REVEALED: Tottenham dealt toughest opening Premier League fixtures for 2019/20

Now the fixtures have officially been revealed for the 2019/20 Premier League campaign, we have used our unique rating system to work out the level of difficulty each team faces over their first six matches. Using home and away WhoScored ratings from last season, we have complied an average rating to find out which team has the more affordable opening six matches and which team has the hardest start to the season. Teams that were promoted from the Championship do not have a rating due to the difference in leagues. Here are the results…

Despite starting the campaign at home to newly promoted Aston Villa, Tottenham actually have the hardest set of opening games. Tottenham’s first two away matches are at Manchester City (GW2) and north London rivals Arsenal (GW4). Mauricio Pochettino’s side lost their last six matches away from home in the Premier League last season and would have hoped for kinder opening matches on the road to get their mojo back. Tottenham conclude their opening six matches with tricky games against Crystal Palace and Leicester.

The first six matches make grim reading for last season’s Championship winners Norwich. The Canaries have the second most difficult start to 2019/20, as Daniel Farke’s side face last season’s top three in their first six matches. Norwich begin the season with a daunting trip to Anfield to face Liverpool before welcoming Chelsea and Manchester City on gameweek three and five, respectively. Norwich play Newcastle, West Ham and Burnley in between those matches and will desperately need to get points in those games to avoid a nightmare start to the season.

Last season City and Liverpool finished so far ahead of the chasing pack that it would be a surprise if they had competition from their rivals for the title in 2019/20. City retained the Premier League title last term after finishing one point clear of Liverpool and Pep Guardiola’s side will welcome their start to next season. In fact, only Everton (6.72) have a more affordable start to 2019/20 than City (6.73) over the first six matches. City host Tottenham in their second game of the season but are only scheduled to face one other top-10 team in their opening six matches, which is West Ham who finished 10th in 2018/19.

While Liverpool supporters will detest City’s opening set of fixtures, they should also be aiming for six wins from six from their own games. Liverpool start the season at home to newly promoted Norwich and will fancy their chances of beating Arsenal at home in gameweek three and Chelsea on the road in gameweek six. Moreover, the only other time Liverpool started a league campaign at home to Norwich they won the league, finishing ahead of second place City in 1976-77.