Chelsea begin with tricky ties

Champions face Tottenham, Arsenal and City in first seven games of new season

LONDON: Chelsea face a very tough start to their Premier League title defence as Antonio Conte’s men take on Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester City in their first seven matches of the campaign.

Conte’s arrival at Stamford Bridge last season saw them surge to the trophy they had lost in the previous term, eventually winning it by seven points from Tottenham.

And they will meet their closest challengers from 2016-17 in just the second week of the season, following up an opening home match with Burnley by becoming the first team to take on Mauricio Pochettino’s side in a Premier League game at Spurs’ temporary Wembley residence.

They take on Everton a week later, with a home encounter against Arsenal sandwiched by difficult away trips to Leicester City and Stoke City.

Manchester City are the visitors to Stamford Bridge on September 30, with Jose Mourinho and Manchester United arriving five weeks later. The new year begins in a similarly tricky fashion with a January 1 trip to Arsenal.

TOUGH END OF SEASON FOR GUARDIOLA’S CITY Manchester City face a gruelling run of fixtures towards the end of the season which look like they will be pivotal to their hopes of winning the Premier League.

City manager Pep Guardiola is desperate to land the title after only managing a third-place finish in his first season since arriving from Bayern Munich.

And he will likely not be thrilled that the fixture generator has handed City a particularly tough run of games at a crucial time of the campaign.

In a seven-week span from February 24 to April 14, five of City’s matches come against teams who competed near the top of the table last season — Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester United and Tottenham.

The full run is Arsenal (away), Chelsea (home), Stoke City (away), Brighton (home), Everton (away), United (home) and Tottenham (away).