Slot Handed Favourable Start To Anfield Career
The Premier League fixtures have been released for the 2024/25 season and the UK betting sites have defending champions Manchester City as the early favourites.
Fans can now start to plan which games they can attend in what will be the 33rd chapter of the league.
At Gambling.com, we've analysed each team's first six matches based on the average final league position of their opponents from last term.
Newly-promoted sides were allocated the positions of 18th, 19th and 20th based on where they finished in the Championship, so champions Leicester were ranked 18th, while play-off winners Southampton were listed 20th.
So which team have been given the more favourable start and who have the toughest beginning to their campaign?
Slot Couldn't Have Asked For Better Start
It's all change at Anfield as Arne Slot prepares for his first season in charge of Liverpool following the departure of Jurgen Klopp.
The Dutchman, who managed Feyenoord for the last three seasons, could hardly have wished for a more favourable start to his new job.
The Reds don't play a side that finished in last season's top six until they welcome Chelsea to Anfield on October 19, and if they can start fast, their title odds on betting apps will shorten.
A trip to newly-promoted Ipswich awaits the new manager, before Brentford provide the opposition in Slot's first home league game.
The Dutchman doesn't have to wait long for his first taste of the rivalry with Manchester United, who host Liverpool in the third game of the season on August 31 .
Most Favourable Start To 2024/25 Premier League Season
Rank | Ave Position | Team | Fixtures |
1 | 14.3 | Liverpool | IPS (a), BRE (h), MUN (a), NFO (h), BOU (h), WOL (a) |
2 | 13.2 | Southampton | NEW (a), NFO (h), BRE (a), MUN (h), IPS (h), BOU (a) |
3 | 13.0 | Fulham | MUN (a), LEI (h), IPS (a), WHU (h), NEW (h), NFO (a) |
Liverpool, who finished third last season despite losing just one of their first 22 league games, took 15 points from their opening six games in Klopp's final season.
Southampton have the more favourable start of the three promoted sides. They too have avoided a top-six side from last season in their opening six games. A trip to Newcastle on the opening weekend is their highest-placed opponent before they travel to Arsenal on October 5.
Fulham will hope to get off to a better start next season after taking eight points from their first six matches to get their 2023/24 campaign under way. Back-to-back games against two promoted sides follow their opener at Manchester United.
Wolves Face The Toughest Start
Wolves felt hard done by last season with a number of VAR decisions going against them, which led to a vote on whether VAR should stay. A vote of 19-1 went against the Molineux side.
Gary O'Neil will feel aggrieved by the games given to his side by the fixture computer to start the 2024/25 season. Five of their first six games are against teams who finished the last campaign seventh or higher.
The exception is a trip to the City Ground to face a Nottingham Forest side looking to avoid a relegation battle for the third successive season.
Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle are all on Wolves' schedule before they get to October.
Toughest Starts To 2024/25 Premier League Season
Rank | Ave Position | Team | Fixtures |
1 | 6.5 | Wolves | ARS (a), CHE (h), NFO (a), NEW (h), AVL (a), LIV (h) |
2 | 8.0 | Brentford | CRY (h), LIV (a), SOU (h), MCI (a), TOT (a), WHU (h) |
3 | 8.2 | Leicester | TOT (h), FUL (a), AVL (h), CRY (a), EVE (h), ARS (a) |
Brentford have also been handed a tough run of games to start their season. While welcoming Crystal Palace, Southampton and West Ham to the Gtech Community Stadium, their first three away trips are to Liverpool, champions Manchester City and Tottenham, who narrowly missed out on Champions League football.
We know Leicester are back in the top flight after one season in the Championship, but we don't know yet who their new manager will be.
Whoever takes over from Enzo Maresca, who is Chelsea's new manager, will have a challenging run of games to navigate, while an FA charge for breaching profit and sustainability rules hangs over the club.
Home games with Spurs and Aston Villa are included in the Foxes' first six games, with a trip to Arsenal thrown in for good measure.
Champions City Will Expect Another Fast Start
Pep Guardiola guided Manchester City to their sixth title in seven seasons, as the Cityzens became the first team to be crowned champions in four successive seasons.
However, this season will see the FA deliberate on the 115 charges relating to financial fair play breaches, which have been hanging over the club for several months.
Guardiola will have his players ready for the start of the new season, just as he did last season when City rattled off six straight wins.
A trip to Chelsea to start with could be tricky, but games against Ipswich, West Ham and Brentford are all opportunities to pick up maximum points.
Man City's First 6 Fixtures:
- (a) Chelsea
- (h) Ipswich
- (a) West Ham
- (h) Brentford
- (h) Arsenal
- (a) Newcastle
Matches five and six are at home to Arsenal and at Newcastle, and by then we should know how the champions are shaping up.
Arsenal took last season's title race all the way to the final day before finishing just two points behind City, and they start the new season as second favourites on football betting sites.
Despite picking up 14 points from their opening six games last season, the Gunners were already playing catch-up with City who were four points clear of Mikel Arteta's side.
The first meeting with City on September 21 at the Etihad is a chance for Arsenal to steal a march on their rivals, against whom they took four points last season.
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