Man Utd Face Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool in Five Opening EPL Games

Manchester United have found themselves in a tricky position following the announcement of the Barclays 2013-14 Premier League fixture list, with the Red Devils having to make trips to Anfield and the Etihad, while playing host to Chelsea in the second game of the season.

The champions game against Liverpool comes on the third day of the campaign, with the trip to the blue half of Manchester being United's fifth game.

Things aren't exactly a walk in the park for United on the opening day either, with a very tricky away match at the current Capital One Cup champions, Swansea City, to contend with.

The only saving grace for David Moyes' men in this nightmare opening spree of matches is what should be a relatively straightforward three points at home to newly promoted Crystal Palace on day four.

This news comes as somewhat of a mixed bag for United supporters. While it does make the start to the season incredibly difficult for the team who are looking to win their 14th Premier League crown, it does also mean that some tricky fixtures are gotten out of the way early on.

One would have to assume that with so many challenging games coming at the very beginning of the year, there is going to be a patch later on when United are finding themselves with a string of "easy" games—if you can call any Premier League match easy.

Ideally the Red Devils will be looking to win both games against the "lesser" sides, and take at least four to six points from the other two games.

This would leave them with a respectable 10 to 12 points after five fixtures, ensuring that they would not be out of touch with the rest of the pack.

Looking far ahead to the end of the year, United have been drawn to play away at Southampton on the final day of the campaign.

The Saints were amazing at home last season, and we would have to expect the same again this year.

As such, this is another extremely challenging tie to face on what could be a crucial day of the year.

It's going to be a hellish start for the defending titleholders, but if you want to win the league you have to beat the best teams to do so, and United will have to do that once again to show everyone that they are the elite club in England.

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