to turn quickly.
After all, for all of Martinez’s perceived managerial ability, their club has signed a manager who was relegated with Wigan Athletic last season.
They face a Norwich side that will be hoping to build on their solid first season back in the top-flight.
Norwich City 1 Everton 1
Sunderland vs Fulham (Midnight Sunday EST)
Sunderland and their supporters will be hoping for a much more successful campaign this time around. The Black Cats appeared destined for relegation until Paolo Di Canio was announced as Martin O’Neill’s replacement on the last day of March and eventually brought them up to safety.
Fulham, although now without Mark Schwarzer, looks destined for a mid-table finish once more after bringing in key players in areas they lacked last season.
Sunderland 1 Fulham 1
West Bromwich Albion vs Southampton (Midnight Sunday EST)
West Brom’s supporters can be extremely happy with their 2012-13 season. I’m not even sure their manager Steve Clarke would’ve dreamed of a top-10 finish. They begin at home to a Southampton side that played their best football last season under new manager Mauricio Pochettino who came in and pulled the Saints up the table.
Expect these two sides to be close all season long.
West Brom 1 Southampton 1
West Ham United vs Cardiff (Midnight Sunday EST)
The Hammers of East London host the new boys from Wales in the last of the 3pm Saturday/Midnight Sunday kick-offs. Cardiff’s long wait for Premier League football is finally over following consecutive seasons of ‘good but not good enough’ results in the Championship.
The Bluebirds (who ironically now play in all-red) look intent on cementing their place in the top flight having broken their own transfer-fee record three times this summer, but I can’t see them having enough against a strengthened West Ham outfit.
West Ham 1 Cardiff City 0
Swansea City vs Manchester United (2:30am Sunday EST)
Swansea City away from home is David Moyes’s first game in charge of reigning champions Manchester United and, based on the form of last season, there aren’t too many tougher trips.
Michael Laudrup’s Swans will have to cope with the added workload of Europa League group stage football if they advance through another qualifying round and because of this, a similar placing to last season looks unlikely.
However, Laudrup is a fine manager and has signed nine new players, while only allowing non-first team players to leave the club. I’m tipping another draw first up.
Swansea 1 Manchester United 1
Crystal Palace vs Tottenham (10:30pm Sunday EST)
The first of the Sunday night kick-offs is the first London derby of the season. New boys Crystal Palace and their completely mad charismatic manager Ian Holloway will need a strong start in a season they’re tipped to struggle.
The loss of starlet Wilfred Zaha to Manchester United will be a huge loss for Palace in their bid to stay in the Premier League. It’s hard to see where the creativity and goalscoring ability is going to come from now, but I expect they will give it a red-hot go every week.
Tottenham look as though they have kept hold of Gareth Bale for at least another season and will have too much quality for Palace here.
Crystal Palace 0 Tottenham 2
Chelsea vs Hull City (1am Monday EST)
The self-proclaimed Special One, Jose Mourinho, is back at The Bridge, and his first match in charge is one that should be a comfortable win for his men in Blue. Much attention will be on this match purely to see which one of the three Chelsea strikers (Lukaku, Torres or Ba) will start this opening game.
That being said, Hull City will certainly be up for the fight in manager Steve Bruce’s return to the top-flight. Unfortunately, they just lack the class of Roman Abramovich’s expensively assembled Blues.
Chelsea 2 Hull City 0
Manchester City vs Newcastle United (5am Tuesday EST)
Another top club with a new manager to start the new season is City. Manuel Pellegrini has been brought in following his resignation from Spanish side Malaga. He is known for his tactical qualities and if he can man-manage this group of world-class players, City could be the new champions come May.
For Newcastle, eyebrows were raised when Pardew signed an eight-year deal two seasons ago and I’m sure being on the brink of relegation last season wasn’t part of it. The supporters will want a much stronger showing this time around but I can’t see the Magpies getting a win to begin with.
Manchester City 2 Newcastle United 0
Luke Sale is a second-year Bachelor of Journalism (Sport) student at La Trobe University. You can follow him on Twitter @lukesale1.
