So it’s here, the day the gets us all excited and begins the countdown to the new season starting on August 16th, a mere 61 days away.

Everyone eagerly checks the fixtures, scanning to see when they’ve got that away trip to Old Trafford, Anfield, The Emirates and Stamford Bridge, who’ll they’ll be playing near their birthday, how they can get a game in on Valentines Day without heading for the divorce courts or who’ll they’ll miss while on holiday in August or Christmas. It’s the buzz of waiting to see who you’ve got, who you want and who you don’t want to be playing that opening weekend.

Well, the wait is over and here’s the opening fixtures. Manchester United host Newcastle United on the opening day, whilst rivals Chelsea will play Portsmouth, Spurs will travel to Middlesborough, Aston Villa will entertain Manchester City, new boys Hull City will welcome Fulham, Stoke travel to Bolton, Everton will play Blackburn at Goodison, Liverpool have a trip to the Stadium of Light and West Brom have the daunting prospect of starting away at Arsenal. West Ham will play Wigan at Upton Park.

Opening weekend fixtures – Saturday, 16 August
Arsenal v West Brom
Aston Villa v Man City
Bolton v Stoke
Chelsea v Portsmouth
Everton v Blackburn
Hull v Fulham
Man Utd v Newcastle
Middlesbrough v Tottenham
Sunderland v Liverpool
West Ham v Wigan

The first clash of the Big Four is when Liverpool and Manchester United meet on September 13th in Manchester. Excited? Gutted? Let us know.