Premier League Week 1 Fixtures: Full Schedule and Preview of Opening Matches

It’s time for David Moyes to prove himself in the Premier League’s biggest job.

The former Everton boss has been handed a tricky opening set of fixtures with a home match against Chelsea sandwiched between away trips to Swansea and Liverpool.

With Manchester City and Chelsea also starting life under new managers, the opening fixtures are surrounded by even more intrigue than normal.

Let’s take a look at the full fixtures from Week 1.

Week 1 Fixtures	Date/Kickoff
Liverpool vs. Stoke	Saturday Aug. 17, 12:45 p.m. BST/ 7:45 a.m. ET
Arsenal vs. Aston Villa	Saturday Aug. 17, 3 p.m. BST/ 10 a.m. ET
Norwich vs. Everton	Saturday Aug. 17, 3 p.m. BST/ 10 a.m. ET
Sunderland vs. Fulham	Saturday Aug. 17, 3 p.m. BST/ 10 a.m. ET
West Brom vs. Southampton	Saturday Aug. 17, 3 p.m. BST/ 10 a.m. ET
West Ham vs. Cardiff	Saturday Aug. 17, 3 p.m. BST/ 10 a.m. ET
Swansea vs. Manchester United	Saturday Aug. 17, 5:30 p.m. BST/ 12:30 p.m. ET
Crystal Palace vs. Tottenham	Sunday Aug. 18, 1:30 p.m. BST/ 8:30 a.m. ET
Chelsea vs. Hull	Sunday Aug. 18, 4 p.m. BST/ 11 a.m. ET
Man City vs. Newcastle	Monday Aug. 19, 8 p.m. BST/ 3 p.m. ET
Chelsea vs. Aston Villa	Wednesday Aug. 21, 7:45 p.m. BST/ 2:45 p.m. ET

Preview

Will Wayne Rooney or Gareth Bale start for their respective clubs?

Rooney’s inclusion, or indeed exclusion, is bound to cause the biggest stir as we get a clearer indication of where he stands in Moyes’ plans. The striker was omitted from the side that won the Community Shield against Wigan with a shoulder injury, per the BBC, but returned to England duty in midweek and played nearly 70 minutes in the victory over Scotland.

Swansea are capable of causing an upset, so if Rooney is named on the bench there may be little option but for Moyes to ask the striker to pull on the red of United in search of goals.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City all have winnable home games against Stoke, Aston Villa, Hull and Newcastle respectively and will be keen to capitalise on any early slip-up from the champions. The Blues also have the chance to cement themselves as early leaders as they play twice in the opening week due to Super Cup duty.

Of the promoted sides, Cardiff have the best opportunity of picking up early points, but still face a tough trip to Upton Park to play a West Ham side finally extracting the best out of Andy Carroll following his Liverpool turmoil.

It’s a tough ask for the Welsh team to deal with such an imposing figure in their first match back in the top flight, and with the Hammers adding Stewart Downing to their ranks, there are going to be plenty of dangerous deliveries to contend with.

Meanwhile, the Hawthorns welcome two sides with top-half hopes and perhaps even ambitious European plans.

Steve Clarke finished a highly credible eighth in his first season as West Brom boss whilst Southampton are now under the stewardship of exciting attacking manager Mauricio Pochettino.

How the Saints defence deals with Nicolas Anelka will determine their fortunes, with the Frenchman already looking sharp, but they boast midweek England debutant Rickie Lambert, who will be keen to carry on impressing Roy Hodgson after heading in the winner against Scotland. Both sides have scored freely in preseason, suggesting this could be the standout match from the opening set of games.

There’s also an intriguing fixture at the Stadium of the Light, as Sunderland welcome Fulham, with Paolo Di Canio’s list of summer signings making interesting reading.

The majority of the 10 bodies added to the Black Cats’ lineup are untested in the Premier League. It will either prove a masterstroke and the Italian will inspire Sunderland to an unlikely European challenge, or they’ll crumble and be fighting relegation.

Can Martin Jol be the man to finally extract the talent from Adel Taarabt? Imagine how potent a front three of Dimitar Berbatov, Bryan Ruiz and the Moroccan could be. The problem, though, is that when the same trio is not on song, Fulham will look hopelessly blunt. The match against Sunderland should provide an indication of how they'll fare this season.